Souths Till I Die
First Grade
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I dont think Canberra have the ability to grind out games like they used to over the past couple of years. Souths by 12. AJ for 3 tries.
f**k I was pretty close.
I dont think Canberra have the ability to grind out games like they used to over the past couple of years. Souths by 12. AJ for 3 tries.
Thems the rulesRicky spat it over the obstruction rule because his player stood in the defensive line and made no effort to get out of the way.
So its ok when his players are dirty,eg tapine was holding feet and guernsys all night, trying to upset and hold our players down, but he cant take the rules, its ok when they try and strip the ball continuously, they got 7 or 8 restarts, ok we got the same in penaltys but penaltys are given when a team does illegal things, restarts are really up to the refs interpretation and can go wrong,its impossible we didnt deserve any. Luck is a big factor in winning games,we have been lucky the last 3 games,very luckyThems the rules
If it wasn't the obstruction he would have found something else to whinge about. it's what he does best.Ricky spat it over the obstruction rule because his player stood in the defensive line and made no effort to get out of the way.
Rickys been very upsett and derogatory lately whinging at the press conferences,i think he is due for a 15k loss of money.
Thems the rules
He did, he whined about the penalty count, and the holding down in the ruck. You could hear the reporter respond, "but you got 7 to nil set restarts." Ricky said, "the play the ball and the ruck was so slow."If it wasn't the obstruction he would have found something else to whinge about. it's what he does best.
Yes, the first was clear cut, the second one was less so but Gagai appealed straight away when he tried to make the tackle so there was some legit concern about being obstructed from making the tackle.Yep. If a decoy runner stands in the defensive line, the onus isn't on the defender to move out of the way.
I thought the Gagai obstruction was soft though correct in the way that the rule is interpreted. Gagai wasn't going to stop Wighton there no matter where CHN was.
Canberra can only blame themsleves for losing that last night. The club has gone backwards three years to a team that is slower and lacking in fitness compared to everyone else in the comp and it is showing in their second halves.
After watching the replay, here's my full report,
Walker: Man, Cody was fantastic at fullback last night, had one hell of a game!! Was involved in so much of the good stuff we did throughout the 80 minutes. He was a heavily marked man early with Canberra constantly jamming in but to his credi, he was able to shake that off and star. His first 'big play' came in the first half. He'd been probing on the end of our backline shifts all half but found some real joy when he drifted over to the right, got a pass off a shift and then delivered a superb short ball to Cammy to go through untouched. But then Cody really stepped it up in the second half, pulling off two massive plays down the left where he laid on the final pass for both tries. Both plays were impressive from Cody but it was the movement for Gagai's try that was particularly special. Cody gets the ball from Benji and he's in a bit of space but there's still a bit of work do do as there's a number of defenders in the picture. But Cody's evasive skill see's him hold the pass as the defence holds off and he delays this pass just long enough to put Gags over. Pass too early, and the play dies so that was nice from Cody. Yes, I know he's not a fullback as he did drop a high ball and was getting hammered on kick returns but I tell you want, he's a damn good fill in! One of our best last night.
Johnston: A decent, solid game from AJ, not a lot to write home about. However, he did his job and that's all you can ask. A pretty good running game as he got through plenty of work, finishing up with 106 meters. Finished the play for his try nicely and I thought he was pretty good in defence. The Raiders last try obviously came down AJ's edge but I don't think that was anyone's fault in particular, we were just stripped for numbers.
Gagai: Once again, a nice, consistent performance from Gags. 106 meters off 11 runs is very good for an outside back and it just goes to show you how much he did fr us. Was safe in defence, no errors and finished up with a try too in another awesome game from Gags.
Graham: Speaking of awesome games, Cammy had one again too! Just went about his business with plenty of strong runs coming out of our end which saw him earn 127 run meters. Ran a beautiful line off Cody late in the first half for his try, that was pretty to watch. Didn't put a foot wrong on defence either. I know they scored that try out there on the right edge but there wasn't a lot Campbell could do about it really. Another good game for Campbell.
Paulo: Had another tough night defensively. He just really seems to struggle with his positioning and can't seen to read the attack that's coming his way at all. Then there was that grubber in goal that was absolute child's play to clean up, yet he makes a meal of it which was a terrible blunder. I will give him credit for his running gamre though, that was strong, as was his presense under the high ball. otherwise Jaxson has a lot to work on and I'm worried about him, it's not first grade standard.
