Well, I don't like being negative for the sake of it, so for a start the positives...Great to see the side actually have some self respect and pride. If they don't wanna play for the coach, at least they played for the jersey. The spirit and effort was clear to see, for the first half of that first half, the speed of the game was much more like I expect from a test, much better than the previous games from the Aussie on off onwards. And towards the end the desire to keep at them was evident. So big ups for that.
For the GB side- They are a better side than people give them credit for, including myself who didn't really rate them. Their defence has really lifted in the last year, although I am still uneasy about their desire to go straight for the head. But if you can get away with it...It'll be interesting to see them against Aussie as a yardstick, to see if it was a bad Kiwi side or truely good GB defence.
On the down side, the attack and plays of the Kiwis again seem to lack innovation, enterprise...very few attacking ideas when thinking outside the square was needed to crack the defence. It still leaves many doubts IMO.
Ultimately though, good to see the players respond to lack of heart and 'only there for a holiday' criticisms. The French will still give this side a run for it's money IMO, and still personally very uneasy about the coaching team. I'll be so delighted to be proven wrong, but can't see the Kiwis doing well at all for the forseable future. I still want to see that cleanout right from Management to player level, start afresh with new ideas, professional management. The game won't move on until the NZRL grow a couple and do the right thing. Just my opinion ;-)
