Yeeeeehaaaaaa. What a performance and what a game!! I am so friggin happy right now, we're into yet another Preliminary Final!! Looked touch and go there for a little while but to the boys credit, they weren't phased, they regrouped and turned out an incredible second half to keep our Season alive and send us to a Prelim! So friggin happy right now!
Our attack certainly wasn't as electric tonight as it has been but it still wasn't bad. We didn't make many errors which allowed the forwards to march up the field and we scored some great tries as a result. I feel like the attack wasn't as good as previous weeks (like i said) but I think that was more due to the Eels edge defence doing a pretty good job.
Defence. Apart from the ten minute window where we kind of fell apart defensively, I was actually pretty happy with the defence over all. That period where Parra almost blew us away was really, really poor in defence as we were missing tackles and making really poor decisions. However, after we rode that period out, it was great and we managed to turn them away pretty much from then on with some awesome defensive sets. That was really pleasing.
Allan: Pretty good without being spectacular. Apart from the one drop, he was safe under the high ball and he chimed into our attack really well as he had some great runs. Also great play to assist Jaxson for his first try. The way Corey just held the pass to buy him a bit more time and space, it was a very classy play.
Johnston: Once again AJ was a bit more quiet this week but he wasn't bad at all. He had a few really good hit ups coming out of our own end but seemed to get either stopped in his tracks or driven back in many of his runs. I also didn't like how he was running sideways. However, his defence was very good, there was no way the Eels were scoring down his side.
Gagai: Similar to Graham in that he didn't do anything really special but was solid. Some really stong hit ups coming out of our own end to help out the forwards. Was pretty good in defence too (failed to get across to Gutherson for his first try but that wasn't really his fault.
Graham: Wasn't a spectacular game from Cammy but he was certainly solid and he didn't let anyone down. He did make a couple of defensive errors that lead to tries for parra but apart from that he was really good. Loved his contribution in Murray's try, that was all class.
Paulo: Awesome game from Jaxson. First of all, his hit ups. He looked really solid there and made plenty of charges coming out of our end, had a couple of line breaks thrown in there too. He did get exposed a little bit in defence but his two tries (one a nice finish in the corner, the other a great read to take the intercept and streak away, more then made up for it.
Walker: Parra did their absolute best against him which meant he wasn't quite as blistering as he has been recently but Cody was still very good. While he did get shut down more than he's been used to lately, he still looked dangerous everytime he touched the ball and was creating plenty out there. Was instrumental in steering the boys around and sparking our comeback. I liked his defence too.
Reynolds: Overall Reyno was pretty damn good. The only real blight on his game was the kick out on the full but he recoverd to produce a decent performance. Had the ball on a string with his kicking game for most of the night. We got a couple of key repeat sets off the back of some fantastic kicks dribbled into the in goal area with perfection which was very classy. I thought his punt and bomb kicking in general play was very good and allowed us to build pressure as he asked a few questions of Parra there. What I loved to see most was him taking it right to the line and even running on occasion. We saw his peak running game in the build up to Murray's try. That was great play from Reyno and you can basically put that try down to him.
Tatola: Junior was a bit quiet tonight compared with his lofty standards. That's not to say he played bad at all, he just didn't seem to make the impact he has in previous games.
Cook: Another incredible performance from Cookie, especially in the second half. All game he picked his times to run well but otherwise it was kept simple which suits Cook. His service all game was near perfect. In the end he picked up a try, two try assists (loved his assist for Knighty), ran for 158 meters, made three tackle breaks and 47 tackles. That's not to mention his blistering try at the end of the game. What an amazing try that was!! One of our best.
Burgess: See what I said about Tatola as their performances were pretty similar.
Su'A: Really good performance from Jaydn. He was a meanace out on that right edge as he just ran hard and ran aggressively all night. He certainly troubled the defenders out there today and had a big impact on the game. My heart was in my mouth when he went down injuered but thank god he was okay.
Sironen: Worked really hard all game and did his job in both attack and defence. Awesome instincts to not give up on the play when he scored and look what happened. It was an unlikely try but Bayley deserved it.
Murray: Great once again. Toiled away in the middle there in defence all game just cutting blokes in half and stopping them in their tracks, he's so good at that. His attack was awesome too, I lost count of how many times I said "good run Cam!" Often, those runs resulted in quick play-the-balls too. Loved his try, that was awesome support play.
Nicholls: Feel like I say the same every week but he just did his job to perfection. A very solid game, making meters on every ryun with strong carries and I'm not sure if I saw him miss a tackle at all tonight. Awesome stuff.
Knight: What a performance off the bench for Knight. His stint really changed the game and the momentum started to return with us once he came on. He ran very hard all game with great aggression. Was rewarded with a try too! That try was great awareness from Knighty to identify where the space was and it was a brilliant pass from Vookie.
Cartwright: Didn't get a lot of minutes but did his job that's for sure.
Koloamatangi: Another awesome game from young Keaon, he just kept charging all night. His runs and quick play-the-balls went a very long way to us wrestling back momentum.
So yea, I am so friggin proud of the boys! As I said, there was a period there where it looked a bit touch and go but we found the hunger and completely turned it around with an amazing second half performance. Full credit to the boys for that.
But not only that, we are off to another Prelim!! That's right, we're off the the Prelim!! Can't quite believe it to be honest. It's incredible, it really is. The year after we lose three of the greatest players ever we still make a Prelim! It's amazing, absolutely amazing!! I am just going to soak this all in and enjoy it. God I love this team!!
