Finally got a chance to see a replay, it was quite a relief because you blokes had me expecting a complete disaster... but it wasnt that bad a performance at all... and dont forget that ive been Price's most passionate hater since Early 2012 (i.e. before it was cool).
This is what I took from the game:
Pro's:
o Our attack: We were more unlucky than usual, several of our tries were denied with freakish last second touches from a Souths defender, and BMoz dropping a sitter from Widdop over the line... we definitely asked more questions than usual, even though we are clearly still very rusty, but we should have scored 12-18 more points.
o Widdop: was fast and dangerous all night, great cut out balls, hes the man our future is built on
o Dugen's injury: means Quinlan gets game-time, a silver lining
o Peter Mata'utai: I need to see his defence, but so nice to see a powerful aggressive centre in our squad (its why Vaivai should have had time in 2013), I keep mentioning this has been our weak spot, im not big on Farrell yet and Runciman is classy but still very much a work in progress, hes not going to hit the ground fending off all comers, hes still a boy.
o Ah Mau: as others mentioned he kept breaking the advantage line, the only player to do so... his size and mongrel has continued from Late 2013.. again just need to see how he handles things defensively, but at worst he comes off the bench as an impact player, tbh we need 1 or 2 big boppers.
Con's:
o Souths without their playmakers: They were without their halves Reynolds/Keary for 80 minutes & fullback Inglis for 40 minutes, yet they still scored a try every time they came up the field, definitely a lot of gelling to do defensively and offensively for us.
o Our Forwards:
----- o Hunt/Creagh: move quickly, but they're pretty small and they didn't really look to push through the defensive line.. more bounce off it.. Creagh brings a lot to the table he's a keeper, but Hunt needs to play out of his skin to retain a spot.
----- o Stockwell/JDB: 2 More players I keep losing in games, they're not plodders by any means, but I lose them in matches, they're doing hitups but they're not particularly aggressive.. it is a trial match though
----- o Thompson: By no means should we judge him on so little football, but I cant help but wonder whether he could be the other dominating centre we need.. depends on beale I think, havent seen him play yet. I dunno just spitballing, lets see a few more games and see who stands up.
o Goalkicking: Early days for Widdop, but he didnt look super comfortable, id suggest hes still working on his technique, im sure he has the skill for it no problems, but hes also got a tonne of other responsibilities i.e. running the entire teams attacking game & our future captain.
o Who plays #7: Williams deserves plenty more time yet but I keep losing him in the game unless im looking specifically to find him 'hey, wtf has williams gone?', I mean Widdop is running the show fair enough, but id like to see more touches, more running at the line. As others said Witt literally touched the ball 2 times, and Stanley well as mentioned hes stuck @ hooker right now.
o Kyle Stanley: This poor kid for the 3rd time now is out of position, hes out to sea @ hooker, surely Garvey is the man if he wants a hooker on the bench, Kyle can throw a nice long ball, but hes not threatening the line and hes in slow motion, telegraphing everything because its not natural to him. Hes also huge now, im really worried hes lost his acceleration, really would like to see him as the Cutters #6 and find out for sure what hes still got, otherwise hes just holding up the development of real players.
o Rein: I watch him with a critical eye thesedays, but hes also incredibly predictable in his running, I just wish Price stuck to giving him 40-50mins tops, use fresh legs, give us some spark, not Kyle though, someone whos going to run forward before passing (garvey or witt)
Conclusion:
Basically its a team trying to gel still, and a couple of bad player selections from Price as per usual, but there is some potential there, we would have liked the team to fire out of the gates, but I can appreciate it might take real 1st grade games to find that form/teamwork. However Price might not be at the helm by that point since he allegedly has a deadline.
