Four things we learnt from the weekend trials

Yeah, sorry about that TB and now that you mention it that trial against the Storm the Dogs played great footy and Lichaa especially stood out in that match with his running...same as he did last weekend. I just wonder whether since it was a trial last year he was trying to show Des his running game...but come regular season they were back to Dessie ball. I think Pay has definitely given Lichaa license which will definitely benefit them...you could see markers plant their feet expecting Lichaa to run which created those gap outside which the likes of Eastwood exploited.

Don’t do it to me again joe! You got my hopes up last season with your review of the Dogs trial form against Melbourne.

So that gives them two good reserve grade sides...

I thought it was a game of two halves for Souths, Rossco. Their first half was very impressive given the guys sitting on the sideline. The second half was okay for a trial but unacceptable for a normal game, from a Souths perspective, given how much ball and field position they had. Not a lot of creativity and some ordinary handling, most of which seem to come from Robbie Farah passes. There are a lot of promising backs at Souths but not sure about their go forward or the spine over the course of a season.

I thought the only trial that had any real merit was Bulldogs vs Raiders where both teams pretty much had their number 1 team out on the park minus injured players e.g. Woods. The 2nd half was where all the reserves came in but the first half was first grade team against first grade team. From that I thought the Bulldogs pack minus Woods was outstanding against a very big and aggressive Canberra pack, both in attack and defence. Not only the first line players like Klemmer who was probably the best forward on park but also the reserves like Tuilau and that shows that they have a lot of forward depth this year. The other big plus was the performances of Foran and Lichaa who were dangerous every time they touched the ball. Foran was outstanding in attack and defence and looks like he's back to his best. Couldn't get a good read on Mybe's performance from fullback but he didn't put a foot wrong and showed more speed and elusiveness than Hoppa which is a plus.

The Souths mostly reserve grade squad were actually quite impressive I thought. They looked well drilled and keen and easily handled the Wigan team. They have more depth than I thought & I think I may have to re-assess their top 8 chances now ?

Trials are exciting because we have waited so long for our teams to hit the park. Putting weight behind the outcome will not serve you well. That said, the ESL has to be concerned with their showing, albeit with a few of their stars injured as well. Only the Rhino's maybe make the 8 - maybe?

Anyone reading anything into trial form is setting themselves up for disappointment. Very few sides are at full strength and most of the first grade regulars are luck to play half a game. Trials are to iron a few things out and get a bit of match fitness nothing more. For these specific things we learned 1) They definitely are but I don’t think that game really showed anything we didn’t know. The test for the Storm and Croft comes much later in the season. Souths were killing it early in 2015 with 4/4 and a nines win (remember the undefeated talk ?) before the wheels fell off 2) Dufty looked good last year, looks good this year. Again, like all young players his test will come after he’s had about 14 rounds of carting the ball back from kicks and getting hit and having to make tackles on big men, etc and there’s no end to the season in sight. 3) Technically we did learn that the Tigers gave the Cowboys a mauling. I don’t think there are any easy beats this year but when you compare the Tigers roster to other teams it’s hard to see them winning consistently unless a few players have ‘out of their skin’ seasons. 4) That’s what trials are for, it would be news if new combinations weren’t settling in.

Suggestions that Manly has a lot of work to do, based on the trial, suggests the writer hadnt referred to the first graders who didnt play for them. Tom Trbojevic, Jake Trbojevic, Taufua, Uate, Cherry-Evans, Kaupau, Koroisau, Thompson, Sironen. To add to this the captain of this side, Lussick was carried off after 2 minutes, Walker is out injured until about Rd 4, Croker, Manly's first choice at present for 5/8 didnt play and several of the players in the side had already played in the earlier fixture for the Blacktown Sea Eagles team. Further no less than nine of the players on the field were playing U20s last year. The fact they got so close suggests Manly's depth this year is significantly better than last year.

I wouldn't be excited by the wests Tigers trial

Souths struggled in their match against Wigan? You are dreaming surely. Only one team struggled in that game yet Souths had an almost reserve grade team out there against one of UK's two top teams.

On your four things we learnt; 1. - There haven't been many who didn't think Melbourne would be there when it matters - so nothing changed, though the for of Croft this early was certainly a warning for everyone else in the comp that Cronk's departure doesn't kill the Storm. 2- I've only heard one person suggest Duffty shouldn't be the fullback, so I don't think many of us learnt much there 3- Nobody thinks the Tigers will perform better than the Cowboys this year.They played a solid game by all reports - helped by the Cowboys conceding 5 penalties while in possession apparently. 4- Is just a statement, not really anything we did or didn't know. Every year, every one says, don't read anything into trials and every year people read into trials.... That said, I watched the Warriors - How bad were they...?! :)

Aidan Sezer looked great at hooker. Predicting he will be wearing the number 9 for the Blues this year plus steering the mighty Green Machine on to glory.