Battle For Bega Drink Of Choice – Scotch Duncan’s Whisky
In the pursuit of a higher cause the Parramatta Eels and Penrith Panthers transformed their Battle Of The West into the Battle For Bega as Western Sydney rivals took their preseason derby to the country. The weather seemingly smiled on their good intentions and provided a gorgeous Saturday afternoon and from there both the Eels and Panthers obliged as they put on a damn decent show for the embattled region. Fittingly, when all was said and done, it ended in rather storybook fashion as the two teams took the see-sawing contest to the final play of the game where it ended a 22-all draw.
The broadcast opened to the positive news that the flurry of business brought to Bega by the whirlwind visit of the Eels and Panthers had injected roughly $5,000,000 into the local economy. It was a fantastic tone-setter for a day of celebration and a credit to every individual and company involved in the effort.
To the footy now and after a couple of weeks of looking at the bigger picture through the lens of hindsight it is time to crack the fingers, pour a generous tipple and let the musings spew forth from my twisted mind for the first time this year. Some say my process isn’t too dissimilar to the exorcist although I have been informed that the 1973 film is significantly less traumatic to witness. Read at your own risk.
Before I inflict you all with my heinous thoughts from today’s trial I would like to give a quick thanks and shout out to our sponsors. starrpartners (patron sponsor of this particular blog as you can see above) and Easily Green have both re-upped their support of TCT for 2020 and it means a great deal to our little site.
Fanfare for Moses
The city of Philadelphia built a statue for a fictional boxer, would the city of Parramatta build a statue of Mitchell Moses if he can lead the Eels to the promised land? Asking those sort of questions – especially this early on – has gotten supporters in plenty of trouble in the past as lofty hopes and expectations have been brutally crushed under the merciless weight of reality but on this particular day I choose to spit in the eye of fate.
Irrespective of my decision to incur the wrath of the footy gods, it can not be denied that Moses has enjoyed on hell of a preseason. I can only assume that in between field sessions with the coaching staff and specialised lessons with Andrew Johns that he has been listening to a training soundtrack comprised of the best of Bill Conti’s Rocky soundtracks on a non-stop loop while pumping iron.
While the media were gushing about his stunning two-try effort in the postmortem of the game he stole show in defence for mine. His newly earned status as too-swole-to-control was perfectly captured in a moment where he robbed Josh Mansour of physical agency near Parramatta’s try-line in the manner that a disgruntled father would effortlessly disable a child on a sugar high. It was a singularly awesome feat of focus and power and a cathartic endorsement of Mitchell’s commitment to bettering himself over these last two years.
Errors open the way for easy points
While I came away largely pleased with Parramatta’s intensity and execution in defence it was by no means perfect as Penrith scored four tries on the day. The good and bad news is that three of those tries were scored directly off the back of errors from the Eels.
Good news because it was otherwise tough sledding for a pretty slick Penrith offence to grind their way into Parramatta’s red-zone in general play. Bad news because firstly Parramatta made three bone-headed mistakes (care of Moses, Gutherson and Evans) and secondly that the Eels cracked three times from that self-inflicted pressure. The mistakes are easily rectifiable but Brad Arthur’s men will need to find more resolve on their goal-line and their ability to absorb pressure in those situations will be one of the metrics against which they will be measured when it comes to the likes of the Roosters and the Storm.
Funnily enough, individually none of these tries were particular cause for alarm on a mechanical level. Jaeman Salmon and Reagan Campbell-Gillard provided a brilliant, if untimely, example of the conservation of energy in a human equivalent of Newton’s Cradle as they met Nathan Cleary at the same time from opposite directions to disrupt each other’s tackle attempt for the first try. Parramatta were always going to be in a dire position when Maika Sivo dropped an ill-advised pass from Gutherson on his goal-line during a kick return and while there was a somewhat flimsy case for Blake Ferguson dealing with interference on Penrith’s third try, his initial swing-and-miss at batting the ball dead capped a pretty ordinary day for the star flanker.
Beyond that I thought the Eels defended quite well barring the odd case where strong initial contact wasn’t followed through on allowing an offload. Moses was a standout in defence as I mentioned above but Parramatta’s middle forwards were all well involved here as well.
Finally, Penrith’s fourth and final try gifted Will Smith with an undesired slice of preseason infamy as he was left with shattered ankles and clutching at thin air as Brendan Hands put him on a highlight reel.
