That was a really gritty win. As poor as we looked through the hands, our defense was excellent and our middle third comfortably the better pack on the night. They had a few half chances but their only real threats were Moses attacking kicks and Papalii. Considering we were playing the third best team in the league on a night where we dropped stupid amounts of ball in the first 40 we held up very well.
The penalty was an incredibly dumb moment from Martin. Ivan was very generous in shifting the blame to Waqa. Martin runs well across his line and while he makes the most of it he's entitled to. Worst part is that Waqa was never getting to the kick. Insanity. What is it with us and short kick offs? We seem to f**k up even the gimmies.
Kikau tried hard. Made some big tackles and threatened to break loose without fully managing too. Still, his biggest moments tonight where when two small men made "massive" tackles on him. Seems to happen a lot.
Thought Staines was really good. His one big error got punished super hard but other than that he did little wrong. His try saver on Sivo was unbelievable. Didn't get enough attention but it was the kind of thing I thought we'd miss without Edwards who scrambles very well. Crichton doesn't get anywhere near that play. With functioning halves and I think he carves up edges with his backline movements in a way none of our other FB options do. I like Edwards but I think he'll be hard to dislodge if he gets some game time with Nathan.
Which brings us to May. Kind of fish in a barrel stuff, but he's really ordinary. Doesn't threaten while running. Passing is poor. Regularly a handbrake when trying to spread the ball. Puts more pressure on Luai (who was also quiet). Overall just bald and it stands out in such a dynamic team. I got the sense Ivan saw it from his comments in the presser but we missed a trick not giving Burton/Luai a run in a tough game here.
Liked Nadens work mostly, though he struggled a bit with Sivo defensively. Sorensen good. Too, Yeo and Fish all awesome as always. Api great too, hope he can continue to step up in Nathans absence.
