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40? We can do better than that.This is taking the piss now
We want 40+!
) over his brothers.
I had a blast with my mate who came along too....
I thought it was Jennings fault. I thought GI had his man covered but Jennings rushed in when it wasn't needed. That's how I saw it.
Callmack I don't have to do a review now as I can't fault anything there. It's exactly how I saw it bro. Completely agree re Jennings rushing in too.Hell yea!!! Seven in a row for the first time since 94!! How good did that turn out to be?!! We looked a bit flat early on if I'm honest and imo, our energy in defence was poor, Parra were rolling right through us! But to the boys credit, they really lifted especially the forwards. Gee, that second half was just razzle dazzle footy, in fact, most of that game was. So friggin good to watch and I couldn't be happier with the way that game turned out after the way it started, we were just all over Parra in that second stanza.
In terms of attack, as I mentioned earlier, I think we were a wee bit flat early on. Going wide with set plays looked slick but imo, the forwards were just getting dominated through the middle with the Parra forwards out-ethusing ours. Parra's hard running and quick play-the-balls really had me worried. However, despite this, the boys were able to stop them in their tracks after their 14-6 lead and that was really good to see. From there, we were just rutheless and it was attack, attack, attack. Some purely beautiful tries and the thing that really impressed me was the variation in the set plays. Take the two from the scrum for example, they started in the same way but the second was made completely different by Cody showing it to Sutto on the inside before drifting across to find GI. That's what I loved, just the variation in attack.
Defensively, I also thought energy was lacking early on. Line speed wasn't up to speed and our second/third men into the tackle weren't as effective as they should be. This is what allowed Parra to get that roll on which had us constantly on the back foot. However, there is no panic in this side, none at all. You just had the feeling that everyone knew it would turn in our favour with a bit of possession and that it did! From then on, we looked unbreakable. To their credit, Parra did get those two tries but they were a small consolation and I think the boys can be happy with their defensive effort.
Johnston: Looked a bit shaky early on, especially under the high ball but once he settled in, he was fantastic. AJ is becoming a great support runner through the middle, running off our forwards and his two tries showed that. That second try from him was just brilliant! he did let Hayne through for that try but tbh, there wasn't much more he could do, it was all the bounce of the ball.
Hunt: Was a little disappointed in him early as he wasn't really getting involved and dropped that catch for Hoffman's first that he really should have taken. However, as the game wore on, his impact became greater. He was great coming out of our own end and did a great job at helping out with the forwards. What's more, that finish in the corner for his try was outstanding.
Inglis: Was good. I don't think it was a bad read from him when they scored early on down that edge, he had his man, it was more a defensive error from Jennings coming in when GI had his man covered. He was menacing for most of the game, ran realy hard when taking hit ups and was really aggressive when going into contact. One thing I love about Gi at centre is his abilty to attract defenders and that showed again tonight. For those tries off the scrum, Gi was able to draw in three and M.Jennings couldn't slide off him, this meant G.Jennings had to come in and then it was just a simple stroll to the try line for Rob, really great to watch.
Gagai: Wasn't bad. However, was it just me or was be a little quiet? The runs he had were quality but for mine, he wasn't getting involved enough. I thought he was great defensively though. Him and Crichton were always there to pressure Hoffman under the ball and Gags came up with some good stops defending our line.
Jennings: First man to score four in a game in 2018!! A great game from Jenko! Yes, for a couple of his tries, it was a simple stroll but then again, there was one there where he had a lot of work to do but was able to get it done. However, it wasn't just his try scoring, when coming out of our own end, he was great and that hasn't changed all year and he makes great post-contact meters. Awesome to see him get one (of should I say four
Walker: Wow, what a game from Cody!! Outstanding and probably our best tonight.Was constantly probing as he always does but he had a hand in almost every try tonight whether that be a key role in a set play or providing a heads up kick for AJ which was just brilliant. He just looked so dangerous all night and Parra had no idea what he was gonna do. It may not have been his most spectacular play, but I think his best play came in Hunt's try. Cody straightened so well, even dummied to the inside and took it right to the line, that drew in four and this opened up so much space. Walker was absoulutelly on fire tonight!!
Reynolds: Was great. Goalkicking was a bit of a let down but his general play kicking was anything but!! Absoulutelly terrorised the Eels back three and tbh, I haven't seen a half consistently bomb like that in a long time, they were that good! Had a lot of distance as well. It wasn't only his bomb though, he had the ball on a string at times with finding the grass and making their back three work. Was running the ball a bit too and set up that great try for Tom. A top Reyno performance.
T.Burgess: Wasn't bad at all but through no fault of his own, he was a bit quiet. Well actually, I guess he wasn't quiet but by his own lofty standards, he was. I think this was mainly due to Parra doing a really good job of coming out of the line at him and shutting him down. In saying that, he did have some great runs and it was awesome to see him bag another try.
Cook: Was good. I do think he maybe tried to overplay his hand just a little bit at times but otherwise had a very strong running game as always and he got the boys rolling throught the middle in that second half. Defensive workrate was very good again.
G.Burgess: See comments for Tom (minus the try bit of course).
Sutton: Like the twins, he was good but I think Parra did a pretty good job on him. He did still have some great runs though and his importance to our set plays is massive, that showed again tonight through his great combination with Cody.
Crichton: Was good. Pretty high work rate and good, hard running. Was starting to make quite a few tackle breaks too. That play he put on for AJ's second was so good!! Smart too because the Eels would not have seen it coming at all.
S.Burgess: Was great. Glad to see he cut down the errors and was back to his typical self. Hard running and very high involvement. It was just a typical, solid game from Sam with nothing really outstanding but just put in a relly nice effort.
Doueihi: Didn't play all that much so there's not much to say really. had one nice run though.
Murray: Did a great job off the bench.Had a hight work rate and some nice runs but I really liked his defence. Almost every tackle, he'd get the attacker on their back. This stiffened up our middle because it stopped their fast play-the-balls. I noticed a real change in defensive energy when he came on.
Clark: I feel like I say the same thing every week but he was solid and just did his job, nothing more, nothing less. That's all we need.
Tatola: Was good. Ran with intent in every run and I really enjoyed his impact off the bench.
All up, I'm very happy with that game. It certainly wasn't perfect but it just goes to show that we can still improve so much.
I feel where you’re coming from, it’s a big worry. But really 12 of those 24 pts where pretty lucky tries, and our tackle efficiency was still 93%. I think Ennis on the Fox panel summed up our first 20-25mins. We just didn’t cope with the new low penalties or “flow” policy of the NRL and our big boys tired real quickly and they ran us over. The twins never really recovered, they were real quite only just cracking 50m each for the game. Once we came to grips with it they already had 14 points on us. Also in the press conference Seibs signaled the 24pts as an area of concern and improvement, so I hope this becomes a one off and they nip it in the bud.
Currently Dewey is our utility back covering for centre,wing and f.b.,Hunt and Graham also there.
Without doubt Dewey is a good un,we have Hunt,Graham,Burnsie,Kennar as back ups when available how good is that.
