Outstanding displays by English players in the NRL this week : Sat Apr 19, 2014 11:54 am
First there was the Friday night clash between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, in which Sam Burgess was excellent but James Graham was better. Graham was named Man of the Match by Fox Sports.Then on Saturday the New Zealand Warriors played St. George-Illawarra Dragons, a game in which former Warrington journeyman Mike Cooper stamped his mark on the NRL with a very impressive try running hard from 15 yards out, in the manner we have become accustomed to from George Burgess. Cooper also played well in general off the bench, with his strong running and tackling. Yet this very good try of Cooper's was eclipsed by a brilliant solo effort of Sam Tomkins. The sidestepping and swerving from Warriors full back Sam Tomkins resulted in a try that kept the Warriors in the match. However it was another Englishman, Gareth Widdop, whose steady hand as play maker, field kicker and goal kicker steered St. George-Illawarra to a victory.
George Burgess was out injured this weekend .
If the form of these individuals can be sustained, you can expect the NRL clubs to be making approaches to other Super League players, especially Tommy Makinson, Joe Burgess, Tom Briscoe, Zak Hardaker and Kallum Watkins.