After watching the replay, here's my full report,
Nikorima: Wasn't bad but didn't do much really to be fair. Strangely, even when we were dominating, he made less of an impact than last week. Hardly chimed into the attack at all apart from the odd raid. I'm not saying he was poor, just little involvement. Did have a few nice touches though like forcing that drop out in the first half, a couple of good kick returns and passes. Did put one down at the start of the second half which put us under pressure (luckily didn't cost us) and then later slipped fielding that Brooks kick and went out but again, didn't cost us. Good goal kicking too. So I think I'd still like to see more from Kodi but he is still finding his feet in our team that's for sure.
Johnston: What a special night for Alex the great!! I think that's what we should start calling him from now on. A hat-trick of tries to become our all-time top try scorer in Indigenous Round, it doesn't get much better than that!! Very special. Great finishes for all. The first, he had one defender to beat and showed some slick footwork to do so, his second was a nice finish as he threw his body over the line with great timing and then the final history making one was nice vision from AJ to put himself in a position to take that pass. Just incredible to watch and well done to him! Aside from all his try scoring, the other parts of his game were on song too. His hit ups were solid, safe at the back, no errors and he was strong defensively. A fantastic night for Alex the great!! So special to watch.
Graham: Speaking of special, how good was that performance from Stretch?! just so solid and reliable all game. Heavily involved in our attack as he provided the final pass for all of AJ's tries, two of which where he showed us great skills with his quick hands to get it out there. Then a great show of agility and strength to free his arms and get the ball away to AJ for his third try assist. Just brilliant stuff from Campbell! Was rewarded with a burrowing try of his own too at a crucial stage of the game. What's more, his yardage carries were so impressive as he constantly put his hand up to take a run and this all contributed to a massive 169 running meters! The most impressive was obviously that 30 meter run he made in the second half from on our own line, god that was class!! No issues what so ever defensively either. Awesome stuff from Stretch, showing the NSW selectors he is all class yet again.
Paulo: A mixed night but I do think he ended up with more good than bad. Deserves to cop some criticism for that first half as it simply wasn't good enough defensively. He was all at sea and just had no idea what was going on it seemed. Failed to show effort and compete for the ball in the lead up to the Tigers second try, got turned inside out a number of times after that through failing to read the play. If it wasn't for others around him saving his ass, we would have been in even more trouble because of him. He also contributed to the poor defence down the right for the Tigers third try. However, credit where credit is due, he came out in that second half, tightened up his defence and came out looking like a completely different player. A shift to the wing probably helped but even then, there seemed to be a clear attitude shift from Jaxson. Played a huge role in that second half domination and it was actually him that turned the tide with that amazing one-on-one steal off Naden. That completely flipped the game as we scored the next set. He then showed us that he can actually read the play later in the half by taking that intercept and streaking away to score which was a nice moment. So an up and down game but credit to Jaxson for turning it around.
Milne: He was obviously a part of that poor defence down the right in the first half however, I actually don't think he was too bad. A lot of those lapses were not his fault. We were getting caught about being too compressed constantly and it is drummed into wingers that they follow what their center and inside players do defensively so this is all Taane was doing, like I say, not really his fault. He did show us a few good reads in defence that's for sure. With the ball he was pretty good, his hit ups and kick returns were all strong on his way to 114 meters which is a pretty good effort.
Walker: Indigenous Round meant there'd be no excuses for Cody to not stand up and have a good game so it was great to see him rise to the occasion and play a starring role in the win. He was in everything. Some lovely quick hands to contribute to AJ's first, and then a nice cut out ball to Graham in the lead up to AJ's second. Again, it was Cody creating for AJ's third as he threw a face ball out to Graham again. These were all great plays by Cody and it was great to see the left edge on fire once again. A few other good examples of Cody finding form with his ball playing throughout the game but they didn't lead to tries. Awesome to see him nab two himself in Indigenous Round! He was Johnny on the spot for his first but the second was great to watch. Good vision and combination with Lauchie to indentify the space, jump back on the inside, call the play, beat a few defenders and crash over. That was one of the highlights of the Season so far for me, that try. It could prove a very important one as it hopefully gave Cody the confidence he's been lacking to spring back into form. Great night for Walker!
Ilias: A bit quiet in the first half aside from a few nice kicks and that magnificent try-saving ankle tap on Naden but I thought he really rose to the occasion and came to the fore in the second stanza where he looked great. A Reynolds-like combination with Cody a number of times there which lead to three tries. He executed his role in the build up to these tries perfectly. They looks so good when they combine together. I especially loved the combo for Cody's second try, god that was good to watch from our halves! Aside from that stuff, I thought his game management in that second half was good and defensively he was very solid. A great tackle on Laurie late in the game to save a try. We done Lauchie!
