Quote: Stu M "I agree that we were messy after that opening spell. However what infuriated me was the constant pointing out that St George weren't at full strength, however no reference to the fact that for the second half we had no Lomax, Dodd, Welsby, Percival, Roby, Hopoate, Batchelor and Makinson.
At one point Ben Davies made a break for Lussicks try that was disallowed for a forward pass and Corey Parker said it was great play by Welsby. He wasn't even on the field.
The second half was very sratchy with all the changes.
On a side note, Ritson showed his speed in open field with his try. He will definitely give us strike if he gets a few games, the lad can finish.'"
My favourite moment of the game by Corey Parker was him saying what a great battle it would be next week between the 1,6 and 7’s, listing players like Edwards, Cleary, Luai and…..DEAD AIR…..and Vossy has to chip in and throw him a lifeline by saying Welsby
There was a difference in strength of the teams from the off tbh. St George were probably at 50-60% with guys like Sloan, Hunt, Bird, Su’A, De Belin, Molo, Woods and Fuimaono not playing. I think Saints would’ve battered their full strength team playing at that pace in the first 20 minutes but it was a tough game to get a handle on. When the changes started to come through in the second half, Saints brought on top 20-25 players but St George were bringing lads on who won’t get anywhere near an NRL game this season, even if they pick up a load of injuries.
Saints can take huge comfort from that first 20 mins though and if they can replicate that over the 80 minutes, they’ll give it a real crack.