This forum is generally filled with a lot cynics who like to bag the club and cry out for the coach to be sacked and player clean outs to be undertaken every time we lose a game. Tonight proved that there is enough quality in this football side for us to compete for top 8 finals berth. Many people will says that we were not up against quality opposition but if anyone has seen the Tigers games recently, they would have seen that they were more than a competitive unit for the likes of the Sharks, Eels and even the Storm at times. I think full credit needs to go to coach Maguire for the way he set up his team. The balance of the team looks much better with Cody Walker at fullback as playing there not only maximises his involvement but enables him to play at second receiver; when he plays at five-eight he often gets into first receiver as the modern no. 6 plays like a halfback but on the other side of the field. I'm not so sure why Alex Johnston wants to play fullback; the only reason why he should want to play fullback is if he wants to play like a conventional five-eight - something which I don't think he can do. Alex Johnston's main skills are his speed and his ability to break the line when returning the ball - attributes which can enable him to excel just as much on the wing as at fullback.
Moving John Sutton to five-eight was a good move as the former skipper brings stability when he plays there. The fact that he plays so direct not only creates space on that left hand edge but provides much needed assistance to Adam Reynolds in straightening up our attack when start going too lateral. Lastly, I think Michael Maguire showed his tactical nous in reducing Adam Reynolds' involvement, especially on the last tackle - a sensible decision for a player who is out of form. By having Farah and Sutton assist in our last tackle plays, it too much of the pressure off Adam Reynolds and allowed him to regain a bit of form, especially when we gained a healthy lead.
The most pleasing aspect of tonight's performance was both our defence and our discipline. We only gave away 4 penalties all night and I can't remember us conceding one in the second half! I also feel our goal line defence and our defence in general was a massive improvement from the debacle against Manly. In particular, I thought our outside backs seemed to communicate much better with Hunt and Goodwin in the centres and Gray and Johnston on the wing. I hate picking on players but Talakai makes far too many defensive errors for my liking and its no secret that our left hand edge looked more sound with him out of the team. Finally, I thought our handling was pretty good tonight given the conditions too. Many people are going to have a go at Tom Burgess and rightly so. Yes he made 3 handling errors in the first 15 minutes but I thought he responded quite well and put in a decent second half performance. On the whole, the Burgess twins' handling hasn't been all that bad this season - this game was the worst so lets not be too hard on them. Overall, I thought the way we played really helped in keeping the ball one to two passes off the ruck and playing up the middle with the outside backs chiming in with dummy half scoots.
In terms of individual efforts, two performances really stand out for mine. Firstly, I think Robbie Farah proved just how much of an asset he can be and why he is a superior hooker to McInnes. The hooking debate has been going on for years now on these forums and I'm sick to death of people knocking Farah. Anyone who doesn't understand what it means when we talk about hookers controlling the game only needs to look at tonight's performance from Robbie. In particular, he gave an absolute masterclass in bringing the Burgesses into the game and maximising their strength. What confounds me is why we haven't been using similar plays with Burgess charging onto the ball off Farah more often this season?
That brings me to Sam. Quite a few people on here question his value to the team and tonight's effort shows why he gets the big money. He was simply inspirational and gave a perfect performance of modern front row play by combining strength, footwork, toughness and ball playing skills. In particular, the last of those attributes have really come to the fore and add another threat to his game instead of being a battering ram all game. Angus Crichton continued his good form and looks a really powerful edge runner; I like the combinations he is forming with the halves and Sam Burgess. Also Cody Walker looked threatening every time he had the ball; fullbacks gives him so much more freedom to utilise his footwork and agility. I think it is easily his best position! Overall, there were no really bad performances tonight!
In summing up, this effort counts for nothing if we play like we did against Manly next week. We are going to face bigger tests than the Tigers but if we are as disciplined against other opposition as we were tonight than we are a chance. Its become cliche in rugby league but if complete our sets and hold onto the ball, there is enough quality in this team to trouble the best.