Junior Eat World
Who exactly plays which instrument is up for grabs but this was the first time we got to see Parramatta’s rock star triumvirate of middle forwards together in 2020 and good golly miss molly did they do some dirty deeds in the middle.
Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Nathan Brown absolutely looked the part under the gentle Bega sunshine and laid a platform worthy of a would-be contender. With Junior and ‘Reg’ proving to be great foils to each other through two healthy stints, Brown was the big beneficiary as he fed off their powerful early carries and constantly threatened the Penrith ruck with his special brand of deceptive speed and late footwork. I wouldn’t expect any Parra fan to be sleeping on his ball-playing talents either but he gave the rest of the world a sharp reminder of them when he laid on a silky pass to Shaun Lane for a half break in the first half.
Health will be the deciding factor on just how devastating this trio ultimately proves to be in 2020 but I’m a believer and they will be a hard act to follow for the bench.
Different game, same names
Preseason story lines are some of the exciting and investing things to bear witness to as a fan and the rise and rise of Marata Niukore, Ray Stone, Haze Dunster and John (Sione) Fonua has been a constant factor in every game they have participated in this year. In fact it was Stone, Marata and Fonua (with a serious sprinkle of Jai Field who was again intriguing) who combined together on the final play of the game to guarantee an improbable draw and an outside chance at stealing the win with a sideline conversion.
Niukore displayed his adaptability as he flashed on the left edge today just one week removed from his menacing effort on the right edge against the Rabbitohs at Ringrose Park. For the second time in two weeks he was denied a try by some desperate last-ditch defence but he got the last laugh at Bega when the brilliant coalescence of his hard-nosed running game and offloading ability forged the opportunity for Fonua to dive over out wide.
Whether intentional or not, Niukore does a phenomenal job at selling an overs line to the defence as he opens up his hips and shoulders – suggesting he is getting ready to catch the ball as he fades away from it. Instead he runs the hard straight line to create the line-break and then showed all the poise in the world to pivot through contact and find Fonua with the money ball.
For Fonua, he continues to be the right man in the right place at the right time. That is a hell of a trick to pull for the third preseason game in a row and the Parramatta junior is building a compelling argument for a development contract for the 2020 season.
Stone and Dunster delivered all-round solid games with the former scoring a try through hustle and taking his battle for the bench utility role with Brad Takairangi right down to the 10/03/20 deadline for Team List Tuesday in Round 1 while the latter consolidated his case to be considered the first drop winger.
The smoking gun doesn’t lie
Big time players make big time plays. That was the premise under which Blake Ferguson was identified by the club as a core recruitment target and while this player isn’t near Origin selection at this point of his career, Oregon Kaufusi made the biggest play of the game with a bone rattling hit that forced a turnover that would lead to Fonua’s try.
Kaufusi was a handful for the Penrith defence throughout the second half save for one errant offload that came after a particularly powerful charge. The very same run left me with my heart in my mouth when replays revealed a shocking and gruesome hyper-extension of his left elbow but the young bull immediately shook it off and made a number of tackles in the next set to make up for his error.
On a day where Peni Terepo failed to impress, Kaufusi looked a class above working from the bench and his inclusion in Round 1 could give the Eels a potential difference maker to pair alongside Kane Evans in the secondary front-row rotation.
The Final Word
I could have written more about how Reed Mahoney looks ready to take his craft to the next level this season or how Jaeman Salmon, barring an early defensive blemish or two, was plenty more than useful working at centre in place of Waqa Blake but my rants must come to an end at some point. So here is that precise moment…well sort of.
There is plenty of room for polish before Round 1 but I can’t help but feel that ‘BA’ will come away from this game, and indeed this entire preseason, reasonably happy. A dash of luck alongside some brilliant work from the conditioning staff have the Eels with all hands on deck and looking sharp ahead of their grudge match with the Bulldogs.
Throughout the course of the season Parramatta will need to be constantly hitting new levels of play and channelling untapped potential as they look to keep pace with the competition heavy weights but for now they have earned a place themselves near pole position with Round 1 in sight and that is all that we can ask for as fans at this time of year.
Nailed it Forty!
