After watching the replay, here's my full report,
Mitchell: Wasn't bad but certainly not at his best. It was a bit of a quiet night for him. Had a few really strong hit ups as well as some brilliant kick returns and there was multiple times he chimed into the backline and looked dangerous. Threw a number of cut out passes on either side of the field which saw the wingers find space but it didn't really lead to anything. Trell did still find two try assists though, providing two sublime passes to AJ for two of his tries with quick hands off a shift to the left. They were brilliant! However, I think Latrell's positional play was a bit off, at least not where it normally is. For two of the Eels tries off kicks, Latrell was nowhere to be seen and I feel that as a fullback, he should have at least been in the picture. He was way out of position for the Eels last try. In summary, a little bit of a mixed bag for our superstar.
Johnston: A good game for AJ. Aside from his hattrick, I'll get to that soon, I was quite impressed with his tough runs. He didn't get rag dolled and was actually making meters post contact, something that we didn't see last week at all. Found himself in the clear quite a number of times down that left hand side and I liked how when Parra shut the play down, he didn't panic and try to find the miracle ball, he just took the tackle and allowed the attack to reset. On another note, he didn't put a foot wrong in defence which was great. Then there was his hattrick. That was brilliant. Yes, AJ went over untouched for all three, such was the quality of the work on the inside but it was great finishing none the less.
Gagai: Wow. Just wow. A powerful performance from Gags that has just left me in awe. He's been good all year for us, great in fact but his game last night was out of this world. gave 100% all game and looked really fired up. His carries were so strong getting us out of trouble and he ran for 123 meters which is a bloody good effort. His hattrick was even more impressive than AJ's in my opinion because he had work to do for all three. The first, we took that nice face ball from Cody, stepped past his opposite and crashed over. His second was the highlight for me. Taking another great pass from Cody, he evaded his opposite with ease and then put the foot down 40 meters out with a show of speed to glide over in the end. Then the third was all power, desire and strength. Fantastic to watch all three. It wasn't just his attack that was impressive as the defensive side of his game was mega as well. Lead the kick chase most times and his first contact was brutal last night. I loved the effort in his tackles too, there was a few times there where he made two tackles in a row. On our line, I couldn't fault his decision making either. What a night for Gags in Indigenous Round. I'm gonna call it and say that is the best he's ever played for us. Man of the match for me.
Graham: Didn't star like his centre partner on the other side of the field but Cammy still had a great game. Really enjoyed his runs coming out of our end as he identified gaps really well last night. So often, he'd spot a gap and angle in behind the ruck which saw him gain extra meters. Had an awesome line break in that second half too. finished up with 10 runs for 90 meters which isn't bad at all. Loved his defence too as he shut down most of the stuff that came down that right edge. Really stiffened that side up in a stark contrast to previous weeks. Even when Parra scored those two tries off kicks down there, I still feel that Campbell did his job and did the best he could.
Milne: Taane was very strong last night. So strong in fact that I think he's staking his claim to hold that right wing spot, even if mansour is fully fit. He's a big, strong lad and he showed that with his hit ups. Apart from one where he was driven back, his runs were all pretty strong and I was happy with his involvement. The break he made in the first half was a highlight as he picked the gap off Trell and just went straight through. His defence was allgood too I thought. Seen a few people rip into him for not contesting the bomb that Papali'i scored off but I think that was the right call from Taane. The kick wasn't really in a threatening position so he took the safe option, didn't contest the catch and played the man. I then think he did all he could in defence after, it was just the amazing strength of Sivo that carried the play on. The only bad point of his night was dropping the bomb that lead to Sivo's try, that was a little disappointing. Such a shame that try at the end for him was called a forward pass, he deserved it.
Walker: There's a bit of talk around Cody and Origin at the moment and with his game last night, he certainly staked his claim for a spot. Cody was absolutely brilliant, back to his scintilating best!! Even when he wasn't putting on the scoring plays, he was still making good decisions and taking the right options. Almost everytime he touched the ball, Parra were on high alert and he created a lot of chances for us in general play. Then how good were his try involvements?! God he looked slick! Had a hand in all but one of the tries we scored down that left and it was his passes that were creating the space for Latrell, Gags and AJ. Particularly loved his two try assists to Gags, both were sublime passes, just beautiful to watch. Cody was on song in the other areas of his of his game too as I can't fault his kicking game of his defence. I don't think his high tackle was too bad, it was more Arrow's contact underneath that jolted Jakob Arthur's head into Cody's shoulder, he should get off that. Anyway, great night for Cody, tore the Eels to shreds in Indigenous Round.
Reynolds: Reyno was pretty on song too. Brought his running game last night and it was great to see him taking the line on. There was a couple of times where he could have kicked on the last but instead ran to put the Eels on the back foot and then shifted it wide. Both plays were a chance of scoring but we couldn't quite pull it off. Had a hand in a few line breaks and had one line break assist. Apart from the one he kicked dead, I enjoyd his kicking game too as there was a number of times we pinned Parra down their end with some great kicks. A mixed night with the goal kicking though. Much better defensively too. Not a bad game Reyno.
