Well what a performance! Given the circumstances - Parra being emotional and fired up after their points deduction, us coming off 4 straight losses, possession and some shocking refereeing going against us, I'd say this ranks up there with our finest ever wins.
Lets start with the positives. I think that the main reason why we emerged victorious tonight was because we really dug in defensively. I always believe that the first thing you do when you are out of form and struggling is to make yourselves hard to beat and you do that by being good defensively. We did this tonight and what particularly impressed me was that we didn't capitulate despite being down 20-6 at one stage. Our line speed was decent all night but what particularly stood out was our goal line defence. Yes we made some mistakes an conceded a couple of tries we shouldn't have but given the amount of ball the Eels had in our own 20m we could have let in a lot more points.
The forwards also contributed massively to our victory. For the first time ever I think Cameron McInnes looked like a first grade footballer and although he wasn't perfect, I noticed that he was a lot more willing to run out of dummy half. He also look like he had somewhat of a plan in attack and actually controlled the speed of the game quite well. Sam Burgess was absolutely immense tonight; when we needed him the most he came good and delivered one of his finest ever performances. What I have noticed since he has come back is that he has develop some ball playing skills to his game - something he has not previously done. Although many people may write this off as being insignificant, I think his good handling helped lay the platform for a lot of our tries. Nathan Brown also had a great game and looked every bit a front rower. I'd say he has cemented that position, at least for now, as his aggression really helped us get out of our own end. Moreover, he is also quite fast for a forward and has a decent offload to his game. My only regret is that he didn't play at the back end of last year because his positive attitude is infectious. The Burgess twins were also very very impressive and what was good about them was that they held onto the football and ripped in! Tom Burgess has really come along and George is starting to look like the player of old. Special mention also goes out to Paul Carter. The more I see of this guy, the more I like him. Many people will say that he missed a few tackles and let Manu Ma'u get on the outside of him but what is good about him is that he never stops trying and tries to make amends for his mistakes. That goes along way in this competition, particularly in a team that has been criticised in recent weeks for having an attitude problem.
The backline was equally as impressive. I think Greg Inglis' best position is five-eight. Many people are going to be calling for him to be moved to the centres after what he showed at the back end of the game but I think that would be a mistake. The two line breaks he made were against a tiring team; teams will be onto him a lot quicker in future games if we play him in the centres from the start. I would keep things the same - Inglis at five-eight and then into the centres in the last 20 minutes when Keary comes on. Playing Inglis at five-eight allowed him to get on the ball all night and influence the game more. What I like about the move is that he simplified things - he just drew players in and passed or took the ball to the line. One other unexpected benefit that playing Greg Inglis at five-eight has had is that it has allowed Adam Reynolds to play on both sides of the field like an old-school five eight. Subsequently, this has forced Reynolds to assume great responsibility and allowed him to stamp his authority on the game - something that every has been calling for.
Luke Keary also had a great game tonight. I don't know what was said during the week off but tonight, for the first time in a long time, he actually played what was in front of him and didn't run around like a headless chicken. I think he is actually suited to playing off the bench because it allows him to run the football. Against a tiring teams his style of play could potentially win us more games because he can be elusive.
In terms of the negatives, I still think we tend to drop too much ball, particularly at crucial times in the game. In saying that, we recovered in the second half as our confidence grew. Kirisome Auva'a is also a bit of a problem a centre. Not only did he make a shocking handling error but I think he could have done better in prevent Manu Mau's from offloading to Jennings. Penalties also continue to plague us but in saying that, I think Ben Cummins had an absolute shocker! How this guy is a first grade referee I will never know. If we had lost this game I think we could have rightly blamed him for it. Some of the penalties that he was blowing against us were just ludicrous, such as Nathan Brown getting penalised for a 'swinging arm' that hit Isaac De Gois in the chest or penalising Greg Inglis for what was a good tackle. Also, how the touch judges missed Michael Jennings' forward pass that led to Semi Radradra's second try I will never know! Add to that a few silly ruck penalties that never were and Adam Reynolds being disallowed a clear try by the letter of the law and it is fair to say that we had to not overcome the emotion of Parra stadium and everything that has gone on during the week but also the referee as well!
All in all, I don't think anyone would begrudge us a win tonight and I think the better team won in what was a thrilling night of football. However, we need to make sure we back this up with an equally good performance next week. There is no point playing as well as we did tonight if we are going to let old habits die hard next week.
