Oooooh yea!! Best start to a Season since 1989 baby! That win takes us to 10-1 and we've gotta keep it going. A great game last night, both sides were really up for the contest and it was a high quality game. We put in a bloody good performance and just always seemed to be in control.
In terms of attack, it was awesome last night. So direct and there was some real purpose to everything we were doing. The forwards ran with a lot of intent and dominated the Tigers pack for a lot of that game, we had that good of a roll on that the rest of the side seemed to really thrive. As a result, guys like Cook and Reyno were able to work their magic and we scored some brilliant tries. This also came off the back of patient footy which was good to see. Also, despite errors late in the game, we held onto the ball pretty well and had a high completion rate.
Defence was also very solid. It wasn't only the goaline defence that was impressive, the the defence in general too. I thought the boys did a really good job of being aggressive, getting up in their faces and really limiting the Tigers meters each set, it was awesome to watch. Then there was the goalline defence which was pretty on point. We did concede 16 points but I'll cop that, that's pretty good against a quality side. The lads managed to turn them away on multiple occasions just when the Tigers were looking to build pressure. I was also pretty happy with the defensive dicipline.
Allan: Was solid. Corey did a good job last night without being outstanding. His positional play was pretty good, he returned the ball very well (seemed to have a lot of confidence in this area of the game) and I liked some of his work coming out of our own end with the hit ups he was taking. Chimed in well in attack. A solid performance.
Hiroti: Mawene was okay. he had a few good runs and looked likely to score a couple of times but I still would've liked to have seen him be a bit more involved. Other than that, he was fine.
Lowe: Didn't set the world on fire out in the centres as expected but he did do a job for us. I was impressed with him defensively (despite making a slight error which lead to the Marshal try) and I think he provided us with some solid runs coming out of trouble. Not a bad game from him, like I say, he did a job and that's all we need at the moment.
Gagai: Was good. He was really busy all game taking a lot of hit ups and he looked super dangerous on a few of the runs he took as he threatened to break the line multiple times which was outstanding. Looked good in defence but I was a bit disappointed with his ability to provide Mawene with quality ball. We had a few opportunities down that right side but Gags just couldn't find the pass. Wish him all the best for Origin.
Graham: Solid all game. It was a good steady game from Cammy, taking plenty of hit ups and making some nice meters to help give the forwards a rest. Fell for Benji Marshall's dummy which lead to his try, had a couple of errors and got beaten in the air by Marsters for a try but he was otherwise pretty good.
Walker: It wasn't as spectacular as we have come to expect from Cody but I think he still put in a pretty good game. He was busy organising plays and directing the boys around for a lot of his game because he had to step up and take on this role once Reyno got injured. he still looked like a real threat whenever he touched the ball and he provided some great play to set up those outside him. I thought his kicking game, despite being a bit one dimensional, was pretty good and it was a real joy to see him skip across to the right side and get involved in the play at various times. Would love to see him get picked tonight.
Reynolds: What a cracking first half from him. It's such a shame he got injured because he was on fire! A wonderful kicking game that was really pressuring the Tigers and off the back of some good kick chase, we were able to pin them near their line more often than not. Reyno's running game was on too, his try was beautiful to watch!! A real scare when he went down but I'm glad to hear the reports today that he was okay. I wouldn't be suprised to see him get picked for Origin.
Tatola: Made a good contribution last night. He looked angry and it was great!! Ran with a lot of aggression in his hit ups and got those big legs of his pumping for a lot of post-contact meters. A very good game from Junior.
Cook: Once again, I find myself in awe of another stunning Damien Cook performance. Some of the stuff he did last night was all class. Great vision for two lovely try assists and then to start and finish the play for his try was just wow!!! Stepped up in terms of kicking once Reyno came off and did a hell of a lot of defensive work as always. Another amazing game heading into Origin.
T.Burgess: Tom was damaging last night. His runs were barnstroming, he had a lot of them and in most of them, he was able to find his front and get up for a quick play-the-ball. Tom is starting to become very consistent in his games and hopefully that continues.
Sutton: Pretty solid. Had a good work rate out on that left edge and I really enjoyed some of the ball playing he was doing. That ball playing increased as he stepped into Reyno's halves position in the second half and I think he did a pretty good job throwing some crisp short balls which almost paid off a few times and his short kicking game looked good considering he hasn't played in the halves for years.
S.Burgess: A much improved game on last week and he was back to his normal self. Sam was obviously still aggressive but he didn't get dragged into all the niggly stuff and just focussed on his job. He quite clearly targetted Luke Brooks and gee wiz, Sam ran some fantastic lines which paid dividends. I did notice that throughout the game, he missed a number of tackles but he was still one of our best regardless.
Murray: What a game from Cam!! Close to 150m, a huge work rate and to top it all off, two tries!! Cam was outstanding and he just didn't stop going all night. I feel like he touched the ball in almost every set he was on the field. Some of the offloads he pulled off tonight were crazy, he had no right to get the ball away for a few off those offloads but somehow, he did. Cam was well rewarded for a great game with two tries too. He was probably our best last night.
G.Burgess: Not too much to say. He didn't do bad and had a few nice runs but to be honest, I feel that he didn't really provide a huge impact off the bench. It's time for George to step up in my opinion.
Nicholls: I feel like I say a similar thing for Mark every week in that he got out there, took his runs, made his tackles and just did a good job for us but that's because that's what he does every week! He is a consistent performer and despite an error late in the game, that was no different in this one.
Britt: Didn't get much game time but he did have a couple of solid hit ups.
Knight: Was really good, I loved his work when he came on. He just runs so hard and seems to bend the line back every time!! Was so awesome to see him get his first try in the Red and Green too!!
I'm pretty happy with that performance, we won pretty comfortably in the end against a good side and to be honest, we were in second gear for most of the first half.
