Gutted. Honestly I'm absolutely gutted after that. A very deflating feeling. To come back the way we did but just miss out by two points when we could've won is heartbreaking. It hurts. That first 60 minutes or so was honestly diabolical, probably the worst Footy we've played all year. However, to the boys credit, they dug deep and clawed their way back into it through some of the best Footy we've played this year. I'm just at a loss to figure out why we can't play like that for the full 80?
Even when we were playing poorly, I feel like our go-forward was okay. We didn't massively struggle to come out of our own end and the forwards were doing pretty well to march up field. I have no problem with our go-forward tonight. However, for the first 60 minutes, other elements of the attack were absolutely terrible. Once again, errors galore. I think we were completing at 64% at one stage which was killing us and that's probably the biggest reason why we end up losing the game. As I said, the boys had no issue making yardage but most of the game was played down our end because we couldn't hold the friggin ball!! It was so frustrating because once again, we bet ourselves there, I was fuming! Execution in attack for much of the game was really poor too, we didn't look like scoring to be honest. However, I'm not even sure what happened but a flick seemed to switch with twelve to go. All of a sudden, we looked like world beaters and played fantastic! Cut out the errors, shifted the ball a bit and played with a lot of speed which was honestly great to watch. But that's the issue, we should have been playing like that from the start.
I wasn't impressed with the defence, it was pretty awful to be honest. Plenty of missed tackles with some really soft attempts, no line speed and really poor defensive dicipline as we gave away a lot of six-agains. Then there was our right edge defence. There was just a complete disconnect there and I'm not sure what was up, it just looked so shaky and soft. Our defence has been impressive in recent weeks but it was way off tonight. I'm being harsh in this area because it needs to improve massively on tonight.
Johnston: Did okay without really offering a lot. It was basically the same as his 2019 games at the back. He was good on the kick returns and safe under the high ball but apart from that, I feel he didn't offer a lot. Had an error though and was out of position with no effort to come across for Best's try.
Allan: We did okay overall. Had some decent runs but we need more involvemt form him is he remains in the side as he didn't show a heck of a lot tonight. Tuala's try was his fault in my opinion, Jimmy had his man and Allan came in when it was not needed.
Roberts: I thought he was a bit average tonight. Really poor defensively on that right edge and his communication with those around him seemed to be pretty bad. He did have some good runs but still just wasn't involved enough when we needed it.
Gagai: Brilliant from Gags tonight! He was probably our best. Over 120 meters, full of energy, great ball running, very evasive and safe defensively. He seemed to be the only one who really wanted to take that game by the scuff of the neck in the first hour. His contribution to Cookie's second try with the pass to Paulo was world class.
Paulo: Did very well for his debut. I didn't realise how big he was and he put that to good use with some awesome hit ups in this game where he ran hard and just kept pumping those legs after contact. He was fine in defence, safe under the high ball and what a try assist for Cookie!
Walker: A bit average I thought. I'm not going to say he was bad because of his last twelve minutes or so, that saved him. I was really proud of the way he picked himself up after a poor game so far and sparked our comeback with some brilliant attacking Footy, that was great from Cody. However, his first hour was anything but. He really struggled to create out there and he was missing for most of this period sadly. Bad dicipline in defence too, I think it was three set restarts he gave away. Like I say, brilliant in that last twelve but we need a lot more from him.
Reynolds: He was pretty average tonight sadly. Refused to run the ball, couldn't create as he was throwing bad passes and he looked all at sea in defence on our line. Then his biggest asset, his kicking game was way off too and I mean way off. Some of the ends to sets tonight were just so poor. The 40/20 was really the only highlight of his game today. He did play better during our comeback but he should have been playing like that from the start.
Tatola: Junior was really good I thought. My heart was in my mouth when he came off injured but thankfully he was able to shake that off and have a good game. This saw him play reduced minutes but I thought his impact in those minutes was immense.
Cook: Like most of our spine, was averge for an hour and then brilliant for the last quarter of the game. I was so disappointed in him for most of that game to be honest. He had a few good scoots from dummy half but that's about it. He didn't spark our attack at all and his poor service resulted in a fair few of our errors. Can someone please explain why sometimes he doesn't just pass straight off the deck when attacking the line? I remember twice (maybe more, I'll have to watch the replay) that he held the ball far too long before passing and he then went for the silly crash play, putting those forwards under needless pressure and resulting in an error. That frustrated the hell out of me! However, his final fifteen minutes or so was electric, the best he's played in a long time. The forwards got some quick play-the-balls and he caused a huge amount of damage off the back of that with his running game, it was brilliant! His first try was so good to watch, great play, and then he managed to pick up the second. Cookie is one of the reasons we lost tonight but he's perhaps the biggest reason why we almost won.
Burgess: Awesome game once again from Tommy, consistent once again. Just barnstorming run after barnstorming run to constantly put the Knights on the back foot after his carries. He tried so hard to generate momentum but sadly, some players arounf him kept deciding to throw it away. He did come up with a couple of errors but I still think he was one of our best.
Su'a: A bit of a mixed game. His hit ups were really good. Aggressive and strong running and I think he ended up with a decent amount of meters. That big hit he put on in the first half was just wow! But I thought he was average at defending tonight. As I have mentioned earlier, there was a real breakdown between him, Reyno and Jimmy.
Lowe: Poor once again. A small amount of runs and got monstered almost everytime. Fine in defence but that's about it. I think he needs some time either on the bench or out of the side.
Murray: Finding it a bit hard to get a read on his game as he was okay. A nice, consistent performance with some good runs and quick play-the-balls but I think for the most part, Newcastle did well to restrict his impact. Hoping for more from Cam next week.
Nicholls: Feel like this is maybe the first time I've ever said this but he was awesome in this one. A real handful when he came on. Hard running with some good meters and he managed to pick up only the send try of his career too.
Sele: Brillaint once again. He amazed me again tonight how he just kept going and going. Great energy, such hard running and he fought for every meter, pumping those big legs with guys hanging off him. His impact from the bench tonight was great.
Sironen: Got more minutes in the middle this week due to Tatola going off early and he didn't let anyone down. Nothing special but he did his job well.
Mago: Jeez I'd love to see him get more minutes because he looked great again tonight. Big and strong carries and was hitting hard in defence. Good impact.
Feel like I can't wrap this game up without mentioning this, the big issue. We are now halfway through the Premiership and yet, we have still not beaten a really quality top eight side. The story of our Season so far seems to be that we can hammer the more average teams but it seems that when it comes to playing the quality sides, our execution seems to disappear and we can't hold the ball. In just about every game against the good sides this year we have played poor and haven't given ourselves a chance because of errors and dumb play, we've beaten ourselves. This trend continued tonight. It's so frustrating. I honestly do feel like we can beat anyone but in every big game we make it so hard for ourselves. I don't know why that is but it needs to change. We need to fix it ASAP.
So yea, frustrating game that was so close but slipped away. We have lots to work on for next week. I take a lot of confidence from that comeback and I'm sure the boys will too.