Marshall: Not quite the spectacular game of last week but he was still very good I thought. A few nice touches early on and he was scheming. There was twice we attacked left and the Raiders winger jammed in and hammered Cody, Benji obviously took note of this because a few minutes later, we get back down there again, set up a similar play and this time, instead of hitting Cody or Gags, he see's the winger begin to jam in again so he throws a beautiful cut-out pass for AJ to stroll over. Did make an error with a poor pass over the sideline but otherwise performed his role to perfection on attack and this was evident for Gagai's try where he squares up the line and plays direct, this means Curtis Scott turned his shoulders in and the play was over at that moment, a try was always going to be scored. Great play from Benji. Showed his Football smarts again with that whole obstructuon issue towards the end, he played that perfectly.
Reynolds: Fantastic game from Reyno too. I'll start with his kicking game which ws fantastic, especially in the second stanza. He put one out on the full early on but that did not deter him as it was a masterclass after that. Perfect kicks to finish our sets and they had the Raiders pinned down theie end for much of the second half. Then there was his goal kicking where he kicked seven from seven which is very special. I liked his play with the ball too, just look at the play for AJ's try. That was brilliance from Reyno as he fakes to kick which holds the defence back as they're not sure if he'll kick or not. That allows the space for Benji and Cody to then pick the defensive line apart after that, great play. Then there was the beautiful pass for Keaon to burst through and set jaydn up. Great game Reyno.
Burgess: It was just the usual bash and barge game we have come to know and love from Tom. The stats of his game probably don't tell the full story as he only ran for 91 meters but I still feel he was intrumental in laying that platform for the win in that second half especially. A decent game that was full of strong runs. His defence was on song too as he didn't miss any of his tackles.
Cook: A bit of a quiet game but I wouldn't say Cookie was bad. His running game wasn'r really there last night but that's okay because he performed his other roles to perfection. He wasn't getting many opportunites so focused on his other roles instead. Was bringing the forwards onto the ball really well and as always, such a big defensive performance. So a quiet game by his standard but still solid.
Arrow: Did a good job in his first start this year. Nothing flashy, just 100% effort. That was evidence in Jai last night as he competed in every play. Helped to set up the platform with Tom as ran for well over 100 meters and had an impact in both his stints.
Koloamatangi: What a game from Keaon!! Was shifted around a bit after Murray got injured but it didn't faze him at all as he ended up having a wow of a game! You could see he was hungry for work and he just kept going hard all night with quality hit ups and some bruising defence at times. A great inside-out line run from him off Reyno's shortball that saw him rampage right through the hole and then he showed us his skill once again as he delivered the pin-point pass to his mate Jaydn for a beautiful try. The only negative of Keaon's was his misread for Elliot Whitehead's try as he just let him skip to the outside of him and that's all it took. Still, Keaon was one of our best out ther last night.
Su'A: After a very average game by his standards last week, Jaydn needed to step up in Round 8 and boy didn't he do that?! he was immense all night with that hard, agressive running out on that left edge and some late footwork had him looking very slick, he even threatenend to break the line a couple of times. His defence was solis and it was fantastic support play off Keaon late in that second half to see him slide over for the first time this year, onlyt the forth try of his career.
Murray: Not much to comment on as he sadly went off with that ankle injury. Apparently nothing major though so hopefully he's allgood.
Nicholls: Played increased minutes due to Cam's injury and handled it well. As always, didn't do anything special but din't miss the mark at all, it was just a good solid, no frills game from Nicho.
Knight: Had a shaky start with that error in his first carry but shook that off pretty quickly and ended up having the best game I've seen him play for a long time! Such a big impact off the bench as he provided lots of go forward at a rapid rate. Ended up with 148 meters which is huge off the bench!
Host: Not a lot to say about Hosty but he still had a solid game in a good stint. 10 runs for 103 meters is awesome!!!
Mago: Similar to Knighty, he ended up making an error on his first carry but had a great game afyer that. Really wound up on each run and he looked so hard to stop as a result. A number of times there'd be defenders hanging off him but he'd still be pumping those legs to go forward.
So not the perfect game, and we still have heaps to work on but I'm just so stoked to get the win!!