Well I really don't know where to start guys, I really don't. I'm just lost for words atm. So, so gutted that words can't describe it. It's just so friggin heartbreaking to lose like that and have our season ended when we were on the cusp of something special in 2018. Words just cannot describe how shattered I feel right now and it's gonna take me a while to get over this I'm sure, we were so close but we just let it slip and it sucks. I've only just moved from being spralled across the couch with my head in my hands since the game finished and i'm not gonna lie, I've shed a few tears. Now some of you might think this is an over reaction or tell me to grow up but it's just because I love this club so friggin much and it's a huge part of my life, ever since I was a little fuller, I've been so emotionally invested in this club and it really hurts to have the dream ended so close to it becoming a reality. I just don't know what to say.
I think I'll keep this a bit shorter because all I want to do right now is go to bed, not that I'm really gonna get much sleep but anyway. I'm also not gonna go into too much depth on the season as a whole just yet because I'll be doing a full season review at a later date.
The performance tonight was so far removed from the normal Souths side of 2018 that I just don't know what happened. We looked low on energy, looked nervous and didn't look composed at all. There were times there where you wouldn't even have been able to tell it was a finals game. Credit to the Roosters, they were really good and their line speed and aggression frustrated us but I think we played really poor tonight and we never really fired a shot. Attack was all over the place, nothing really worked at all and execution was way off, it was a sorry sight to watch at times. Defence was actually not too bad, the right edge looked super shakey but our scramble to shut them down was mostly good. We just lost our composure tonight and from there, it was all over really.
Johnston: Didn't really offer much, kept stopping when he got to the line which called all momentum and came up with a couple of turn overs. Did have a couple of nice runs but that was about it.
Graham: Running game looked strong, he just didn't do enough of it for mine. Came up with a few stops in defence but also came up with some poor, crucial decisions. For the Roosters first try, he rushed in on Tedesco when Gags already had him covered.
Inglis: He wasn't bad but when we needed him to stand up, he didn't which is the most disappointing thing. Looked dangerous but he just wasn't involved enough at all.
Gagai: Pretty quiet, had some decent runs and some nice shots in defence but just didn't really do a lot.
Jennings: Tried super hard but was well contained and his impact was limited. He just wasn't able to get those post-contact meters like he normally has been sadly.
Walker: There were times there where his running game looked great and he came up with a couple of half breaks but kind of went missing for most of the game I think.
Reynolds: Kicking game was decent for most of the game but then he lost his composure and it all fell away after that sadly.
T.Burgess: Very well contained and had no where near as much impact. Some of his runs were great, really strong with a quick play-the-ball but for most of the game he was quite quiet to be honest.
Cook: Probably the worst game of the year from Cookie and it came at the wrong time. To their credit, the Roosters barely allowed him to run which limited his impact. But then he came up with some awful errors like poor kicks and passes, the normal executuion just wasn't there.
G.Burgess: To be honest, I'd pretty much say the same as what I said for Tom.
Sutton: In a though night for all, I though he was one of our best forwards. Still didn't have a large involvement but he looked like busting through on a number of occasions.
Crichton: In his last game for the club, he was sadly very quiet so there's not really a lot to say.
S.Burgess: Like GI, we really needed him to stand up but he didn't. Was kept quiet all night and produced a few errors in a dissappointing game.
Hunt: Didn't get on.
Murray: One of our best for sure. It was just his usual, run hard, high work rate and a lot of defence performance. Did come up with a few errors though.
Britt: Solid, did his job.
Tatola: Didn't really do much that I can remember to be honest.
But yea, sorry this is brief compared to normal, I'm just in quite a state at the moment and am not really in the mood to do anything, I'm absoulutely devastated.
Also, please don't see this as me turning on the boys, I love them all so much and will always stick by them, I'm just gutted with the way they played and it wasn't good enough. Maybe I'm being a little tough too, I'll have to have a proper look at it once I've got over this loss which may take a wee while.
It's like we just got overawed by the enormity of the game which I guess is understandable, we haven't been there for a while and there are a lot of young guys in the squad. I guess this finals campaign is going to teach us some valuable lessons moving forward into 2019.
Absoulutely heartbroken that 2018 is all over for us but what a ride it's been! I've loved it and despite the awful end, it will always be one of my favourite seasons in Souths history. To finish 12th in 2017 and then almost win a Premiership is an amazing achievement. Saying all that isn't really helping the way I feel atm but I'm sure that in the next couple of days I'll look at all this far more positively, this has been a real positive year for the club. I mean, I never expected that we'd have the year we've had, it's been amazing. I'll expand on this further when I do my season review but I think the future is bright at Souths.
I just love this club so much and it really sucks to have the dream ended for another year, there's tears in my eyes as I type this, I'm not afraid to admit that. These next few days are gonna be hard for all of us.
As they say, you've got to lose one to win one and I really hope this turns out to be true.