I tipped a Panthers victory on the basis of this being a much needed trial. I don’t think I was far off the mark, as I reckon that the team will be better for this run and the coaches can take plenty from it – the positives and the aspects that require tweaking – ie errors that come from decision making.
It’s hard to go past what we saw from Moses and our middles today. Outside of that, Ray Stone gets the 14 jersey based on his efforts, and Oregon emphasises that he is in the mix.
The other aspect that you want from a trial is not showing too much of our hand. There wasn’t a great deal unleashed in attack, just a couple of tastes of second phase and shifts. Apart from that, our wingers didn’t see a huge amount of action and didn’t feature in any try scoring plays – and we all know that Parra love a winger on a try scorers list during the BA era.
Pretty well sums up my thoughts too, sixties.
I couldn’t help but think that the halves have a lot more tricks hidden in their cabinet ready to be used in a couple of weeks.
One area of concern for me was Mahoney’s passing from dummy half. I’ve noticed this at times last season too. I paid particular attention to his delivery and at times he threw bullet passes a couple of foot above the receiver’s head. Other times he ran a couple of metres then passed and didn’t fool anyone, resulting in the receiver having no time and basically being owned by the defence. I hope he sorts this out soon.
Otherwise this game was pretty well what I expected. A few too many errors, but it was a trial. I’m hoping Dylan takes his game to a new level this year and gives Mitch a bit more help.
Can’t wait for 12th March.
I can assure you of one thing Grunta. Reed is incredibly dedicated and is the last person off the training field at virtually every session.
No fake news there Forty, great summary. That first Riff try went penalty, error, tackle miss just when I thought we were settling into our work against great energy from a Koroisau-led game plan. Penrith were creating a bit more time and space than us but our errors assisted their finishing. And the non-error try featured more space than Wyoming in the middle after we assumed a tackle that became an offload. Enough of the dark stuff, totally agree Forty, there were heaps of good signs, our starting middle, the bench,Moses with plenty of upside from guys like DBrown, Lane,Mahoney, Sivo, Ferguson and Jennings, No Waqa Blake (but no Kikau, Fisher-Harris for Penrith).
It was a trial, but a very solid one. Big difference between that as a trial and the charity shield, which was a bit of a mess.
I was pretty happy with yesterdays performance. The boys made plenty of mistakes but the forwards got us into good field position pretty easily and some key players showed some great form.
For mine Kaufusi needs to be in front of Terepo in the pecking order. Peni has had plenty of time to cement a spot but his handling and brain explosions still mean he has question marks over him every game.
I’d push for Oggy too.
Alot to like and alot to not like about yesterday. I think centre is Salmons best chance at 1st grade hes not a half this much we know.
Im curious to see what becomes of Jai Field i think hes an improvement on will smith.
Stone and Kafusai have impressed im particularly impressed by the improvement in Stones service from dummy half
Offside, it’s all based on putting the time into Stones development. He has the versatility to cover every forward position – middle, edge, dummy half.
And a player like matto can cover the backs if a reshuffle is needed. I think Stone is a must over Takka who is a better option backs/halves but lacks as a forward
Indeed. There is a versatility across a few players who can cover various positions
BA and Kidwell have had all off season to fix their ruck defence, and it seems like nothing has changed. I still believe Stone isn’t the answer at dummy half, there’s more to being a dummy half than defending, his passes are slow, and not crisp enough for the on coming runners.
Terry, he’s not a dummy half option, he’s a bench option to cover Reed should he need a break. Not sure what I’d do if Reed gets injured.
Then he’s wasting a bench option. Don’t know why people keep talking him up. I suppose time will tell.
You’re not a fan of his and perfectly entitled to your opinion. Why do people keep talking him up? Because they rate him. Again, their opinion which they are also entitled to. Ultimately the only opinion that matters lies with BA and the coaching staff.
So who would you have as a bench option? Stone can cover the 9 spot as well as the back three forward positions, when Reed needs, and I mean needs a rest, especially in regard to the amount of defence he does, who better than Stone to cover that spot?
Stone for his size is one of the most tenacious and hard hitting forwards with the eels, and does have good hands and abilities to read a game, proof of that is with the scoring of the try against the riff.
Great to read the 1st musings for 2020. The Eels mistakes piled the pressure on themselves & defensively we didn’t measure up – readily “rectifiable” but clearly a gap to the top teams.
