Have you ever in your life seen the second hit-up after the half-time being taken by a winger? No? Well we saw it clear as day last night from North Queensland. If there was one play which summed up our night it was that one.
To start, a big congratulations to Manly for a superb display of football. That side is running at full steam at present and there seem very few weaknesses across the park. They walked out onto Brookie last night with full confidence and it didn't waver for eighty minutes. Their halves are a revelation, a combination of toughness, skill and coolness. It was a difficult watch, but I can't begrudge them a thoroughly deserved win.
For North Queensland, there were very few positives, if any at all. It's hard to think of one area of the game where we were not completely outplayed. Perhaps some of the forwards can hold their head high. Bolton was good off the bench, as was Sims. But for the most part the boys were physically dominated. It was clear that we needed to win that battle to have a show in this game but they were never in it. Strength was a factor, we just weren't tough enough. Though Manly do look like physically the strongest side in the comp.
I still have grave concerns over Payne's ability to read a footy match. He takes some awful decisions in attack at times, sending players straight into awaiting defenders. This really stifled any attacking opportunities we had last night. There was never any time to get the play moving, and certainly not enough lateral movement of the ball close to the line.
Morgan had an unhappy time as well. As a player, his body language is terrible, he looked like he didn't even want to be out there. I don't have the fortune of watching the Toyota Cup, is that how he carries himself in that competition? Either way he's going to have to develop a little bit more belief in himself if he wants to carve out a career in first grade. To the credit of he and Ray Thompson though, both stood up well in defense up against relentless pressure from the Manly big boppas.
Truth be known, North Queensland have had a game like this coming. Recent weeks have seen us play in patches of dire football. When a side like manly puts their throat to your neck they're going to keep you in that funk for eighty minutes. My honest opinion is that even with Thurston we still would have been comfortably beaten. Let's just hope that we've now gotten that shitty performance out of our system now.
