He came off the bench yesterday.

No he didn't. He came out of the dressing sheds and was on the field for kickoff.

I watched about 40 mins of Friday's game v the Broncos and he seemed to be having a bit of a poor game.

My bad. I only saw a bit of the match and he seemed to be wearing number 20(?).

agreed. No disrespect to Sarginson, he is a very good honest pro and SL standard back/player, but considering the quality and depth they have in the NRL in the three quarters he falls short in comparison. Same goes for Turner who went to Canberra, he isn't a patch on the backs they have there and never will be. that isn't a sleight, just reality. Can't knock either for trying it mind and they will easily find a club back over here any time so no risk really.

Another good piece on Widdop and his red hot form. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 7a4fe8969d

Another good piece on Widdop and his red hot form. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 7a4fe8969d

He can only prove his worth by letting his football do the talking and he's been excellent so far.
Looks like SGI are trying their hardest to retain him now to play alongside Hunt after looking like he would be surplus to requirements.

They'll be kicking themselves they didn't tie him down early season when he wanted to sign - his asking price will have sky rocketed based on his form.... I still wouldn't hang my hat on him if I were running a club.

Don't forget St George have a much improved pack this year. Vaughan is arguably the stand-out prop of the competition so far and getting on a roll obviously helps the halves out, but Widdop has been having a great year so far.

Sarginson on the other hand had an absolute shocker last weekend and given the strength the Titans have in the centres when fit, he could have a job getting back into the first team...

Sarginson's first game after a foot injury though, he'll get more time.

I was at the Broncos-Titans game and Sargison was terrible in the first half, and got taken off immediately after dropping a pass that led to a try (classically looking at the tacklers not the ball). That wasn't long after a really poor effort tackling Boyd where he just seemed to let him go. He came back on later and was clearly told to dig in, as he had a fair few runs from acting half. The good news for Sargison is that the Titans don't have a lot of strength in depth, so he'll get more chances. The bad news is that with the signing of Copley, he won't be in the team at all if everyone is fit.

Like I said about Burgess, Eden and Hardaker, the sheer physicality of backs in the NRL is miles ahead of SL. It took Burgess most of the year to adjust, Eden looked like a wet lettuce throughout, as did Hardaker, and now Sargison. I'm pretty sure a 2015 (or 2017) Hardaker would have done better, but in his first appearance for the Panthers one of the commentators reckoned he was 10 kg too light, and that's the way he played. Being pushed off by one of the smallest players around, Ben Barba, just about summed up his defensive efforts.

That's why England need to pick backs who are either big or at least really enjoy the tough stuff. Ideally both.

You can probably add Tomkins to that list as well. His footwork and ball skills helped him to at least make a go of it in the NRL, but it terms of winning collisions he never stood a chance. Some Wigan fans might object, but ultimately his time over there was a failure.

If Joe Wardle wants to have any sort of career over there, he'll move into the second row as soon as he can.

Tomkins played like an extra halfback for the Warriors. The glaring weakness in his game wasn't defence, where he worked hard and ended up being pretty reasonable, but in kick returns. The best fullbacks in the NRL make big yards and/or regularly get quick PTBs following contact. Tomkins would get absolutely smashed, so the Warrior ended up having him pass to a winger every time. I'm pretty sure that if he'd stayed in the NRL he would have ended up at 6 or 7.

Hodgsons sledging of Dylan Walker came back to bite him in the bum.
What a game.