NRL Team of the Week: Round 2

Undisputed Sports – March 20, 2014

Round 2 of the 2014 NRL season was all about the fullback, with two young guns and one veteran setting the bar high.

1.Anthony Milford
2.Pat Richards
3.Anthony Minichiello
4.Jarrod Croker
5.Brett Morris
6.Luke Brooks
7.Trent Hodkinson
8.Ben Matulino
9.Robbie Farah
10.George Burgess
11.Mitchell Aubusson
12.Trent Merrin
13.Shaun Fensom
14.James Tedesco
15.Corey Parker
16.Andrew McCullough
17.James Graham

It’s going to be tough trying to come up with superlatives to describe Anthony Milford for the next 10 years as his NRL career hits greater heights. He’s a rare talent and there’s so much room for improvement left that it’s almost scary. He danced through the Newcastle Knights defense with ease on several occasions and was simply dazzling as he propelled them to victory. Pat Richards was seen as a slightly odd purchase for the Wests Tigers, the Tigers have plenty of young talent already in the backline and many felt the money could have more wisely spent. However, Richard’s return to the NRL has been quite something, he’s scored 3 tries, broke the line 4 times and scored 34 points in two games. If his spiral bomb in round 1 was entertaining, his drop out that went 70 metres on the fly was simply astonishing. Brett Morris ran 213 metres, broke four tackles and scored one of the tries of his career in a fantastic display in the St George Illawarra Dragons win over the New Zealand Warriors. The Dragons have had a great start to 2014 and even from the wing Brett Morris is one of their key players.

Many were shocked to hear that Minichiello’s hatrick against the Parramatta Eels on Saturday night was his first. He’s scored well over 100 tries throughout his decorated career and his hatrick was well deserved. He spent time not only at fullback but also on the wing to allow young gun Tuivasa Sheck to roam free in the middle and despite the Eels pathetic defense it was a very good performance from Minichiello. Jarrod Croker scored two tries and laid on another in a brilliant display against the Knights. He was carrying a niggling injury that prevent him from kicking goals but you wouldn’t have known it as he had a field day against the Knights' defense.

Luke Brooks has played three NRL games and has been absolutely brilliant in two. He and James Tedesco showed the rugby league world their almost telepathic connection as they tore apart a very flat Knights side. Brooks set up three tries and scored a beauty of his own in a performance that reaffirmed any doubt of him not yet being NRL standard. Trent Hodkinson also recovered from a relatively poor round 1 performance with a try and three assists against a lethargic Cronulla Sharks. He was also on perfect form with the boot as he kicked a perfect 7 from 7 conversions.


Read more: www.zerotackle.com/nrl/nrl-team-of-the-week-round-2-12678/#ixzz2wYohZjcp