Wow, what an incredible win that was!! I really, really needed a win to cheer me up a bit after this week and gee, it came in spectacular fashion. It wasn't the complete performance from the boys but they should great resiliance, determination and composure to come back and close that one out. I honestly thought we were gonna get steam rolled by this Cowboys pack but the lads held their own and I am super proud of that. It was a massive effort.
Despite the win, I still thought we were still a little off in attack tonight. When attacking the line the boys lacked patience at times and the execution just wasn't quite there whether that be through a clunky play or an error. It wasn't so bad in the first half as we scored two lovely tries but in the second, we came out and looked half asleep. From there, the frustration built and you could see it quite clearly in attack. That saw a lot more of those errors and clunky plays occur. However, to the boys credit, they turned it on when it really mattered and managed to score two great tries to take the win in a great show of resiliance. In general play, I was very proud of the boys. As mentioned earlier, their pack was so much bigger and better than ours but we still managed to match them, perhaps even better them. That was a huge effort, bigger than I think a lot of people realise. We have just beaten a rep level forward back with a bunch of young guys (mostly). It was so awesome. Tonight, we did make a few too many errors I feel, especially at times when I felt we were on top but would then turn it over and let them back in. That is a work on as is our second half effort.
In defence, I'd give the side the pass mark for tonight. The Cowboys through a shit load at us but we were able to hold on more often then not and turn them away or force them into going for goal which was really good to see. There was a couple of disappointing defensive lapses though for the Cowboys first try as well as their third (I couldn't believe that one, the lack of communication was shocking) which will need to be worked on but overall, I was happy with the goaline defence. In general play, I was getting quite annoyed through that tough period of the second half because of our line speed. It was almost non-exsistant and I feel we need to be way better in that area.
Doueihi: I must say, he didn't really impress me tonight. Did make a couple of good runs and kick returns but otherwise he didn't offer much. Ads hardly chimed into attacking plays at all, his positional play was poor and made a couple of silly errors that could have been avoided.
Gagai: Was very solid tonight. He really did his job out there all game. Went looking for the ball often and made plenty of nice runs coming out of trouble which helped ease the tension on our smaller pack. Gags was good defensively too. However, it wasn't until the last fifteen to twenty minutes that Gags really kicked into gear. He scored the awesome try that locked up the game for us through sheer determination. Nice one Gags.
Roberts: Jimmy the jet was fantastic tonight. Did his job in defence by not letting anyone past him and he was on fire in attack. He had plenty of runs coming out of our own end and they were strong with relatively quick play-the-ball. His work ethic really impressed me. We got to see him at his destructie best too when he almost set up Gags to score after that brilliant try and then the final play to bust through those tackles and set up cam, what a freak. The only small blight was the one error he made.
Burns: Loved his work tonight. Burnsy looked supe hungry all game, you could just see it in some of his hit ups as he put absolutely everything into them and as a result, he made plenty of meters. Braidon looked super dangerous whenever he got the ball with that footwork of his. He did mess up a bit with his lazy defensive effort for the Cowboys first try but other than that, I loved watching him play today, he was great.
Graham: Solid game from Cammy. Took his hit ups when required, they were quality and made no handling errors. He seems to have got some confidence back which is good to see. He did get out-leaped by Feldt that one time though. Also, I was very disappointed in his chase during the Cowboys first try. If you watch it again, he certainly could have prevented the try if he chased harder from behind.
Walker: A mixed bag tonight. There were times when he looked super dangerous and had North Queensland in two minds or he was putting in nice kicks to bomb the wingers but then other times where he was quite ordinary. Cody didn't look all that interested sometimes as he just wasn't involved enough and he didn't seem to want to get his hands on the footy. As a result, he faded out of the game for a period. That's not good enough for a top half in this comp and we need better from him (more involvement).
Reynolds: Reyno was pretty decent in that game I thought. Because Cody was a bit off, he stepped up and seemed to do more in attack which did pose a lot of questions to the Cowboys defence. His passing game was on point as evidenced by the pass he threw to Jimmy when he made that break, this cut out pass was brilliant, a simple case of getting a strike player early ball. Then I thought Reyno showed some real maturity and poise with the boot tonight. He pt in some absolutely brilliant kicks to put the Cowboys under pressure at various times, kicks that you simply just watch in awe. A nice performance from Reyno.
Tatola: A good, consistent game from Junior tonight. He stepped up for sure but didn't stand out, he just went about his business in the best way possible making a large amount of impressive, aggressive hit ups in his two stints. He really took it to the Cowboys pack. Despite missing a few tackles, he was busy in defence and I thought he was nice and consistent in that area too. Junior is starting to really impress me.
Cook: Cookie was good. I really liked the way he was bringing the forwards onto the ball by taking a few paces out of dummy half before passing, he did that all night which just allows that little bit of exra momentum for the ball carrier. He picked his times to run well but was limited in that area by the Cowboys and came up with a try assist as well as a stack of tackles once again.
Britt: In his first game as a starting front rower he did will. Had a high work rate with his agressive running style and the meters flowed for him off the back of that. He's obviously not huge but was able to hold his own against the Cowboys pack which was impressive. I also enjoyed his play-the-balls tonight as he made every effort to get up and play it fast.
Sutton: Good solid game from Sutto. He just did his job tonight and contributed where needed. Took plenty of decent runs, showed a little bit of footwork as usual and I thought he was good in defence, he pulled off a couple of text book tackles.
Lowe: Had a wow of a first half taking plenty of solid runs that bent the opposition line and he was highly involved. The energy he showed off the back of his rest last week was great to see and he was rewarded with two great tries at his old home ground. A brilliant first half but had a pretty quiet second half to be honest, I expected a little more there.
Murray: Man, what a game from Cam. Easily our best. Fifty one tackles, zero misses, a line break assist, a try assist to win the game, one hundred and five meters and a try of his own all in the one game!! It was a huge effort from this kid, god he's special. I just loved watching him today, everything he did was class.
Amone: Decent performance. he's obviously still finding his feet in first grade but is coming along really nicely. Tonight he was hard to put down again due to his aggressive running style and leg drive after contact. Tom provided good impact in his stint, the one error the only negative point I have to make about him.
Nicholls: I feel like I say the same thing every week with guys like him and Turner haha. There's not a lot to say because they just do their job, it's head down, ass up kind of footy built on hard work. Tonight was no different as he took his runs when needed and just tackled his heart out.
Su'A: Not a bad game from Jaydn. Enjoyed his energy and impact once he came on and he really threatened to break the line multiple times. Still finding his way in the team but the early signs are very positive.
Turner: See what I wrote about Nicholls haha.
All in all, it wasn't a perfect game as once again, we let ourselves down a bit in the second half. However, it turned out to be a big win because of the way we won it and the players we had out. The Cowboys were great today with an insanely good pack but we were better with most of our key forwards out. Geez I'm proud. Hopefully we are starting to rebuild the confidence and find that form again.
I really needed that win.
