With the NRL season less than a month away it is interesting to note the selection headaches facing Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan and St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor.
Their fortunes couldn’t be any more contrasting.
Let’s start with the Sharks. At the moment the NRL premiers are in desperate need of fit outside backs. If you’re a Sharks fan planning on getting down to watch the round one clash with Brisbane make sure you bring your boots. You might get a gig.
With Ben Barba’s suspension, and now departure, there was always going to be a re-shuffle. But with news that Valentine Holmes (hamstring) and Sosaia Feki (knee) are struggling to make it for round one, Flanagan is facing a problem.
That leaves Gerard Beale and Jack Bird to play fullback or centre, and Ricky Leutele from last season.
Highly-rated Jordan Drew would have been a chance to come in but the former Junior Kangaroo suffered a bad concussion in the trial loss to Brisbane and is also unlikely.
Kurt Capewell might be a chance of getting a run in the centres but even with his addition the Sharks will still need to find another outside back if Holmes and Feki don’t recover in time.
The Dragons are the complete opposite, with McGregor having to figure out how he gets two incredibly talented youngsters into his side.
Halfback Jai Field and fullback Matt Dufty were stars in the Holden Cup and introduced themselves to the rugby league world at the Nines.
Obviously they lack experience in first grade but I would be picking them for round one. We know they were arguably the best of the best at under-20s level. How else do they get first grade experience? They need an opportunity.
A back line of Dufty, Mann, Dugan, Aitken, Macdonald, Widdop and Field behind the Dragons’ strong pack will scare plenty of teams.
If reports that McGregor is under pressure are true, taking a punt on youth might seem risky. But it might also be the spark to ignite the Dragons.
Sharks, Suns clash
The NSW NPL 1 season is only a month away and our two local sides, Rockdale City and Sutherland, played out a 2-2 draw in a pre-season friendly on Sunday afternoon.
Sutherland’s Japanese import Tomohiro Kajiyama opened the scoring before former Sharks captain Jordan Figon – now with Rockdale – equalised for the Suns. Jeremy Cox put Sutherland back in front before Patrick Savor equalised again for Rockdale with a free kick.
Tszyu II
It was great to see Rockdale’s Tim Tszyu make it two wins from two as a professional in his win on the Mundine-Green undercard on Friday night.
There is plenty of buzz surrounding boxing in the area at the moment with the emergence of Tszyu and the success of George Kambosos Jr.
There is a lot more to come from Tszyu. I’d say remember the name, but that won’t be a problem for most.