Well that has been one of the best nights of my life, not even joking. Wow it was amazing!! I don't even know where to start because I'm friggin buzzing!! What a night!! First of all, our seats were great! Great view of everything but still pretty close. Then, what a win!! A fantastic performance from all the boys and we just ran straight over top of those Warriors, we outclassed them all over the park in a brilliant display, I was friggin loving it!! Was probably more passionate than I usually am and I got some weird looks as a result but I don't care. I've lost my voice haha. Also lads, I'm happy to report that we have great support over here, members hats all over the place, I'm not joking, they were all so passionate too just like me! It was so good and I can't describe the feeling of sticking it to the crowd. After the game, a whole group of us got together in the stand and busted out a Botany Road which got applause from the playing group which was amazing.
What's more, I met all of the boys after the game as I went straight down to the fence at fulltime. Sadly, I didn't have my phone on me so I couldn't take photos with them (silly me) but it was great to give them a handshake and have a quick chat. I literally met all the boys that played today as well as the coaching staff!!!!! They were all so great and all stopped and had a chat.
To some of you, this might not be a big deal but to a Kiwi guy that doesn't get this opportunity often, I just soaked it all in and had an absoulute blast, feel 10/10 right now! What a night!!
Anyway, onto the game. Obviously, I need to watch the replay to get a full idea of what happened but gee it was a great performance! The boys looked so shaky at the start tbh, body language wasn't great and the talk was down, we just looked flat. However, after our first try, it was all class and was amazing to watch, fantastic to watch.
In attack, we seemed to flow despite the slightly difficult conditions and there was still a fair bit of ball movement there. We did make a few errors but that's to be expected in those conditions. It was through the middle that we really won this game as we played so direct and had them constantly on the back foot for most of the game. It was a classic case of winning the forward battle imo and we did that which allowed us to score some pretty slick tries.
Defence was also outstanding. We caved early to a bit of a soft try which was a bit disappointing but from then on, we were rock solid. We turned them away time and time again and were able to restrict them to 10 points which is a friggin fantastic result against a top four side who have handy attack. One thing I will say is that imo, our defensive dicipline needs to be better but overall, it was another fantastic defensive performance.
Inglis: Outstanding tonight. Was always lurking around and picked his time to get involved to perfection. He looked really, really dangerous and I'm not sure the Warriors quite knew how to handle him. I watched him a lot and gee, he's really vocal out on the field. Constantly barking orders and laying down the law which was good to see. Then there was his try which was just fantastic!! To actually be there to see that is something I'll never forget. He did come off but I think it was just for a break, he looked fine on the bench.
Graham: Was really good. Played really smart tonight with some great defensive decisions to shut the Warriors raids down on a number of occasions. Also to get that ball off the kick off and get it out on the full. Then there was his great, hard working runs he had to get us out of trouble as always, a nice game from him.
Doueihi: Was good, not a stand out but did his job. He didn't look un-comfortable at centre at all tbh as he was pretty good defensively and did his job in attack with some nice runs and had a hand in a slick back line movement for Rob's try down that left edge. I never realised how tall he was until I met him tonight haha!
Gagai: Outstanding, probably one of his best games of the season tbh. He just got really busy and imo, it's the highest involvement he's had all year. The touches he had were quality as well with some fantastic, tough runs but also some really direct runs where he looked really dangerous. In defence, I thought he really stepped up and did a great job on shutting Kata down which isn't easy at all. What's more, like GI, he was qutie vocal which kind of suprised me.
Jennings: Was good. Had a couple of errors under the high ball but was otherwise no worries. It was good to have his tough, hard runs coming out of our own end back and I was really impressed with his leg drive and ability to generate post contact meters. Was pretty solid tonight.
Walker: Just a typical great game from him. I love that Cody is starting to find consistency and is not fading in and out of games like he once did in the past. He was really good tonight. You really notice just the amount of space he creates when you watch it live, it was incredle really. Almost every run he had he looked dangerous with his jinking runs keeping the Warriors defence guessing. He was generating a few offloads which lead to line breaks too. I loved watching him tonight.
Reynolds: A good performance. His running game was strong tonight, even running on the last tackle a few times. This added a new element to our attack and the Warriors weren't sure what we were gonna do when reyno got the ball, it's great to see. Kicking game was really good, especially towards the end of the game where his game management was outstanding. It's also clear to see he's been working on his defence and that was a solid part of his game tonight.
T.Burgess: A bit of a slow start with poor dicipline, a sin bin and errors but gee, he sharpened up after that and was super damaging. Almost every run, he bent the line, ran hard and got those legs pumping. Great to see him cross the stripe for the first time in a fair while too. It was a bit dump his little trip sceneario and he could be in trouble there but it was otherwise a great performance.
Cook: Like the last few weeks, he wasn't as explosive but was still brilliant in other ways. Picked his time to run to perfection and it was so good to see him get going a few times. This always keeps the defence guessing. His service was outstanding and he really had the forwards coming onto the ball. I was really impressed with his defence though, he's not a big guy but is able to put big guys on their asses in beautiful tackles which is amazing. Has to play SOO this year for sure.
G.Burgess: Was great again tonight. Ran so, so hard and generated a lot of go forward for the boys. He was also able to generate a lot of quick play the balls which was impressive. Another great try in the bank too from pure determination. I just love how George leaves nothing in the tank every game, he was absoulutely buggered when he came off, you should have seen him, giving his all for the mighty Red and Green.
Sutton: King Sutto!! What a brilliant game from him, he was outstanding, probably our best tonight easily. He was so busy all night and his running game was very, very strong. The step off his left foot back inside is becoming so deadly and this was best showcased with his absoulute stunner off a try, that was absoulutely brilliant I tell ya.
Crichton: A bit of a quieter game from him tonight but still did his job. Chimed in when needed with the tough runs and did run some nice lines when we were on the attack. In fact, I don't think it was that Angus himself was quiet, I think the Warriors just did a good job on him and were able to limit his effectiveness. Still, a solid game from Gussy.
S.Burgess: Outstanding again. Just goes and goes and goes! It was the same agin tonight with such a high work rate and every run was quality. Sam was so dangerous because he was running with the ball in two hands, this kept the Warriors guessing because they didn't know whether he was going to run the ball or put it out the back. He did a lot of ball playing tonight and was just so inspirational. I assume him coming off was just for a rest as he looked fine on the bench.
Hunt: Not much to say as he only played ten minutes but the few runs he did have were pretty powerful.
Murray: Was good. Provided impact with his ever strong running game but it was defence that I really noticed his impact. He was constantly putting their big boys on their asses and slowing the play-the-ball which haulted their momentum. I'm actually really liking Cam off the bench.
Clark: Was good again, once again did his job with nothing special. he is such a reliable player that will always get you up over that advantage line, he did that tonight.
Tatola: He was fine, but I actually thought he didn't provide as big of an impact as normal. Like I say, he didn't do anything wrong but I just didn't notice him as much as usual. Still a solid game though.
What I will say is that after the game, the boys were brilliant as they were so gret to chat too.
Man, I feel on top of the world right now, so friggin happy dudes!!
A good performance from the boys, still improvement to be made as always but I'm just so friggin happy.