The middles looked the goods. Reed, Moses DBrown look sharp. Some serious pressure coming from the next gen – kaufusi bending the line, salmon did a ton of defence and showed some good footwork, marata impactful, Dunster/fonua look ready to debut.
The trial highlighted the depth, some tough decisions for BA around Alvaro, Taka, Peni and balancing the next gen with experience.
The bench is obviously the toughest call.
I watched the “top” teams and didnt see the gaps you mention , every side was full of trial game errors and brittle defence !
I was slightly more pessimistic about our performance. Thought our attack was pedestrian but hope that’ll change as they play more games. As you said Moses was the star with ball in hand and without, think he is SOO bound (at expense of Cleary?).
What was most worrying was our defence and I saw nothing yesterday that looked any different from last year. We sat back and waited for attack to come to us, our straight line was anything but and we got off tackled players far too early for my liking. Our line is compressed too much allowing easy metres down our edges so all in all business as usual, bugger! Was hoping for a major change otherwise we’ll just make up the numbers as usual. Time for Kidwell to go.
Glenn, I think it is a slightly pessimistic take, but I agree that defence is still not where it needs to be. I reckon you could say the same about most teams, except the two that made the grand final.
Great start to the year Forty, I agree with your thoughts and those who have commented as well. Mistakes get made in trials. It’s the first opportunity to play under match conditions against true opposition, even if the full NRL intensity isn’t there. As has been mentioned, the hiccups observed in the game can easily be identified and addressed by Brad and crew by the start of the season. At the risk of ginxing things though, I just hope our mental game and away issues have been dealt with. Only having 3 home games in the first 10 rounds could make for a difficult start if they haven’t.
I guess those first ten rounds will give us an early answer on that front Fletch.
A very good read as usual TCT team. I would just like to ask about Sione (or is it John) Fonua. He seems to be taking the limited opportunities with both hands and demanding people notice him. He has good hands, backs up well and finds himself in the right place at the right time for a couple of tries. I remember him being in that young team a couple of years that lost the GF inexplicably, with D Brown and Taipari. I take it he’s not in the 30 this year, but surely a viable W Smith replacement for 2021? Cheers, Luke
He’s trained in the full time squad Luke. I’m thinking he’s probably earned a development contract. We’ve watched Johnny come through the pathways and he’s showing the benefits of an NRL preseason.
I give us 5/10. But we still drew the game. The coaching staff will get more out of the game than if we played better and won by a fair margin. We let Penrith get off the ground too easy and thus they got good go forward. Plenty of good hits but not enough stick. Didn’t use Lane & Matto enough.
What I was most enthused about was Stoney, Kafusi, Dunster & Fonua. They made good contributions with the time they had and Oggy’s hit to force the error so we could tie it up was telling. I was looking for someone to do it and it was good to see a rookie take it upon themselves to make a difference. Marata’s pass was all class as well. If these guys keep up the hard work the guys above them will need to be on their games which is what we are all looking for.
The refs in good form too, giving the Panthers 3 extra sets by missing two knock ons and calling six again when it was kicked into Sivo’s leg from less than a metre away.
Plenty to work on for the next two weeks and no reason be complacent going into the first game
So a pass mark to the refs mate?
As I said above, I thought that we didn’t show our hand too much in attack. We have a couple of useful edge players and wingers who didn’t get overly involved, which for me is indicative of holding back a bit.
Wonder if the lengthy as usual for us discussions on Lane’s extension. Is having an impact on his game, not that he’s hesitant, more that there’s little impetus.
Understandable that players if overpaid upset the balance , but hope we get both Lane and Reed over the line before the start of the season, last year with Gutho there was a pick up in form once his future was decided.
Derek, it was interesting to hear Gutho’s retrospective comments on the impact of his protracted discussions on his form last year. But, who causes the delay? The club, the player, the agent?
The point was more that these prolonged negotiations appear to have an impact on the player, wouldn’t want them to extend into the season. Lane has been with 4 clubs already, would probably be in his best interests to stabilise himself.
Actually believe the club know values pretty well and agent is trying for more, see where it goes. Overall it was a performance comment and what impacts individuals ( as per Gutho).
That is what Gutho said.
Tuesday week will be an interesting day at around 4pm when the team to face the dogs will be put up, with the main interest on the 14-17 players, also if Blake is available to play.
