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Everyone knows dinosaurs are extinct, but does Tony ‘T-Rex’ Williams have to take his nickname so seriously?
The Canterbury Bulldogs’ major off-season recruit has been a low-key performer in the three games to date and I’m wondering how long coach Des Hasler is going to persevere with him if he fails to fire up.
Williams was bought by the Dogs to give their forward pack thrust and power. They wanted him terrorising smaller men on the edges and breaking the line to feed any number of eager supports.
He can be a menacing unit in defence as well but we haven’t seen anything like the best from one of the NRL’s most powerful athletes.
I am not saying that T-Rex has been playing badly. I am saying that I expected him to be showing much more purpose and involvement for his old coach at a new club.
Maybe we’ll see Williams explode into action against the highly rated Rabbitohs pack at ANZ Stadium this afternoon.
It shapes as a very big occasion with an Easter holiday crowd in attendance at a venue shared by both clubs.
Nothing would please me more than to see some fearless T-Rex charges into the meat of the Souths’ defence, sparked up by the Burgess boys and Mick Crocker.
And when it’s time for the Bunnies to attack, wouldn’t it be sensational to see Williams crashing ball carriers to the deck like a wrecking ball?
I have watched the Dogs closely in their first three games this year and the forward who has impressed me most is Aiden Tolman. This guy has been a stand-out in defence and attack. It’s as if he is showing his much bigger team-mate, Williams, the way Bulldog forwards should play.
Maybe the return to action by Frank Pritchard will spark T-Rex into the sort of action that won him so many admirers at Manly. Big Frankie will be biding his time on the bench and Williams will feel as though he has to perform some heroics to keep him there.
If the big bloke has another quiet game, I’m not so sure coach Hasler can afford to have him as a starter next week.
I’m really looking forward to this game, it offers so much more than any other in round four.
There should be gripping duels all over the field and a fluctuating scoreline that may go right down to the wire.
I wish Ben Barba well in his comeback and I reckon he’ll be feeling he has been through sort of sporting war at the end.
The Rabbitohs will punish him in defence and he can expect an aerial attack like never before from the likes of Adam Reynolds and Johnny Sutton.
The other game I will be intrigued with is Warriors v Cowboys on Monday at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland.
The Cowboys were dreadful against Newcastle last Monday night – surely they have too many good players to go that poorly again.
The Warriors have had a shocking start to 2013.
I can’t work out why Feliti Mateo is picked on the bench. This guy is a special talent and needs to be on the field as much as possible.
He gives the team tremendous go-forward and has clever ball skills. Start him NZ, or pay the penalty.
In the Warriors’ favour is a lop-sided win/loss record. They have won 12 of their 17 meetings with North Queensland.
Well, if the players can’t get the Kiwi team over the line, maybe the stats can!
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