Yeeeeaaaahhhh boys! So good to finally get three wins on the trot and continue our strong finish to the season! As a Kiwi in NZ I absolutely love beating the Warriors for the bragging rights lol!
We looked really disinterested and were lacking energy many times in that first half and I really thought it was going to be one of those nights. The defence was lazy, our dicipline was pretty bad and we lacked direction in attack at times. However, to the boys credit, we managed to stay with them in the first half despite us being a bit off and then went Kaboom in that second stanza when we actually held onto the ball and had possession.
As I said, the start really wasn't great but there is good signs there. We scored some awesome tries and seemed to gel a lot better as the game went on. Our attack is improving and I think that's partly down to Cody going back to 5/8, we just look a lot more dangerous as has been shown over these last few weeks. I think the kicking game still needs work though and Reyno really needs to get it sorted.
Defensively I thought we were a bit off the whole game. It was great at times but I noticed for most of the game there was a real lack of line speed which gave the Warriors easy metres. The left side looked really dodgy too, there seemed to be a lack of communication and they all came up at different times. But I think that's partly down to the fact that Graham and Gray have hardly played together and they should improve.
I'm just so happy to get another win!
Johnston: How good? How good? Dropped that bomb early on which lead to the Warriors first try but that was Goodwin's fault if you ask me but he shook it off and was all class from there. His kick returns were good and that's an area of his game that he is improving along with his passing game. He's actually starting to create space and set up tries on both sides of the field which is an awesome sign. How about some of the tries he scored? Just brilliant and he's now on 22 tries for the year. A real shame that it looks like he's done his hammy but it's okay, only two games left and AJ has done more than enough, I just hop that he doesn't get caught for the top try scorer. Another great performance.
Goodwin: A little dissapointing a must say. Some of his runs were strong but at the same time, came up with a few poor errors. Didn't communicate with AJ which lead to a try and had a couple of other errors. Let's hope he's better in his last couple of games for us.
Fuimaono: Looked a little flat early on but he got into his groove and found his rhythm. Chimed in with some nice runs to get us out of some tricky situations. Not his best game but he wasn't bad.
Gray: See above. He was kind of the same. His defence was average to start off with and that left side looked really shaky but it did improve as the game grew older.
Graham: Not as involved as his previous games but he wasn't bad. It's clear already that he has a strong running game and he does a good job of helping the forwards. As I mentioned earlier, I think the average defence was because him and Gray have hardly played together. Anyway, I'm liking what I see in him, he has ticker.
Walker: Was good. Looked pretty dangerous all night and he created a few chances. We just look so much better with him at 5/8, I love him at second receiver. But yeah, he probed all night and his try was sick, good game.
Reynolds: Not the best. His kicking game was really off. They barely built any pressure and his tactic seems to be to just bomb and hope for the best. He deserves some of the blame for this year as his bad kicking game was really hurt us. Even his goal kicking was a bit off I hope he can turn it around because he's one of my favourites. In saying that he did have a few good plays, taking the line on a showed some off the cuff play for his try.
T. Burgess: Not as explosive as last week but wasn't bad. He still had some nice driving runs and was bumping off defenders. He seems to be running with more purpose and is slowly getting back to where he should be. Good signs.
Cook: Had a few bad plays and bombed a try just after half time when he went left but there was a clear overlap to the right. Apart from that, he was really good. Got the boys rolling forward and provided some spark when we were lacking. He's just so quick and was constantly keeping the markers guessing. I hope he's the number nine next year, he has to be.
Musgrove: A wee bit quiet if I'm being honest. He just didn't have his normal energy and hard running tonight but I'm not sure why. He did improve a bit but was still not up to where he usually is.
Sutton: Like Musgrove, wasn't looking good early on. Was taking some poor options in attack and we seemed to slow up when he got the ball. But again, he did improve and his running game returned. Set up one of AJ's tries with a beautiful inside ball.
Crichton: Really, really good. Barnstorming runs and he looked really dangerous as always. I was hoping he's streak away for a try when he grabbed that loose ball but Issac chased him down. I reckon Angus was one of our best tonight.
Murray: Speaking of good, Murray was friggin amazing! He isn't a really big forward but is so strong. Had some really, really strong charges and poked his nose through a few times. Has great to see him get his first try though pure determination. Not to mention he is a great defender. We've got something special here.
Farah: Again, not much to say, I don't know why he's still there. Offers nothing anymore and we look way better with Cook. Farah is just a waste of space atm imo.
Turner: Was good without being great. He did his job with some nice runs and wasn't bad in defence. Unlucky to not score.
Gosiewski: Suprising! He was great, ran so hard and looked pretty aggressive with great energy. Looked to have been injured but was fine lol. I liked the look of him and he provided some real impact. Some of these young guys are really exciting!
G.Burgess: Was good. Like Tom, he wasn't as explosive as last week but still had a few good runs and he did his job. In defence, he didn't look as lazy and he was actually making an effort to get to an attacker instead of just slapping at them. Did make that one error when he tried to offload but that's okay.
Overall, I'm pretty happy. We'll need to be better next week but It's just good to get a win and the fact that it's over the Warriors is even sweeter! It's the first time we've won three on the trot this year which is nice.
