Wow, what a game that was!! Seriously, that was incredible!! And we win in ANZAC Round!! A great performance form us tonight and that's exactly the kind of game we needed. The boys were fired up and were on song for most of that game for the first time in a few weeks, it was great to watch in a gripping contest. An awesome show of resilience from us as we really dug our heels in and put in a gutsy effort to come away with the two points. Don't get me wrong, it's still nowhere near our best performance but that was mightly after the last few sloppy games.
Attack was better tonight as we played more direct. Instead of going wide straight away, we earnt the right to go wide by first getting the roll on through the middle. Then, when we did go wide, the attack looked a lot more crisp and had more 'umpf' to it for lack of a better word. We just looked a whole lot more dangerous. The forwards were outstanding in laying the platform too, paticularly the bench which provided great impact. It was high energy, high intensity stuff from us when we were on the offensive all game and despite the wins, we haven't seen that for a while. Completion rates were pretty good which is a bonus. Of course, there is still a lot to work on because even though we did improve and it looked good for the most part, I still think we lacked a bit of direction at times.
Defence was without a doubt the most pleasing thing about that game. Such resiliance we showed defending our own line which is again, something we haven't seen in a while. At times it was just a brick wall that wouldn't let anything past we turned them away that many times. It was honestly simply outstanding because Penrith threw a lot at us but we were able to hold. Yes, they did still score eighteen points but that is all through weight of possession.An awesome defensive performance from us, outstanding.
Johnston: Was really good tonight. Despite the one drop (that we re-gathered) he was pretty safe at the back when under pressure. He was regularly involved in the attack and his hit ups and kick returns were solid. I noticed he was giving a lot of direction from the back which shows how much he has matured.
Allan: Apart from the failed trap of the ball that nearly cost us, he was good. Solid runs with a high workrate and even bagged his second NRL try. His defence was awesome though, he did such a good job with his decision making.
Turner: Really good. Outstanding defensively, everytime Penrith went right, he had it covered and would produce a textbook tackle to stop them. Had a strong running game and that try was all power!! Good to see Kyle confident in his role. Pure power for his try!!
Gagai: Very good, probably one of his best games for a while. He seemed to up his involvement a bit and was doing a lot of the shit work coming out of our own end which was great to see. His defence was pretty solid too and with the help of others, I think he did pretty well on that right edge. The pass he threw for Allan's try was just freakish and it was great support play for his try too!
Graham: Not too much to say but he did do his job with some strong runs. Defensively he was very good too and he came up with some big plays such as ball strips for us. Did make an error or too but was otherwise very good.
Walker: Was one of our best tonight, a great game from him. As I seem to say every week, he just looked so dangerous everytime he got the ball and there was always something happening around him. Fantastic attacking play for his try and the try he set up for Gags, I was just in awe of that. Solid defensively too and saved our asses a couple of times. man, I hope Cody can keep this form up.
Reynolds: After a below par few weeks for Reyno, he responded tonight in a big way! Tonight was a masterclass from him at times with a beautiful kicking game that was constantly pressuring the back 3 and it built a significant amount of pressure for us from both his short and long kicks. He was running the ball too and combining with Cody a bit. Gagai's try was started by Reyno and it was beautiful to watch that little inside ball. The vision he showed at other times throughout the game was amazing. Then there was his defence, it was so good. To handle a big, explosive player like Kikau for the most of the night at his size is incredible. A top performance from Reyno.
Tatola: A bit more quiet than the last few weeks as he didn't get as many minutes but what he did get was mint. Strong runnig game and it was great to see those legs pumping post contact.
Cook: Cookie was a little quiet too just due to the style and flow of the game and he didn;t get many chances to run. Still, his service from dummy half was spot on and as always, had that huge work rate in defence and the few runs he did have were good.
T.Burgess: Tom stepped up tonight no doubt. He just looked more aggressive and ran with more intent then in previous weeks, he really charged into the line did Tom. I was actually suprised by the amount of ball he got as his work rate was actually quite high tonight and he was also trying to put on some shots in defence. He needed to lift and he did.
Sutton: Wasn't bad. More minutes than usual and he did his job with plenty of nice runs using that left foot step. No stuff ups defensively and I guess this is all we can ask of Sutto - to just be solid and do your job. He did that tonight.
S.Burgess: Good game from Sam as always. He was in everything and was super busy all game long as we have come to expect. He made some very aggressive hit ups tonight and made plenty of meters to really set the tone for the rest of the game. The job he did with Reyno on that Penrith left edge was simply outstanding too, hardly anything was getting through.
Murray: Good once again. Just the workhorse performance we have come to expect from Cam with a very high involvement and strong running, almost breaking the line a few times in fact. He generated a lot of second phase footy tonight with offloads too which always helps. I'd like him to just look at his discipline in defence a bit as he gave away some sloppy penalties.
G.Burgess: Not much to report on with George as he played very limited minutes and apart form a good couple of runs, did nothingreally. We need so much more out ot George.
Nicholls: I'll just start by saying that most of our bench was outstanding tonight and I think that is a large part of why we won, they were amazing. Nicholls was part of this as he did his job really well with safe defence, strong running ad the ability to generagte second phase footy.
Lowe: Had a great game tonight and provided great impact off the bench. He was especially busy towards the end of the game where he was making a lot of runs as well as tackles. He gave his all for us tonight and was pretty good.
Knight: Loved his impact the other night when I watched it. Made some quality runs with huge post contact meters and that is all down to the aggression and effort he runs with. The bench were really good tonight.
All up, still not the perfect performance, there's a lot to work on obviously but I'm happy with our game tonight. A much improved perfromance that was very gutsy.