Highlights: Souths smash Sea Eagles 38-18

Well, mate 2 good trys from AJ, a try assist plus a huge one on one ball and all tackle on Tom Turbo at full pace seems like X-Factor to me! Jennings surprised me except for a defensive miss early on when Manly scored he recovered well and had a good game. Burns was solid but he didn't do anything flash in his first game but he didn't really get any opportunities to do so. He will be marking Nathan Ross the son of retired Souths player Mark in Rd 3 Nathan Ross looks like he has the goods so it will be a ding dong test for Burns.

SSTID_1070, Talakai is a LEFT side player, Turner and Crichton are both Right sides. Talakai will take over from Sutton on the left edge, It is in Madges plans for the future, don't say this crap that he is NOT tall enough to play First Grade because that is Rubbish. Don't say that he will go back to centre because he is not quick enough. Off course if we get injuries in the backs he may well go there as a fill in. His future is on the left edge! Crichton will take over Turner on the right edge eventually as well. Tyrell Fuimaono 188cm (98Kg), Brett Greinke 190cm (105Kg) or Jack Gosiewski 190cm (95Kg) are not in the reckoning at this stage, For a start, Fuimaono is playing Right side Centre for Norths Greinke is still out injured and will be with Norths for probably most of the year. He also missed all of the pre-season so when he does return he will be behind so many players. Gosiewski won't play first grade this year, He won't be back till about Rd 12 at the very earliest, even Rd 15 then he needs conditioning in the Reggies. He missed the entire pre-season. Here is a tip for you mate, his contract expires 2017 and may not even be re-signed. Tyrone Taukamo was dropped back to S.G.Ball for Rd 1 and 2 but he is back playing in the 20s for Rd 3. I doubt that he will be going up to Norths for the foreseeable future, but may do so later in the year or in 2018. Mawene Hiroti turned 18 on the 6th of March and has been moved from Fullback in the 20s to play on the wing. It is a pre-curser for him to go up to Norths as a winger when the Ball competition finishes in May. Norths outside backs is well stocked at the moment including Souths excess contracted players.

Burns didn't start in Rd 1, the Burns comments were made with the back 5 being at Full Strength. Burns got his opportunity because Inglis was ruled out so technically I am correct and YES he did play with the Bears first as I did say that he would.

He is solid

Agreed. THAT is why I said Braidon Burns needs some time to acclimate himself to first grade. Once he shows that he is comfortable and is ready for the next challenge then he should be given an opportunity at that point but against a team that is not going to put him under the pressure that the Storm, Cowboys, Sharks etc would with their experienced halves. AJ had a great game against Manly and should keep his spot for the time being but Souths need X-factor at FB and Burns has that in spades!

I disagree. There are better options to replace Sutton. Assuming Kyle Turner turns his career around both he and Angus Crichton will play in the back row for Souths. If Turner does not come good then Angus Crichton will be on one edge and either Tyrell Fuimaono 188cm (98Kg), Brett Greinke 190cm (105Kg) or Jack Gosiewski 190cm (95Kg) will be on the other. I don't think Siosifa Talakai 178cm (100Kg) will come into consideration as he is too small but he will be a useful back up at centre until Mawene Hiroti 191cm (94Kg) and Tyrone Taukamo 187cm (112kg) are ready (both are only 18 years old).

Just like your mail on Braidon Burns? 3hats October 22, 2016 at 12:05 pm NO Braidon Burns will NOT replace Gray. Burns will start for Norths, he has to be tested against MEN first. Madge doesn’t just hand out First Grade jumpers to Rookies who have just joined the Club! He has to earn it. The kid can run the ball against Boys but can he tackle against seasoned professional men? Didn't I say he was a gun and would start in 2017? He had a fantastic game in the Charity Shield, was overlooked for the round 1 game against the Tigers (mistakenly), I argued all week that he needed to be in the side (along with Robert Jennings, Angus Crichton and George Burgess) but I didn't see you comment on that. All 4 had blinders against Manly! This week will make 3 starts in 4 weeks for Burns. Any comments 3Hats (NOT-SSTID)?

Think about Luke Lewis, Gavin Cooper, Chris Lawrence, Matt Prior, Ruben Wiki, Tony Williams... the list goes on and on. There comes a time when most old centres/wingers need to move into the back row. Goodwin's time came when he kept getting left behind trying to keep up with Dylan Walker in 2014! He also was getting beaten in defence too easily from a lack of speed and side to side mobility from 2014. He has to make the transition to the back row it is as simple as that. Only players like Justin Hodges, Josh Morris, Matt Cooper, Jamie Lyons, Mal Meninga (in his day) were good enough to hold their own at centre and resist the need to move them into the back row. Clearly Goodwin is not in that class and needs to find where he can make a better contribution to the team as other old outside backs have done before him.

Thanks, mate, the mail this week is that Both Twins will be in the 17, just a guess. a feeling. TOM had a very good game for the Bears. Rochow seems to be the player under the most pressure to retain his spot.

I think Goodwin has been outstanding defensively at Souths for a few years now. Sure he may lack a bit of pace but he has reguarly been there making key tackles and wrapping up dangerous situations.

Good mail 3 Hats...

Johnston will be at Fullback, you just can't put a Rookie Winger/Centre into a specialist Fullbacks position. That would be crazy, at this stage at any rate!

