I was disappointed in Ravalawa's performance. It seems he has not progressed during the off-seaon.
We had our hits and misses- Ramsey and Kerr were the obvious pluses but agree about Ravalawa and we are no closer to settling on our best four outside backs. I like the look of Ford in the centres but he didn't get much opportunity. Lafai looked old and slow.
But my overall reaction to what happened in Perth...... A DISASTER!!!!-WHY?
1. We made the final- albeit courtesy of a howler- Mary gets the credit
2. McInnes, our captain is injured indefinitely- another excuse for Mary if all goes pear shaped and we start losing in the weeks to come
3. This is of course in addition to the disaster of De Belin's 2020 season being effectively over due to the trial delay until August- more distractions and excuses for Mary.
My guess is Shepherd and to a lesser extent Flanagan are probably cursing their ill fortune and Mary's luck. Flanagan knows that he cannot be a head coach for two years so whatever he does this year will count for very little.
Easy to be wise after the event but Ricky Stuart got it right by resting his key players and letting the up and comers show their wares. A player can get injured anywhere and anytime but when they're injured in a competition that no one will remember in a few months, that is when it hurts.