After watching the Bega trial, and a game I both enjoyed and was frustrated with, we certainly have some talent coming through but doubt they will in the top squad though. Who gets the last spot in the side is a big call, and for me, I would be looking at Field to fill that spot, its going to be an interesting dual between him and Davies for the backup 7 spot, Field I think has it in front of Davies on goal kicking an his ability to read the game better.
OF those I watched as being in the last 4 spots, I put Stone, Kafusi Evans & Marata as the 14-17. Watching the game I noticed how Nathan Brown went into the front row in the scrums, which suggests to me that he will be the reason why Alvaro becomes the 18th man, with Stone, Kafusi & Marata taking the replacement rolls. Probably will be wrong though.
I think I’m leaning towards that bench being selected too Colin. No disrespect to any player who misses out, but that seems like a bench that will do the job.
I’m not sure that other contenders for a spot are better than that 4, however, I would say that training and the first game will likely determine much of who will be the bench players.
Can you clarify for me sixties the set up regarding how many players need to be signed, sealed and delivered by the first round please? I may be wrong but last year I seem to recollect that clubs had a month or more after the start of the comp to have their 30 man squad complete, seems to be now they have to have it pre the first round.
I notice a change in the development squad players since Stefano was elevated, and still 2 players noted on the eels list (zero tackle). The bringing in a train & play contract for Field is interesting and would like to know the external details of those contracts, if he is not signed to an NRL contract making him the 30th player, is one thing but with his limited NRL time at the saints playing in the NRL, does that prevent him from being signed on a development contract? Would not like to see a repeat of the Lamb aspect again.
Colin I think it is June 30 for the 30th player.
If that is not correct I feel fairly certain somebody will advise us
Have been reading in several areas where it has seemed to have changed as each club needs to have a 30 man squad by season kick off.
I haven’t read anything like that Colin. As far as I’m aware it’s June 30.
I saw it on a couple of news sites, hope its wrong though.
Have u seen field defend
Firstly thanks to TCT for the pre seasnon and trials reporting and as always a pleasure to read. Looking forward to the real football now.
It was good to watch the trial on the weekend just to see Parra play again and it really went as you’d expect with some good and bad of most things. While I’m in agreement with most things everyone has commented on IMO it’s what we do AFTER a mistake that stops us being a top 2 team. Let’s face it, every team in every game of the year will make mistakes but the very top teams will minimize the damage after that by conceding no points. Their first 3 trys came from our mistakes , so the debate about who gets what position while entertaining becomes a little bit irrelevant because unless we can fix this problem it won’t matter who plays where we won’t challenge for the title.
Cheers for the reply A.B. What you are pointing out is obviously resilience. That’s the Head game aspect, and the one that I feel separated the top 4 from us last year. It’s what we have to address to make the next step. Who gets what position is still relevant because the coach wants those that he selects to not just have the talent but to possess that resilience.
100% spot on Sixties. They only need to watch the difference in terms of who we played in both semi’s last year to see the difference with intensity and line speed. The semi against Melbourne was v disappointing in terms of errors, and we had effort but this alone will not win games……execution etc is the key and being patient.
AB could not agree more. We need to be able to repel errors and defence is the key. This is the main thing for me, we fix this we go a fair way to being serious semi finalists and gaining respect. It was a trial, and for me the first 2-3 months is the key.
Milo, a good start in 2019 saw us go into the top 8 then stay there. I hope we can do the same in 2020.
Well written as always Forty20. I thought we were pass level nothing more. I dont think LANE or MATTO are getting quality ball or are just not running correct lines because they are being easily contained which was not the case last year. SIVO is very very quiet and FERGO had a off game but he is a superstar and will bounce back.
We are clunky in attack and our defence is still very much hit and miss. I really like the look of FONUA he reminds me of a very young MILFORD and he is strong and puts himself in the game . Both DUNSTER and FONUA are players to watch IMO.
When BLAKE comes back he creates additional opportunities with his footwork and speed. It will come together but I think we may need to be very tough mentally to knock over the Dogs in Round 1. They will frustrate us and spoil us and we have shown in the past we dont like that type of footy team.
Trying not to be negative because I saw how hard they worked in the off season but the bar is high and we have to find a way to jump it. Not through it.
I observed the same with the edge Paul, but I don’t think we aimed to fire big shots there. I reckon we kept it to some basic shapes.
