Well that game was heartbreaking to say the least and I'm pretty gutted as well as a bit pissed off after that. A hugely see-sawing game but we put ourselves in a position to win at the end and really, we should have won. But then to clock off at the end like that and miss those tackles, it pisses me off so much and that finish was just so hearbreaking knowing that it should really be us that is straight through to the Prelim. We weren't perfect by any means but I thought over all, it was a pretty good performance and that is what makes the loss even tougher.
In attack, the Storm frustrated us for large periods of the game and as a result, the attack was not as fluid as it has been and should've been. Yes, their line speed was aggressive but they were constantly allowed 5 meters for a lot of the game which pissed me off so much and this meant they were always up in our faces a lot of the time. It seemed the boys didn't really have a counter to this and as a result, we weren't really doing much and it all looked a little clunky. Despite this, we were able to score some nice ones off some awesome individual play. To the boys credit, they did come back and start to really overcome the Storm and throughout this period, we scored a beauty of a try to GI and then a nice one to Rob off a lovely backline sweep that all looked very slick. When Murray scored, I honestly thought we had it all wrapped up but it wasn't to be. On another note, it was a great battle but the forwards had a hard time gaining momentum and I think this was mostly because of the Storm's aggressive defence. We were able to go with them just weren't able to overcome them. Additionally, while the completion rate wasn't really bad, we made quite a few relly poor errors and constantly opened the door for Melbourne.
I thought our defence tonight was a real let down, especially on the edges. You look at most of the tries that the Storm scored on the edges and it's due to the rushing defence. I think that a lot of the boys out wide were rushing in way too quickly when we had cover coming across and if we got this right, the result could've been very different. For mine, they made the decision to come in way too early many times and it cost us. A big improvement is needed in this regard. However, it's not only that. If you look at their long range tries, it stems from a really poor tackle attempt or a moment of clocking off like that right hand edge right at the end and this was simply not good enough, we need to be better.
Johnston: Was okay. Was safe under the ball at the back and ran it pretty well all night. However, he was exposed by the Storm again tonight for being out of position which was disappointing, that's numerous times the last few weeks and it is an area he really needs to look at becuase it kind of cost us. AJ also annoyed me a bit tonight how he'd catch the ball of a backline sweep and then just stop and jinker around a bit before taking the tackle as it completely killed the move and all our momentum.
Graham: A bit of a mixed night I think. Came up with an early error but did recover after that to have a series of great runs coming out of yardage with a high inolvement. His kick chase alongside Gags was brilliant as always and he did come up with some nice reads in defence to stop a few tries. I was really pissed with that last play the Storm scored off but it wasn't any fault of his own, it was those inside him.
Inglis: Was good. Another fired up performance tonight and you could see it with the way he ran the ball as it was really aggressive and strong. He wasn't as involved as last week but did score two great tries, one of which was absoulutely amazing, the way he plucked it out of the air like that nd then to trample over Slater, it was all class. However, he had a bit of an off night defensively as ther were quite a few times where he rushed in and came up with thin air, two of which lead to tries. This is a little unusual for GI as he is normally so good in this regard.
Gagai: Gags didn't actually impress me tonight. That might sound harsh but imo, he didn't do enough of the hard yards coming out of our end came up with some awful plays in defence which is a real worry. He needs to lift big time I reckon.
Jennings: I thought he was pretty good. Absoulutely love his runs coming out of our own end, they're so strong and he makes a shit load of post-contact meters as we saw again tonight which was really good. Finished a great try mid way through the second half and had an amazing presence of mind to keep that right arm raised when offloading for GI's first try. I think the defensive issues down that left edge weren't his fault, he had no choice but to come in each time.
Walker: Was good in parts but not involved enough for mine. Looked super dangerous when we got a move going out wide and came up with some awesome plays like where he just batted it on in the lead up to GI's first try which was great skill. He also probed that short side a fair bit and saw some good results. However, I think we need to see him be a little more involved, he can break a game open and we need to really exploit that.
Reynolds: Apart from a few defensive issues, he was really good. Thoise defensive issues between him and Gags were costly though, they just didn't seem to be on the same page at times whether it was coming up at different imes our not sliding and this turned out to be a big issue which cost us. Other than that though, he was fantastic. A pin-point kicking game that was beautifully executed and this saw the Storm start so many of their sets from inside their 20 merter zone. What's more he did this under a lot of pressure but it didn't seem to phase him.
T.Burgess: Not a bad game by any means but he wasn't as impactful as normal. The style of defence Melbourne were using saw to it that he was actually pretty well containedall game. However, like I say, it wasn't a bad game as he still made plenty of meters and had some great runs.
Cook: A little quiet it must be said. Because of the Storm's BS defence abiltiy to slow down our ruck, they largely nullified Cook for most of the game. This is because Melbourne just weren't allowing us to get a roll on and we couldn't win the ruck with quick pay-the-balls. From here, Cook deosn't have a lot to work off as there is no point in running just for the sake of it. In saying that, Cookie did pull off some nice, darting runs but was otherwise kept a bit quiet.
G.Burgess: A bit of a mixed night for George. In defence, I thought he was a little lazy as he'd kind of just throw the arms out and hope for the best. This lead to two high-tackle penalties which turned the momentum back in the Storm's favour which was disappointing and he also got sin binned. Other than that though, i think he was pretty good with strong runs and a pretty decent work rate.
Sutton: Was kept pretty quiet and I don't think we saw an awful lot from him tbh. He did have some nice, strong runs that yeilded a fast play the ballbut for mine, Sutto just didn't get involved enough.
Crichton: Not a bad game but a bit like Sutto, he was kept quiet for much of the match. Did have some strong runs back in on that angle but he just wasn't able to generate a great deal of post-contact meters and didn't go looking for the ball. I think Gus at times is also slipping back into old habits of not sliding in defence which could be a possible reason for the outside backs rushing in., I dunno, I'll have to go watch the replay.
S.Burgess: A bit off if I'm honest. He did put in a lot of hard work and tried his guts out with some strong running and rough tackling but made too many errors at crucial times that meant we couldn't fully take some advantages. It's not good enough from Sam to make that many errors in a game and they were errors which kind of turned the tide. Hopefully he can be better next week.
Hunt: Didn't get on.
Murray: Pretty good. Ran so hard and was able to bend the line back with almost every run. I loved his battle with some of their bigger middle forwards and he seemed to handle them really well. Loved his try too, that was just pure strength with a bit of great line run. I really thought we had that game sewed up after that but no sadly. I think Cam was one of our best again, he made a big impact.
Clark: Not really much to say apart from the fact that he did his job and had some nice runs.
Britt: Didn't get on
Yea, that bench stratergy was wrong again from Seibs tbh. To have two players on the bench not play in a physical finals game like that isactually quite dumb from Seibs imo and I'm not sure what his thinking is there.
While that loss was incredibly heartbreaking, guttereing and it really pisses me off, there are positives because it was the little things that lost us the game and we weren't far off. The loss is our own fault though as we really should've had that guy.
It's just agonising that it should really be us that is going straight through to the Prelim!
Well, now we have to do it the harder way in this Finals Series, we can do it!!!
