#47 - Immediate reactions to u19s origin squads

My reaction to the u19s origin squads which just dropped 

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Shortball podcast for another week live reaction, or not a live reaction, but rather a um sort of immediate reaction after the New South Wales under 19's side just dropped, and a reaction obviously as well to the Queensland squad that dropped yesterday morning. I've obviously had a little bit of time to digest that Queensland squad, but this is going to be a little bit more of my raw thoughts after hearing the New South Wales squad. Obviously, they're all posted on my Instagram, so jump across to there if you haven't already seen them. Um and I'm gonna do a whole heap of content over the next couple of days as well. Um got obviously a major podcast coming out soon as well, deep diving into this game. So this will be more of a um looking at who's made the squad, my thoughts on it, who maybe was a little bit stiff, um, and sort of how I think both teams are gonna play coming off the back of this. So obviously, I'll start with New South Wales because they just dropped uh earlier today, about half an hour ago. Uh Rex Bathingswaite, he's been named at fullback a watch there because he is debuting this weekend in the NRL. I believe you're only allowed to take one NRL player, and if Rex and Dane Jennings both debut this weekend, that might bring a little bit of an eligibility question up. Um but we'll see how that all sort of unfolds for the moment. I'm just operating off the fact that they're both going to play. Um then Toby Winter, Marcel Tia Coppo from the Bulldogs, Dane Jennings, uh, as I mentioned just before, Archie Mesritz from the Cowboys. I'm gonna talk about him in a little bit. Umatoni large, Katamarico, Kristen Tupper Moores, Diesel Hagen, Ryder Talungi, Darcy Smith, Chris Petras, Thomas Dello, Ashton Large, Roman Tuaimao, Eddie Kayless, James Finnegan, Tamidge Brown, Toby Batten, and Jope Rock. So overall, I think it's a I think it's a good squad. I think they've got a good forward pack, clashing the spine on Atoni Large and Carta Marico, obviously two highly talented halves. Um Carta Marico and Age up in this contest. Rex Bathing Swaite's obviously a gun. Um they've got strikeout wide, Dane Jennings, Toby Winter there, guys that as soon as you get in the red zone, they're gonna create something for you. Um you know it's gonna be interesting to see what they do when the official team list comes out. I've got it in order of the team that I think it will be. Um so I sort of got a little bit of a look early on. I posted a couple of um couple of guys that were gonna get named in the squad. I went five for five there. Anatoni Large, Caramariko, Roman Tuai Mau, Dane Jennings, and Diesel Hagen. I posted about them earlier uh before the squads were announced. But just having a look at this uh side, the way that I've got lined out, very strong bench. Roman Tuaimao, Eddie Kalis, James Finnegan, all very deserving of being there. James Finnegan was the only one of those who wasn't in my predicted squad. Um, but obviously, back to back, grand final winner in SG Ball with the Roosters, very uh informed player. Um, you know, in Howard Matthews a few years ago, he showed that he had you know ball skills and was able to do um a lot of things that other forwards aren't able to do, and he's really his defensive game and um his ball carrying have been really good over the last two years in SG Ball as well. So he's obviously a highly capable uh forward, he can cover both back row and front row. So obviously he's a handy addition to that bench there. Um other guys that weren't in my predicted squad, uh Marcel Syoko, Archie Meserz, um, although I'll speak about him in a second. Um uh and the other one I didn't talk about were these bottom three guys as well: Tarmage Brown, Toby Batten, and Jope Rock. I I probably spoke about Toby Batten um as sort of an extended halves option, uh, but I didn't really speak about the other two there. Again, uh more uh solo pickups, Jope Rock. I was talking about how there's uh not really much wing uh depth or wing options there for New South Wales. Uh you know, originally I had Cooper Johnson here, Marcy Makassini there. Uh Cooper Johnson obviously injured now, and Mackassini's got NRL commitment, so obviously neither of those two guys could be in that lineup. Um and then I sort of floated up Cyrus Bloomfield as a guy that could come in onto that wing spot, and then I sort of floated as well, maybe bringing in a centre to push one of Winter or Jennings to the wing, which is what they've done. Um but yeah, Cyrus Bloomfield, he can't play because of school boy union commitments, as I've been told. I believe he was picked initially, um, and then he's had to pull out due to school boy union, which has been a uh common issue for a lot of rep sides over the last couple of years. Uh obviously the school boy union's holding scholarships, and then they pretty much got all the power in terms of telling people when and when they can't play and all that sort of thing. So um so in for that anyway, comes to solve that outside back issue, comes Io Coppola and Joe Brock, both uh Bulldogs players. Josh Jackson's obviously got a lot to do with the Bulldogs, um, so that would obviously have influenced his decision there, and obviously he's seen enough from them to believe that that they're good enough to um do a job there for New South Wales. My sales Iel Coppola, big body, strong. He could probably even play in the back row. Um he used