What we know is that both Fergo and Sivo are weapons on the wings and will turn half chances into tries. It will happen.
Yes TCT it was a trial game, a game to workout where they are at. It was a tough hit out – a serious game for Penrith.
As for Penrith if only they would play as if they were playing Parra every week. They would have an excellent chance of winning the comp.
I am not sure whether Parra understands how Penrith lifts against them. This will never be a local derby for them it’s all ways going to be a grudge match. They really wanted to win on Saturday, trial game or not. For them it’s bragging rights.
Parra did well for their really first big hit out.
Moses was outstanding. Six penalties for the match is a bonus although there was three straight against them. Four tries is a worry but, still time to work that one out.
Mahoney’s passing game was below his usual standard. I thought Stone went well as did Nathan Brown. Ferguson can really be a mixed bag at times. I agree with 40/20 I think Parra held back a bit and came out injury free. Although I noticed Matterson’s leg was iced up.
Did get some insight about the resilience of Dylan Brown – that tackle really hurt but he pressed on. How fast is he compared with some of the other speedsters?
I hope Parra do not underestimate Canterbury. They had two good trial games. It’s their defence that’s working for them.
My 14-17! is Evans – Maranta – Stone – Oregon K.
18 – 21 Salmon – Polar – Taki – Smith.
If Blake is out Salmon in. (He is a trier).
Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed reply Zero58. I agree with your bench but Taka is the interesting decision. For mine, he’s not a second grade player. He is definitely the go to player for injuries, but does he also get a bench spot? I think his skill set is insane, but he doesn’t always take the right option.
Interesting observations about Penrith. With so many ex-Panthers at the Eels, you’d think we’d understand that “hatred” of Parra. To be honest, I thought Penrith played a very well controlled game, and like us, didn’t show too much of their hand. They might just have a decent year.
Forty I was a bit surprised to see Alvaro come on so late in the game. It indicated to me that he has possibly dropped down the pecking order.
If this is the case then I am quite surprised by this action
I was happy with the game overall. It appears no injuries. They did not give a lot away. I like Sixties will be happy to see a return to our typical game with the Wingers getting lots of opportunities
Obviously MM was a standout. He was effective on both sides of the ball.
Most people thought Stone had a good game and I concur with those comments. I particularly liked his effort in the second half where he made about four tackles in a row
As a younger player he was a good ball runner. I am looking forward to see that part of his game in NRL
John, I still get to see Stone’s running game at training as he plays a variety of roles. I guess it depends on what role he plays should he get a bench spot.
I watched that Super League try that was posted. How quick was that winger
How long before Fergo tries that? Would he have the speed to pull it off.
I reckon it’s the skill of the kick that’s crucial. It was a ripper!
As the man said, Nailed it Forty!
The skill and actual (footy in this case) nous required to make observations of any event that goes for more than 1 hour and put those musings into a flowing context is remarkable. To be able to do it with pride and prejudice while keeping the holistic tale mostly unbiased is another thing altogether. Imo the stimulus this creates in the mind of the reader to either challenge, agree or remain nonplussed is the key to a great blog or post.
RCG has certainly added a string to our go fwd and I agree that it has helped both Junior and Brown the elder enormously while strengthening our rotation by keeping another imapct middle on the bench. The suggestion that our two great edge fwds were quiet seems to be a tactic to cause the Dogs consternation when looking for a focus of their attacking defence.
As mentioned, our outside backs appeared to be deliberately deprived of the footy also. It does appear that non our combinations worked on during this preseason were executed for the benefit of our opposition in R1. A brilliant tactic or a dismal pointer to the future. I choose the former.
Rowdy, I reckon we saw that last year especially, when we played the Riff in the trial and then had to play them two weeks later. We kept to our basic shapes, and gained the win. We then threw more their way in round 1.
Thanks for a great off season TCT!
This is my 2 cents on the bench discussion…
14. Salmon (offers more threat & versatility than Stone/Taka)
15. RCG (played best off the bench last year whilst Kane Evans played better when starting imo)
16. Kuffusi (looking sharper than the other middles atm)
17. Niukore (beast/edge/middle)
Thanks for your opinion Matt. I think that BA has shown his hand about RCG in the last two trials. He’ll start him.
It looks that way (Stoney too) – just doing a bit of coaching from the couch as an old no.9.