Country v City
Country Origin 22 drew City Origin 22

2008 City vs Country Index [Draw] [Player Stats]

Location: Australia > New South Wales > Senior Representative Competition: City vs Country

City v Country Player Ratings
Sat May 3, 2008
City v Country 2008 - Player Ratings.

City Team

1. Brett Hodgson - 8
Consistent as always. Saved at least two tries with his last line defence. Had some nice touches with the ball as well. Doesn't have the flashiness of other Fullbacks, but gets the job done.

2. Jarryd Hayne - 7
Put on a couple of big hits and scored a good try. Still appears to be wasted out on the wing. Should try and get his hands on the ball more. Motivation appears to be an issue.

3. Ben Pomeroy - 6.5
Consitent without being a stand-out. Strong in defence and showed good speed for his try.

4. Brett Delaney - 6.5
Struggled to see much of the ball. Strong out of dummy half, which tends to be the only way the players in the Centres can get the ball in their hands these days.

5. Luke Rooney - 7.5
Did the hard yards out of dummy half when needed, but erred when he let Roberts sneak in for the first try. Was always looking to get involved. Showed that he still has the ability to go to the next level. Probably the best winger on the night.

6. Braith Anasta - 7
Nice ball for the Sutton try. Early on seemed content just to catch and pass. In the last quarter of the match he looked to run more when he perhaps realised that Carney's performance was shading his. Will probably keep his Blues spot due to the selectors reluctance to pick two rookie halves.

7. Mitchell Pearce - 7
Did nothing wrong, but rarely threatened in attack. Seems to be the new poster boy for the Channel 9 commentators. Does a lot of the "pretty" things, but just appears to be lacking a certain something that would make him a great Halfback. Tends to rely too much on the high kick.

8. Mark O'Meley - 7
Took the hard yards as always, and reigned in his attempts at throwing too many difficult off-loads. Still struggles with his mobility at times. Would provide enough "muscle" up front for the selectors, but has perhaps seen better days.

9. Corey Hughes - 7
Performed well in his rep debut, and took it too Buderus the whole time he was on the field. Tackled his heart out. Does not show enough creativity out of dummy half, and still looks to be the most awkward kicker of a football that I have ever seen. Should cherish this jersey.

10. Bryce Gibbs - 7.5
Impressed me with his stamina and his enthusiasm. Seems to be able to handle long minutes on the field and not get caught out. Always put his hand up to take the hard yards. Looks like O'Meley from about 5 years ago.

11. Luke Lewis - 6.5
Making a good fist of his new home in the Backrow. Very enthusiastic in defence, but lacks the ability to make the hard yards in the middle due to his size. Showed good hands for the Delaney try.

12. Mark Minichiello - 7
One of the most improved players in the competition. Very busy player who always fights to break free of tacklers, much like his brother. Tends to fall off a few too many tackles though.

13. John Sutton - 6.5
Looked good early, but then struggled for involvement as the match went on. Has a tendency to float in and out of matches. Still appears to be a bit suspect in defence. Did not appear to get as much game time as perhaps he would have liked.

14. Peter Wallace - 6
Provided a lot of spark playing in the unfamiliar role of dummy half. The City team seemed to get on a roll once he came on. Gave good service to Anasta and Pearce. Like most of the interchange players, had minimal opportunity afforded to him.

15. Chad Robinson - 5.5
Minimal game time, which makes it hard to make an impact.

16. Ray Cashmere - 5.5
Also didn't see much game time. Always appears keen when taking the hit-ups. Tall and rangy type of player who reminds me of Ian Roberts in his running style and build.

17. Feleti Mateo - 6.5
Probably saw the most game time out of all the bench players. Always looks dangerous when running the ball and was able to get a couple of his trademark offloads away. Would be a handy utility type player to have on the bench at Origin level.

Country Team

1. Brett Kearney - 6.5
The style of game didn't really suit him. Showed some nice touches, but never really threatened.

2. Amos Roberts - 7
Showed good speed to score the first try for Country. Always looks enthusiastic. Does not appear to have the size that the selectors would be looking for at Origin Level.

3. Joel Monaghan - 6.5
Strong in defence, but struggled for involvement like the rest of the Centres on the field. Made a nice line break, but bombed the try by passing too early.

4. Ben Harris - 6.5
Put on a couple of nice hits in defence. The writing could be on the wall with his recent venture into the Backrow for the Cowboys.

5. Anthony Quinn - 7
Next to Luke Rooney, was probably the most involved Winger on the night. Talked up by Matthew Johns, prior, during, and after the game, but never really did anything special. These types of games do make it hard for any of the Backs to shine though.

6. Todd Carney - 7.5
Was very impressed with his game. Worked well with Finch, and showed some neat footwork to get around Hodgson for his try. Did struggle to get his hand on the ball, at times, but when he did certainly looked more than capable when taking the line on.

7. Brett Finch - 7
Typical Brett Finch game. Nice touches, followed by some errors that gave the other team a sniff. Perhaps could have shared the ball a little bit more with Carney, instead of trying to do it all himself. Combined well with Carney for his try.

8. Brett White - 6.5
Strong early on, but lost his impact fairly quickly. Could hear him grunting through the effects microphone every time he came into contact with the opposition. Was not afforded as much game time as some of the other Props. Didn't punch anybody.

9. Danny Buderus - 7
Strong without being a stand-out. Worked well with his forward pack, but struggled to find opportunities to make metres from dummy half. Will no doubt keep his Origin spot, but should be thankful that Robbie Farah was sidelined.

10. Anthony Laffranchi - 8
Whilst he didn't have the impact he does at club level, his involvement rate was high. Should be one of the first Forwards picked for the Blues. Tends to do his best work when in tandem with Scott Prince, so it will be interesting to see how he goes with whoever the Origin Halfback is.

11. Nathan Hindmarsh - 6.5
Saw him during the warm-up, but then seemed to go missing. No doubt he probably made a 100 tackles, but is currently filling a spot that could be taken by any number of players. Should keep this Rep jumper as his last.

12. Andrew Ryan - 6.5
He, Hindmarsh and Fitzgibbon all pretty much play the same style of game. Very fit player who will go all day, but appear to have lost some of the "oomph" that some of the younger Backrowers are showing at the moment. Tried hard to get Quinn into space on a couple of occasions to no avail.

13. Craig Fitzgibbon - 7
See Andrew Ryan and Nathan Hindmarsh.

14. Ben Cross - 6.5
Another one os Matthew John's favourites. Saw minimal game time and made some nice hit-ups, but was not any better than any other Prop out there. Will probably end up with a bench spot due to his size and previous association with Bellamy.

15. Chris Heighnington - 7.5
Certainly made an impact from the little game time he got. Has been playing great for the Tigers over the past few weeks and carried that form into this match. Would not look out of place in a Blue jersey, but may struggle to get in front of some of the other contenders.

16. Ben Hornby - 6
At one stage he was probably wondering why he bothered to put his boots on, but eventually managed to get on the field. Didn't let anyone down. Has been there and done that before.

17. Glenn Stewart - 6
Looks the good when playing for the Sea Eagles, but never real got himself into this game.

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