btw here are my thoughts on the individual players
Boyd 40 minutes, outstanding positionally on kick returns as always, carted the ball back hard when he needed to, and looked to link with the wingers at other times. In attack as mentioned elsewhere, liked seeing him closer to the action
Morris 40 mins. All class on kick return and from dummy half. Very hard to handle. And brilliant in defence closed down a threatening Dogs raid with a superb ball and all tackle. Bit rusty down in the red zone though, spilled a Soward pass on his chest that would have been a try assist, and mistimed a few leaps for attacking kicks. No big deal, he always starts slow
Tagive 15 mins. Not much to go on, and not much point discussing it since he looks gone for the season. Hes a very big man. Struggled to contain little Barba opposite him. Probably should have scored just before his injury.
Emmett 50-60 mins. Hate the way he holds the ball out in the palm of his hand like that, surprised Bennett hasnt necked him. Looked ok otherwise, quite stout defensively
Nightingale 50-60 mins. Bumping off players as always, and busy from dummy half. Went in field late in the tackle count looking for the bomb, which I liked
Soward 40 mins. Nothing spectacular. Looked quite good defensively
Hornby 40 mins. Dont quite understand the bagging hes received after this game? He shouldve had two try assists by halftime, first Tagive didnt take the chance, then Thorby bombed one big time. And the team looked really well organised despite being a little shuffled. And there was the brilliant take from a dicey Merrin offload. I thought he was more than fine
Prior prop 40 mins, centre 20 mins. Still looks a tad light for prop, but his footwork at the line helps overcome that a tad. Might be an option there this year
Fien 40 mins. Very very good for the first 20-25. Played the role most fans desire from their dummy half. But, Im not sure if its a mental/concentration thing or a stamina thing with the extra defensive load, but he faded towards the back end of the half.. came up with poor passes and some pretty lame runs.
Weyman 40 mins. Not quite as spectacular has his effort in this fixture last year, but still nice. Perhaps a tad underdone as he was slow at times to mark up in defence, but his hit ups were quality
Smith 40 mins. As mentioned elsewhere, is promising out wide. However we miss his work in the middle in defence, controlling things and slowing down the ruck.
Creagh 25 mins. Unhappy start knock on from his first touch. But was strong from then on. Got a minor injury and wasnt sent back out
Young 40 mins. Also missed his work in the middle. Otherwise it was standard from Young ie, a lot of work, nothing spectacular
Green 20 mins in each half. Mixed bag. Bit slow laterally in defence
Thorby 20 mins in each half. Down the list in my opinion. Bombed that try, looked a bit suss in defence (Idris second try was from a Hannant line-break - the gap was caused by a slow Thorby)
Merrin 45-50 mins. Top game from the big man. Is set for a steady role in the 17 this year Id say
Stanley 25 mins centre, 40 mins five-eighth. Great talent, no doubt. Had a big task when replacing Tagive at left centre, but did it well. In the 2nd half he looked confident distributing and took the line on. In defence was quite good helped create the Lett try by defusing a chip, and made a nice ankle tackle on Paea that caused an error
Goodwin 40 mins fullback. Didnt do too much, compared to Boyd looked amateurish positionally at the back. But no errors and showed some confidence. The winning conversion was a beauty, nice salute to the crowd after it as well
Lett 40 mins centre and wing. I like his jinking style out of dummy half- its effective. Nice sprint to score as well, although Barba was mowing him down fast
Vickery 40 mins. Had a bit of a shocker for Shellharbour earlier but was more than solid in the top grade. Had a real lot to do for that big try at the end but did it well, good strength and evasion
Henry 40 mins. Is being a tad overlooked in the game reviews Ive read. Im paying him a lot of credit for that winning try he knew Idris was hurt after a shoulder charge attempt on Thorby and sent the ball out his way. Good vision, very confident ballplayer.
Saffy 40 mins. Played on after a painful knock to his wrist, but was less than his best
Priddis 40 mins. Well, I feel sorry for the Shellharbour hooker Vatuvei, because he played quite well and Priddis will be taking his spot all season long
Greenfield 40 mins. First touch was a knock on and in defence he was less than were used to from our frontrowers... but he has great skill with the ball and it was on show the other night. Definitely in the mix for the 17
Marketo 30 mins. Strong for Shellharbour on both sides of the ball... looked comfortable defensively in first grade. Mickey Paea was a bit of a handful for them but Marketo hammered him
Scott Jones 25-30 mins. Didnt do anything of note.
Hunt 40 mins. His skills as a defender were wasted at lock, needs to be in very tight. Was terrific however in all facets, the standout player of the second half
Bosden didnt play. A magnificent defensive cameo for Shellharbour earlier in which he destroyed anything carrying the ball. Brad Morrin wont forget him in a hurry. I think he copped a bit of a head knock during that game though which may be the reason he was rested
Paulo didnt see him. He may have played for Shellharbour though (number 23?) Not sure if it was him if it was he was very hard to handle with the ball, poor defensively
