After watching the replay, here's my full report,
Taaffe: What an outstanding performance! In a week where all the talk was about him and plenty doubted him, he stood up and did the job in a big way!! Dropped that first high kick and I admit, I was thinking "here we go." I said to my mates at the time that we're about to find out what this kid is made of. Well, didn't his champion qualities shine through? Shook off the error almost straight away and apart from kicking one dead, didn't put a foot wrong for the rest of the game. Handled every single bomb that came his way including an incredible take midway through the second half with Crichton bearing down on him. Taaffey was under intense pressure but he pulled off an amazing take in the air that may well have saved the game. I loved the way he attacked the ball on kick returns too. Chimed into the backline pretty well, providing some nice passes. The slight of hand to double pump, hold the pass and then release it at the perfect moment to put Paulo over was great! His running game was good too, got a nice step on him. Faultless in defence too and I especially liked to see how he covered the Kikau break that could have won them the game. They fumbled it anyway but even if the pass went to Burton, Blake had him covered. Well done Taaffe!! Deserves a HUGE wrap in a massive game.
Johnston: Pretty quiet game by his standards. Troubled their edge defence a few times with his speed and some kicks but they were his only real highlights. Dropped an easy bomb which put us under pressure and then his running game wasn't that strong, he had little involvement. Gotta say though, great job without the ball, saw some real desperation in his defensive efforts which was great.
Gagai: Awesome 80 minutes for Gags, he was Origin like. Right from the opening set he looked like he was on, brought some real intensity. Some really strong carries from our own end as always and to be honest, I'm shocked he only made 69 meters, seemed far more influencial than that. What a play from him for first try! He had no right to do what he did but he did it anyway in a great show of strength and agility to put Cody over of the back of that amazing run. it was a big play and I couldn't believe he pulled it off!! What an effort on defence too, constantly shutting down plays, making good reads and scrambling really well. Great stuff Gags, he looks really charged up.
Graham: Not to be outdone by his centre partner, Campbell put in a performance of the ages! the kind of game that will always stick in my mind. He was fantastic running the ball as always, making 115 meters off 16 runs and asked plenty of questions of Penrith but I think we can all agree it was his effort in defence which really shone. He made 25 tackles which isn't a massive, massive amount compared to some of the guys in the middle but it's not the amount he made, it's the type of tackles he made. Centre is such a hard position to defend because of the space on your inside and outside. To'o, Burton and Kikau had plenty of space out there on our right a number of times but our man wasn't having a bar of it, he shut down basically everything that came his way. Made some crucial tackles, absolutely crucial. Front on tackles, good reads and a bit of scramble defence, it was all there. Taking To'o into touch was massive, I had a real feeling we'd win from that moment on as that kind of rattled them. Without Campbell there, I'm sure they would have got a try or two down that side. Graham would be close to man of the match for me.
Paulo: Was also really impressed by Jaxson. Another young guy under a fair bit of pressure but like the others, he lapped it up too. His hit ups were pretty strong for the most part, picking up 98 meters off 12 runs, he worked hard in this area. Great to see him finish that try and I also want to make mention of his efforts to keep the ball in play a couple of times as he was going over the sideline, that was awesome. Stood up defensively alongside his centre and made some good stops, a crucial one on To'o late in the game where he looked like he may break free and score. Well done Jaxson!
Walker: Who said he couldn't stand up in the big games?? While I admit, he probably wasn't at his absolute best, he still had a good game in my eyes. Didn't put on as many big plays but the ones that came off and he did put on were huge in the context of the game. A couple of his passes may have gone to ground but he got the rest right, some really slick ball movement from Cody to give us opportunities and he came within an inch of scoring himself early on. Awesome combo with him and Gags for that try, it was Cody that threw the pass to get Dane one-on-one and then he backed up on the inside to score. it was just good to see Cody not go missing in a massive game (as he has been criticised for in the past). I liked his kicking game and like the rest of his backs, amazing defensive effort. Didn't miss a single tackle! So while I'd probably say we still need more from him in the Prelim and potentially the GF, he had a bloody decent night.
Reynolds: The little master. He had it all on show last night that's for sure. It was clear to me that he said to himself he had to step it up with no Trell and that he did! reyno just went to a whole nother level!! Really stepped it up. His running game was on, with a bit more involvement in that area than we're used to which I liked. As always, his playmaking was brilliant too as he was taking the ball right into the line and providing a perfect pass most of the time. this looked super dangerous. Just look at the genius from him in setting up Paulo's try. he took it right to the line at speed, dummied, dummied again, sucked in three defenders and this created the space for Taaffe and Paulo. Brilliant!! On another note, man his kicking game was on!! I remember reading an article during the week that stated it'd be death by a thousand cuts for Souths as Cleary was going to kick us to death. Well, the tables got turned!! It was Reyno that gave Penrith death by a thousand cuts with his kicking game, he was that good!!! Finally, I want to make special mention of his efforts without the ball. Pretty big ask for someone of his size too constantly go up against Kikau but Reyno stopped him time and time again, it was a mega effort!