The game reflected our season really... a slow, stumbling start (except of course Simmo's try), then firing in the second half to be considered unlucky to lose. We made the Dragons look pretty good at first but I think we got a moral victory again. Spreading the ball wide was effective, but I was surprised to see so many offloads; I'd say offloads led directly to most of our tries, and it's nice to see a bit of touch football actually paid off.
Not so good to see our defence I must admit; while we were good on our own line, and in scrambling, too many easy metres in the middle third of the field. Attack-wise, In comparison to the Saints', who hit with purpose and ended most tackles facing our tryline on their stomach, we were limited in our go-forward. It was only when we stopped playing their game that we started to move them around and make an impression. Perhaps Joey's injury helped that cause a bit.
Kidley was strong and enthusiastic, involved in everything, Thaiday supported well and was composed under the high ball, Buderus got through another mountain of work including some smart running, Newton showed a bit of class in the second half, but I've got a rap on Carmont, he really added substantially when he came on and didn't seem to make any errors. Tackled well and was genuinely dangerous in attack also with some impressive ball playing.
But Dragons are deserved winners, based on their efforts in the first half and their composure in the second, they didn't panic and start playing stupid football. They were rattled in defence due to our keeping the ball alive and second (third, fourth) phase play but it goes to show what a class pair of forwards like Bailey and Ryles can do to a team.
While I'm disappointed to see us lose, particularly given Wes' try in the final minutes, it's largely circumstantial and I'm proud of the effort shown. Compared to our game against the Rabbitohs, it's a credit to the young players that they were able to regroup and keep their heads up and actually play like a team to finish off the year. The big downside is there's uni tomorrow and no possibility of a Mad Monday...