to play at uh Penrith, and he was a very strong ball runner there out in the centres. I like the look of him there. Probably I think he had a year off where he he was he was injured a lot, didn't play too much footy uh last year, or not not that I meant not that I noticed as much anyway. And then this year playing for the Bulldogs, a solid year. I wouldn't say he's um set the world on fire, but you know, defensively strong, um he's a big body physical. I think they probably like that there in a rep game, defending out in the centres. You know, he's gonna have to do a job on one of you know Alezai Clark or Brian Poigne or Liddame or one of those guys. So um I think it's probably that's been factored into a little bit. And obviously, you know, Josh Jackson will know a lot more about his game, be able to dissect his game and tell you exactly why he's been picked there to do that job, and then Joe Brock as well, a uh uh rangey tall. I believe he debuted for Fiji uh last year as well in the pack champs. So um quick outside back, you know, sort of similar to uh Jethro Renekarmer. He's a he's a talented player as well. Um, and you know, probably not his best season this year. Last year I thought he was a little bit better in SG ball, and he's obviously done some um good things at schoolboy level as well. I believe he was a bass high player off the top of my head. So I know he was Holy Cross Ride. I believe it was Holy Cross Ride and done some good things at School Boy Cup as well last year. So um again, a handy selection there. Toby Batten, um he's killing it up there at the Dolphins. He was obviously the Australian schoolboy halfback as well. So um a handy selection there. I believe they will go with Ana Tony Large and Carter Marico as the halves pairing, um, which is you know a a good strong um uh pair there. Like obviously Carter Marica coming off an SG Board player of the year campaign and on Atoni Large, uh just an all-round gun, big uh physical player defensively. He's been really good in New South Wales Cup. He's done his job over the last couple of weeks since he's gotten his debut there. Um, and yeah, he's obviously been a gun in the junior rep scene for a while. Archie Meseritz, I've mentioned twice I was going to speak about him later, I might as well get to it now. I didn't actually know he was New South Wales eligible. I should have known. I always see the connection come up between him and Darcy Smith. Um I think he must be a Central Coast boy. Um whenever I have posted about Archie Meserz, there's always, you know, uh Central Coast boys as well, sort of re-sharing it or getting amongst it, or he might be a country boy or whatever. But um, yeah, so he's one that he's been killing it up there in Queensland. It might be a name that a lot of you are unfamiliar with, but um yeah, for for the Townsville Blackhawks and for the North Queensland Cowboys, he's been really, really good. Um playing fullback, mostly playing fullback, and if Rex Bath's weight doesn't play, I believe they will shift Archie Mesritz to fullback. Um just an elusive good ball player, good ball runner as well. Um I haven't seen as much of him as the other New South Wales base plays, obviously, because I've I watch every single SG ball game and I don't watch every single Malman Inga Cup game, but he's really impressed me every single time that I've gotten the opportunity to watch him. So he's a astute pick. It was good from the selectors to um pick him up and um add him into this squad. I think he's going to be a really valuable pick, especially if Rex doesn't play. I think he'll be a good fullback option there. Cameron Bamblett's a guy that um a lot of people think he was probably stiff to miss out. I didn't have him in my side. Um there's a couple of hot holes in the game there that I probably, you know, I personally had Rex ahead of him at fullback spot, and um I had a couple of other guys that I'll mention in a second ahead of him in terms of that extended squad. Um But yeah, I I think for him to miss out on this squad, uh I personally don't um I personally agree that with him missing missing the squad, but um obviously a very talented player, very capable, and if Rex Bathingswaite wasn't a play, he would be the next up fullback. I said as much in my predicted lineups. Um, and if there was a question over Rex Bassingswaite, maybe there's a chance that you have Bamblit in as the 18th man just in case um Rex doesn't end up playing due to this NRO um commitments and all that sort of thing. So uh be an interesting one to see uh what happens there, but yeah, I believe looking at this squad, the guy that will fill in in Rex's shoes if Rex doesn't play is Archie Meseretz. So um you could have had an opportunity to have Bamblett there, but not to be for him. Um otherwise, other than that, um I thought Taj Alvarez stiffed to miss his squad. I did hear that he had a slight issue, a slight injury issue, um, out for one to three weeks. Um but mostly pre I think it was he was in a boot or something, and it's mostly precautionary. Um but uh apparently could be out for one to three weeks. I don't know the full extent of that or whatever, but um if it was that he missed due to injury, then that makes sense. Um if it wasn't because of injury that he missed, then I think he was a little bit stiff to miss the squad. I think when you've got a guy in as good a form as Taj Alvarez was, with all due respect to you know Talmudge Brown, Toby Batten, Joe Brock, and you know, some of these other guys who might be in that extended squad, uh it's