What many people don't realise is that Siosifa Talakai is only 19 years of age and he will turn 20 on the 18th of April. He still qualifies to play in the U20s so he has plenty of time. Talakai represented the Junior Kiwis last season so he has plenty of talent. Talakai is destined for the left edge/second-row spot after John Sutton retires.

steveng, I respect your option on many things mate but on this we will need to agree to disagree. Goodwin is passed it. He is too old and too slow to play in the outside backs, it's that simple. He lacks genuine speed and acceleration and lateral movement required to play in this position. Teams need SPEED out wide and Goodwin would have to be about the slowest winger at any club. Goodwin scored a hat trick against the Tigers but are you seriously telling me that either Braidon Burns, Robert Jennings or any number of other young wingers could not have scored in similar situations? The metres he made and his average metres per carry admittedly were good but Souths (like all teams) need speed on the flanks. Let's look at an example of the better wings/centres running around and see if we can see a pattern: Bryson Goodwin (31) 22 years old: Aaron Gray, Dylan Walker, Tuimoala Lolohea, David Fusitu'a, Nene Macdonald, Waqa Blake 21 years old: Robert Jennings, Bevan French, Jack Bird, Valentine Holmes, Suliasi Vunivalu, Josh Addo-Carr 20 years old: Tom Trbojevic, Braidon Burns, Brian Kelly 18 years old: Kalyn Ponga, Nick Cotric, Moses Suli Granted there are some exceptions: Brett Morris (30), Nathan Ross (28), Jordan Rapana (27), Josh Mansour (26), Semi Radradra (24) However, these are all players (with the exception of Nathan Ross) who have played international rep football. Lote Tuqiri gave Souths much more at the back end of 2014 and was not as exposed for lack of pace as Goodwin is. Unless a player is exceptional then positions like wing and centre are a young man’s position IMO. I think Goodwin could play as a utility off the bench but would spend more time in the back row than in the backline but at least he could allow Souths to cover multiple positions. As Damien Cook and Angus Crichton are a must on the bench it would leave Souths light for genuine forwards though so it would probably not be worth it unless either Cook or Farah were missing. Souths need to look to the future mate and they need to start bringing their younger players through. I was crying out before the game against Manly for Burns and Jennings to be included and look at the difference they made! Given a few more weeks to grow in confidence they will make a huge difference to Souths backline. When Aaron Gray returns (in around 16 weeks), I think he will force his way into the side at Goodwin's expense. He will probably play in the centres at that point and Jennings will take Goodwin's place on the wing.

SSTID_1970, stop knocking Goodwin, what's the matter with you??? Goodwin has gotten Souths out of trouble most often than not. Dylan should have always stayed at Souths. And replacing A. Gary with Goodwin would be a mistake, they are both good players but Goodwin is better. Souths have just got to build on their successes against Manly and get stronger, they cannot be complacent and especially start games like they did against Manly. Their game wasn't perfect by any means and next week they will have to really put it on against the Knights as they are becoming an alright side.

You sure did mate and wasn't it great to see Jennings not only finally get another shot at the big time but to take it by the scruff of the neck! What happens with Talakai now? Is he out of the top 17 for good?

And I say well done you Bunnies, what with your guts and commitment helping cement the new name for Brookie into the minds of the fraying league community over on the Dark Side. For Lottoland it is. You can forget fortresses. The whole lame exercise is turning into one big bone jarring lottery with the odds all wrong. Get this. These Eagles, the former famous war birds who sport one of the strongest and proudest records in the NRL, have crashed in all rounds at home and away since Round 21 last year. That, bird lovers, is everything from JULY last year. Read that again? Yep. Back when Turnbull was still wiping electoral muck off his face and Hilary was becoming more famous for her errant e-mail server. It's so far back in the G&T addled memory banks it's hard to recall, and for Manly fans who'd want to? So what's gone wrong at Narabeen? Pretty much everything, but among the 'everything' let's agree that the bad karma of wiping the floor and sacking a guy who'd bled maroon since 1988 could have something to do with it. Then there's the small matter of his replacement; a nice guy who everyone seems to like and one who everyone thinks could have won bachelor of the year in 1999, but who also seems to spend more time prepping his shag-pile hairdo than his team. This guy's post-match media scrums are becoming agonizing affairs. The poorly chosen excuses. The overuse of "mate". Tough stuff when your team can't find any rhythm and all tell-tale signs of an unfolding Lottoland mess if Baz can't be persuaded to forget the hair-gel and get his team performing by the winter solstice - or sooner. The sooner the better really.

Well done Bunnies, after a great start by Manly thought it was going to be a long afternoon. However Walker missing all three conversions was big and kept the door open. C Walker lead the comeback and was superb all game. Cook was terrific when he came on and liked the look of Jennings. Reyno was rock solid and makes a huge difference with his excellent kicking game. G Burgess had a real dig too. Thought Manly had a decent crack but execution let them down. Turbo Tom was magnificent. Obviously Many struggled without the big boppers. Season starts now Bunnies !

Hard Yards ,Bazz has to go ,he inherited a Prem winning Penrith Youth side only to miss the 8 , was shown the door and Cullen went on to guide that same side to Prem glory , the blokes a hack , he's no NEL standard coach

Wasted my bus fare. I've got nothing.