St George Illawarra Dragons vs Wests Tigers ANZ Stadium, Sunday 24 July 2016 Kick Off 4:00pm 1. Adam Quinlan 2. Kurt Mann 3. Euan Aitken 4. Taane Milne 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Gareth Widdop 7. Benji Marshall 8. Russell Packer 9. Mitch Rein 10. Tariq Sims 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Joel Thompson 13. Jack de Belin Interchange: 14. Michael Cooper 15. Leeson Ah Mau 16. Jacob Host 17. Jake Marketo 1. James Tedesco 2. David Nofoaluma 3. Tim Simona 4. Kevin Naiqama 5. Jordan Rankin 6. Mitchell Moses 7. Luke Brooks 8. Aaron Woods 9. Dene Halatau 10. Sauaso Sue 11. Josh Aloiai 12. Chris Lawrence 13. Elijah Taylor Interchange: 14. Tim Grant 15. Ava Seumanufagai 16. Robbie Farah 17. Kyle Lovett 18. Joel Edwards
I've always been a big fan of Taane Milne, he's got some errors in him that he needs to work out of his game but he's got the skill set to be one of the better centres if he can just get a consistent run in First Grade.
Didn't see much but a good win against a team we should easily beat which is encouraging. Nofoaluma is becoming what I thought he'd become after 2013. Definitely should be in the mix for origin next year on the right. It's round 20 but Naiqama and Nofoaluma still can't get on the same page defending that edge. At this point I'd say it's probably Naiqama. He's too good in attack to justify dropping but something's gotta improve. Brooks and Moses keep trending upwards which is obviously great. Locked in long-term and still only 21/22 maybe there is hope after all. Moses I've always backed and he seems to finally be delivering, but even Brooks is seemingly reverting back to his form in his first season under Potter. Halatau and Taylor is a strangely effective hooker rotation. Can't help but feel someone like Segeyaro coming off the bench even for a 20 minute stint would be helpful while these guys rotate in the back row as well. With that said 80 minutes of top level middle 3rd defence from the position and competent, albeit barely, service to the halves who can then spoon it onto the backs/Tedesco where our real strengths lie is perhaps sufficient. As far as the pack goes, it's much maligned but Woods/Sue/Seumanufagai/Grant I honestly don't think is that bad a prop group. Woods is obviously one of, if not the best in the game. Grant's actually been solid this year and Sue and Seumanufagai have made consistent improvement since debuting in first grade and at 24 & 25 are building towards their primes. Chris Lawrence has become a solid 2nd rower, Josh Aloiai I don't really have a gauge on but he's 20 so hopefully things go up. Kyle Lovett is a passenger and meh Joel Edwards. Sironen's been nothing but a disappointment so far between poor performance and injury and now that he's turning 23 I think it's reaching the point of if something happens its a bonus. Hopefully a young bloke can step up from the 20s/NSW cup but I really think our top priority should be another second rower. Backline I suppose is worth mentioning as well. Tedesco, Nofoaluma and Simona are obviously cemented in their positions. Naiqama's defence concerns me but like I said, he's not getting dropped when he's that dangerous with the ball. Rankin like I've also said before is just kind of average. Doesn't make mistakes and if more physically gifted would probably be a quality winger, but fact is he's not and we likely need someone who can offer us more. If we could get a quality left winger and 2nd rower I think based on our current trajectory we should be a top 8 side next year. Offloading Farah's 1 mil a year would definitely give us the opportunity to do that too.