very stiff on Taja Alvarez to not get one of those jerseys. Um I thought he was probably the next half in line. He was my 18th man when I was picking my predicted squads. Um and I thought Cody Hill as well, uh just a little bit stiff. Um, but in saying that, I did say on my last podcast last week, Diesel Hagen's probably jumped in for that nine jersey, and you don't need to carry three hookers in a squad, realistically. They did last year. I think they had um they had the Canberra Hooker, Mitchell Brofe there, as well as um, as well as who started last year? They had Mitch Brofe on the extended, um, and they had I'm completely blanking on who the nine was. Uh, Jackson Allen. They had Jackson Allen starting, he was a 14. Um anyway, I won't try and get bogged down too much in that, but yeah, Cody Hill, stiff, maybe I I think they've just gone with Diesel Hagen over him, which is an understandable selection. I personally had Cody Hill um in my squad. I thought he was very, very good in SG ball this year. Um, you know, one of the better players in the competition, in my opinion. Um, but you know, when you get a guy that jumps up to New South Wales Cup and does what Diesel Hagen does, it's kind of tough to look past him in that sense. Um forward pack, pretty much as expected. Phoenix Godney misses out on the squad. Like I said in my predicted line-ups podcast, he's not in the greatest of form at the moment, Phoenix Godney. Um, and that's fair enough to see him miss out on that squad. He was obviously an Australian schoolboy last year, very capable player. I think last year he had a very, very good year, and he's just experiencing a little bit of a downturn at the moment. A high quality player, but very understandable for him to miss this squad based on his current form. Um, and then you've got another forward. Itula Seve didn't make this side. I thought he was very, very stiff. Um, you know, obviously won the SG ball competition this year and last year as well with the Roosters, was probably one of the premier forwards in the competition. Um, there's obviously uh, you know, I I I thought this year Charleston Torore was the better of the Fords. I had Atula Seve coming off the bench in my predicted lineup, so it wasn't like he was a shoe-in or anything. Um, but I I I thought he was stiff to miss a squad entirely. Um, yeah, it was certainly an interesting call from my perspective. Um other than that, I don't think there's any other players off the top of my head that potentially could have made it over any of these other guys. Uh it will be exciting to see how they play um New South Wales, because obviously they got the big boots of Anatoni Large and Cartamarica that can get them out of trouble. I'll speak about Queensland in a second. I think their forward pack's probably better than the New South Wales forward pack. So, you know, Anatoni Large and Catamarico are gonna have to do their absolute best with their kicking game. Be interesting to see who lines up where, because Anatoni Large typically right side, um, as is Catamarica, obviously, with that right foot boot that he's got. So I imagine they'll just go Mariko as the main uh kicker of the footy and have him right side and then put on Antonio Large left side as a typical sort of seven and six combination. But be interesting to see what they do there. Um yeah, I think that can wrap up New South Wales. You know, a lot of highly deserved um selections, a lot of guys that deserve their recognition for making this squad, and I'll obviously preview this game deeper uh tomorrow. Queensland squad, Tyler Pereira, Joseph Liddamu, Alize Clark, Brian Poignou, C. Poese, uh Taj Latayo, Hayden Watson, Jackson Coyner, Mario Winyard, Cody Starr, Frank Howarth, uh, Frank Howarth, Bishop Neal, Tupal Francis, Elijah Berve, Sheev Colone, Talon Toa, Jet Ryan, Sam Williams, Kobe Flora, and Louis Lee. Uh, this is a very strong lineup. Um, there's a couple of guys that might have been a little bit stiff. Um, you know, Charlie Dixon was a guy that I was um heavily pushing for this lineup. Um Jared Horn, another one who was there and thereabouts for me. Um Joey Tapusi, I thought, with the injuries to Louis Lee, although Louie Lee's in the squad, but um I believe he's injured at the moment, and um and Kalani Lavender as well when he went down. I thought maybe there was a chance of pushing Poignew to the back row and having Tapusi come into the centres. Um apart from that, uh, there's not too many others that I can think of. Um, but yeah, it's a it's an overall strong squad. Like I said, that forward pack's gonna be insanely good. Jackson Coiner, Bishop Neal, Tupole Francis. Bishop Neal scares me as a New South Welshman. I found out he was a Queensland eligible not very long ago, not very long before this team came out, and actually seeing his name there was like yeah, this is scary. Like if he develops into the potential that he could um have based on what he's shown at New South Wales Cup level and all that as just a 17-year-old, like this kid is young. He could play this game next year. I highly doubt he will because he'll probably have NRL commitments by that time. But like to have him and Frank Howarth as well in the back row, he's you know highly experienced in Jersey Fleg. I don't think he's got New South Wales Cup call-up yet, um, but you know, played a bit of Jersey Fleg last year, and this year he's been good for the Storm's SG ball side, you know. Like his brother, I think he's a better back rower than he is a center. Um I think he's he's gonna be um a handful on