After watching the replay, here's my report. Once again, I don't have a lot of time this weekend so it won't be a full report but I'll still go over some thoughts.
Attack
We were always going to struggle in this game due to missing those five superstars, especially because three of them are so crucial to the potency of our attack. And struggle we did. I know we made that brilliant comeback in the last five minutes but before that, it was looking really dour on offence.
In terms of our yardage game, I actually thought that was fine. Most sets, we got a good roll on through the middle and got a decent kick away at the end, so there were no issues making ground with the ball.
The issue was scoring points when we got our chances and got down there, that seemed a real struggle which is to be expected, I guess. I'm talking about the 75 minutes before the comeback here by the way. Everything looked a lot slower, there was no real direction, we went the wrong way many times, and the general timing just looked way off. As a result, we failed to take advantage of a lot of the opportunities down there, which I feel we got our fair share, the boys just weren't good enough to take it which was disappointing. I'm not going to worry too much about it because of the guys we were missing, however, I do feel that we should have done better.
I'm also a bit disappointed with the game plan yesterday arvo. The boys were clearly, very clearly, more conservative. I know we play a conservative style coming out of our own end, but yesterday just seemed even more conservative than normal, even when attacking in their half. It proved to be pretty ineffective aside from making meters and I think it was a big reason for the loss. Look at the Dragons, they moved the ball and caused us a lot of issues, we should have been doing similar I feel. Maybe JD thought we didn't have the players to execute that style? I'm not sure, but I really think it would have been worth the risk. We died wondering for much of the game yesterday.
This point is proved even more when you consider the comeback. Finally, with five minutes to go, when the game is pretty much gone, the boys finally decided to play some Footy and move the ball around. Look what it did to the Dragons! They really struggled to handle it. Three quick-fire, brilliant tries, two of them starting from the kickoff, it was incredible!! But why not do that earlier while we're still in the game? Frustrating.
Defence
By far the most disappointing part of yesterday's game. It really was terrible. Despite our line up, I'm pretty embarrassed to concede 36 points to the bottom of the table and it's really poor, simply not good enough. I'll say it again, what the hell has happened to our defence?!!
General play defence again was super disappointing. The boys looked really tired as there was no real energy or effort shown in this area. A real lack of line speed as they'd take a few steps off the line, then just sit there and wait for the Dragons ball runner to come to them. Not good enough. Our first contact was pretty poor and for the fourth week in a row, at times, it looked like we really struggled to actually take the ball carrier to ground. Add on the fact that they looked completely clueless as to how to stop an offload, and it's easy to see why the Dragons had such a roll on at times. I lost count of how many times they had a 60-80 meter set. Very disappointing from our middles.
Then don't even get me started on the goal line defence, diabolical at times. Three very soft tries scored that simply shouldn't happen at this level.
I know we were missing five of our best but missing players doesn't make you put in a poor effort defensively. It doesn't stop you from getting your body in front of a ball runner.
Very, very concerning as we went from the second-best defensive team in the comp, to conceding 26 points or more in the past four weeks.
Player by Player/Players of Interest
Taaffe: After being happy with him last week, I reckon he had a pretty average game yesterday. Not really bad by any stretch, just average, and we need more than that from our fullback with our style of play. Showed plenty of enthusiasm, as he always does, but once again failed to really do anything with it. Didn't pose a real threat at all more often than not. He did have a hand in the break for our second to last try, but that was about it. This might be a little harsh, but I think our attack struggled at times somewhat because of him. Many times, he'd get the ball and fail to do anything with it. Fail to set up the guy outside him, fail to beat a tackle, fail to pose a threat. Often, he just died with the ball. on tip of this, his goal kicking was woeful and while we can't blame him for the loss, had he kicked a few more goals, we could all be feeling very different today.
Tass: Individually, I reckon he' been one of our best the last couple of weeks but he went from that, to being one of our worst yesterday. His carries out of our own end were fine and he scored a good try, but the rest of his game wasn't great at all. Allowed Sloan to get on the outside of him for the Dragons second try (partially Hawkins' fault) and then came up with those two awful moments in the second half which really cost us. Firstly, that escort penalty, which was just so silly, no unnecessary and put us under massive pressure, then in the next set he leaves the defensive line, rushes up on no one, and leaves Hawkins all on his own to try and stop Su'A from strolling through the massive gap he just caused. Two really poor moments. He also had a poor moment right at the death in the second to last play before Havili knocked on. We shift to the left and have an overlap, Tassy has Jed and AJ outside him in open space, yet he decides to take the tackle? God, that pissed me off. I'm not saying we would have won if he passes but who knows what might have happened?
Graham: Pretty good! Certainly one of our better players, with the ball anyway. His carries were enormous. Got us out of trouble a number of times and constantly poked his nose through the line. 11 runs for 148 meters, that's pretty damn impressive! Nice play from him to set up Kennar for our first try, and then that comeback was all him. It was basically 'just get the ball to Stretch' in that last five minutes. Three amazing plays! The first one for Lachy's try was particularly impressive, there wasn't much on, yet he just sliced straight through and set up Lachy perfectly. Then, minutes later he scored his own in similar fashion, just going straight through. So, his attack was great, but he did come up with some poor reads in defence. That first Dragons try was massively his fault. He jammed in and completely missed a smaller man; you don't see that often.
Kennar: I'm not going to say too much about Richie. I was in his corner last week, but I am certainly not this week. A really poor game. Yea, he scored a try and played his part in setting us up for Campbell's try but aside from that, he did some really poor stuff out there. A few really poor reads in defence, particularly that first Dragons try. It looked pathetic what he did when he rushed in. Two crucial errors too. I can't see how he keeps his spot for the Cowboys game, I have much more faith in Milne.
Our halves: Really disappointed in both our halves. Lachy was the better of the two, there's no doubt about that. really nice play from him for Richie's try. It was a great ball that got Stretch on the outside of Suli and forced the winger to come in which created the overlap. He was also pretty influential in our comeback with some big plays. But apart from this, he was pretty poor. Failed to manage the game and I still wouldn't say he really stood up and led the way like we all said he needed to. Hawkins isn't even really worth talking about, he did nothing really except miss tackles. Yea, he was probably playing out of position, but I expected a lot better.
Tatola: A mixed performance, some really good, some really bad. I mainly wanted to point out his effort on the Dragons first try though. Feagai falls to ground, and Junior just stands there and looks at him? What the heck?! That's one of the laziest efforts I've seen all year.
Cook: Pretty good. Not super outstanding, but pretty good. Stifled our attack a few times by going the wrong way or taking the wrong option, also had a really bad miss on Molo when he scored but he did look dangerous at times. The break before Tassy's try was just about his play of the Season and he almost came up with another big play earlier in the first half.
Koloamatangi: One of our best. he wasn't without his faults, a really poor and weak effort on Liddle when he scored but he was instrumental with the ball. Couldn't do much more to be honest. Some massive carries, huge runs, and a lot of them, 12 for 114 meters. Then, obviously his try was amazing.
In summary, Ughhhhh!!!!! I'm just so frustrated. I think I've said everything I needed to say in my post last night and this review. Missing those five players, while it certainly contributed, and we probably would have won if they all played, it's not an excuse.
Much needed bye, so much needed. We can rest up, work on some things, and reset.
It's an absolute must we get our Season back on track in the next game. We're still in a good position, but that will slip away quick if we keep putting in defensive efforts like this.
Glory, Glory.