that edge. The the halves for New South Wales are very strong defensively, so they're gonna be able to deal with Bishop Neal. And obviously, Carter Marico's gotten that experience defending against Bishop Neal before. On a Tony Large, I'm not sure if he has ever played against him. Maybe earlier in the SG ball season, they might have played like a round two or round three. I don't know if Honatoni Large has matched up on him though. Um but I know Carter Marico's always been a right edge and Bishop Neal's always been left edge, so he would have that experience against him, especially from Howard Matthews last year. Um other than that, um, yeah, this forward pack, like I was saying, Tupole Francis, Jackson Coiner, two highly rated players. I believe Jackson Coiner's gonna start in the front row, Tupole Francis at 13. Obviously, I don't hate that, it makes sense. I do prefer Coiner as a lock, but um, you know, Tupole Francis has been killing it at lock, and you know, he's gonna be a very special talent for a time to come. Like Bishop Neal and Tupole Francis are both year young in this contest, and I believe they'll both start um Bishop Neal at back row, Tupole Francis at lock, obviously, as I said. Elise Clark, I really liked that selection um from Queensland. I didn't really, I don't know, maybe I just he was in the back of my mind, or he, you know, I just didn't make the connection. He was a Queenslander, or you know, maybe I just had other guys ahead, like, you know, your Lydadamus Poignou and Um Louis Lees and all those sorts of guys. But um I I actually like this selection defensively, he makes a lot of really good efforts. I did a video about him and Liddamu towards the back end of the SG ball season, just highlighting a couple of their efforts. Um Elise Clark, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and Lydadamu, um, you know, a couple of the freakish plays that he could come up with. Lyddadamu's obviously been playing New South Wales Cup, Elise Clark Fleg. Good combination there for the Storm, those two. It'll be interesting to see if they line up on the same side. It would make sense for them to do so, having that storm combination, but obviously they've been separated separate sides. Lydadamu, usually a left edge winger for the New South Wales Cup. He was a right edge center for the Storm. So they might have Elize Clark and Lydadamu left edge and have Poignon and Poese right edge. Um, I'm trying to think of where Puese played for Kibera last year. I believe he was a right edge winger, and Poignou is typically right edge back row. Not sh and then he played left edge centre. He can play both sides. A lot of these guys can play both sides nowadays, anyway. Doesn't matter too much, but just trying to sort out who goes what side for my combinations and all that sort of thing. Really like the halves pairing of Latayo and Hayden Watson. Um, I believe Elijah Burvet is going to come off the bench for this side, um, which, you know, is interesting. I thought Hayden Watson might go to nine. Uh like I've said time and time again, I think Hayden Watson's probably a better nine than he is a seven, but obviously he's a highly quality seven. He probably I he probably is a better seven than Burbay at the moment, or a better seven option than Burvet at the moment. Um, you know, he's obviously gone up to New South Wales Cup and killed it. He scored a hatcher again in Fleg. You know, he's absolutely killing it at seven, which speaks you know, it speaks volumes about how highly I rate him as a nine as well. Um, if I think he's probably a better nine than he is a seven, um, or he's a more natural nine than he is a seven. It it does look a little bit funky at seven, but it works. Um so yeah, and Amari Winyard gets that nine jersey, I believe. Um other than that, I've sort of spoken about the guys that I think were a bit stiff to miss. I really like this Shayev Colone pick. Last week, I mentioned him as well. Um, if you listen to last week's podcast, I mentioned him as a guy I thought would get onto that bench. Um Sam Williams is the only one in this lineup who I don't know too much about. I know he's a rugby union convert, so he's only sort of played for the last 12 months of rugby league. So good to see him get a spot. He's a he's a big body um front rower. You know, there's there's some raps on him, um, but I hadn't really I I actually hadn't heard of him until these squads dropped, to be honest. Um and so I did a little bit of digging into him. Um but yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see how this goes. I think Queensland's forward pack might just get the better of New South Wales. Um, and obviously they've got the class in the halves with Hayden Watson and Tys Latyo. Um Tyler Pereira, I mentioned him earlier in the year. He was one of my early pathways players of the week for his performances in the Ipswich Jets. He's been really good in Anna Royal Q playing uh centre for the Titans, and then obviously Malmininger Cup he put in a good year for the Ipswich Jets as well. So um, overall, not as much more to talk about with the Queensland side. Um, obviously, there'll be an in-depth preview podcast out tomorrow. I believe it will come out tomorrow. I don't know, we'll see where that goes. Um, but other than that, thanks for listening. Make sure you tune in. There is so much content uh coming out soon. Um, stay tuned to my Instagram. I'll be talking about all the NRL debuts this weekend. Just a shitload to talk about. So uh thanks for listening once again. See you on the next one.