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Round 20 - Dragons vs Rabbitohs: Sunday 1st August 6:25pm @Suncorp Stadium

callmack1

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,611
After watching the replay, here's my full report,

Mitchell: Beat mode activated!! What an incredible performance from Trell, he was seriously good. Looked fired up, hungry and wanted to be involved heavily. That he was. Was everywhere it seemed like. Scored off one of his first touches, there was no way he was going to be stopped from there and his kick returns were strong, constantly breaking tackles and running over guys. Took some other tough hit ups too and he looked very dangerous out the back of shape, putting on some fantastic passes that would have lead to more tries if we'd been able to finish them. The highlight of his game for me was that run he had in the build up to Arrow's try. It was GI-like!! A 30 meter run beating six defenders with strength, power and footwork. Defensively he was good, making some strong tackles. Maybe got caught out of position at the back a couple of times though. Great to see him score a double at the end there too. 164 meters, 3 line breaks, 1 line break assist and 15 (yes,15) tackle breaks! Man of the match I reckon, amazing stuff!

Mansour: Sauce had a strong game for the full duration of the match. His kick returns and hit ups to get us out of trouble were very strong and he'd often beat the first contact which saw him get 4 tackle breaks. Had a bit of a blue when he couldn't fifnish that try in the first half but made up for it in the second by having the presence of mind to cut inside Gags for a great try. Liked his work without the ball, especially mid way through that second half where he had to turn and chase a great kick by Ben Hunt but he managed to get there and bundle the Dragons winger into touch.

Gagai: Wasn't super outstanding but still had a very consistent performance. As always, he was keen to do the tough stuff and roll his sleeves up for the dirty work and he got through plenty there, picking up 142 meters. Looked dangerous in attack, asked a few questions and even sliced straight through for a line break at one stage. laid on a nice try assist for Mansour, as I just talked about, and was solid as in defence. Really like his work as a decoy runner on that left on some plays, it's a big reason why that side is so good.

Milne: Had a powerful game. Very strong ball carrying and he made plenty of meters with the tough runs. A really nicle line run off Cody to power over for his try, that was great vision and great power running, he looked so determined. A bit hit and miss in defence as he came up with some good choices to shut down the play however, I was disappointed with his effort when Sloan scored. Taane could have stopped that if he hadn't been lagging behind the play.

Paulo: Still not convinced with Jaxson. He had some nice moments. Like, his running game was pretty strong as he ran for 167 meters which is an awesome effort. However, I still have question marks over his defence. Still hasn't mastered defusing kicks either. I know it's really harsh to sit here and criticise a player from the comfort of my own lounge but I think we can all agree his effort to clean up that first Dragons kick was awful. Simply not good enough and not up to first grade standard.

Walker: Another wonderful game from Cody. I know I say it every week but god, he is special. He really is. Pulled the Dragons apart throughout the course of the game on both sides on the field wih some masterful ball playing. Cut out passes, short balls, inside balls, Cody had it all on show last night and the Dragons simply couldn't cope. He laid on 3 try assists, 4 line break assists and scored a try of his own which are stats some players could only dream of. A very smart kicking game too, consistently coming up with the right options. Did pretty well on D, shut down a number of attacking raids down our left side. it was a shame he couldn't cover up that kick when Fuimaono scored but I guess it was tough to take. Fantastic game Cody!

Reynolds: Speaking of fantastic games, how good was our little general last night? Once again he was so on. Digging into the line on countless occasions and dummying at speed as he does before delivering a near perfect pass everytime. Like Cody, it was masterful and he was part of the trio that just toyed with St George Illawarra at times. 2 line break assists and 2 try assists for Reyno. On another note, how good was his try?!!! you hardly ever see a chip and chase for a try these days but he absolutely nailed that one. A good kicking game along with some solid defence for the most part and it was a good night for Reyno.

Nicholls: Continues to go from strength to strength. Once again last night we was awesome in both stints. In fact, he was enourmous as he ran for 205 meters off 21 runs!!! I can't remember ever seeing stats like that from Nicho which shows you just how well he went. Just kept going and going, rolling and rolling. really helped lay the platform. All of this along with 22 tackles through the middle. Good shit Nicho!!!

Cook: Not as explosive as last week but I still think he had a pretty decent game. Started terribly with a few really poor passes which lead to errors but he sorted it out and his service for the rest of the game was pretty good. Enjoyed his combination with the forwards through the middle, especially Tom some of the little plays he put on with them lead to more meters. Had a real roller coaster moment when he forced that line drop out, I was screaming "WTF are you doing Cookie?!" and then the next second I was saying "great stuff Cookie!" Haha. As always, a workhorse in defence too.

Burgess: I'm starting to wonder if maybe wayne dropping Tom earlier in the season is one of the best things he's done for our team this year. Seems to have lit a fire under Tom that has been burning ever since. Last week, that fire turned into an explosion and the big bangs just kept coming last night. It was another barnstorming performance from big Tommy. Ran hard with everything he had in each carry and was constantly running over blokes or carrying them with him after contact. A massive 202 meters from both his stints!! may I just say, both our starting front rowers running over 200 meyters is just fantastic! Anyway, what a run it was late in the game off that line drop out! I was scraming for him to score! Was just like his twin brother in the 2014 Grand Final. great game Tom!

Koloamatangi: Probably won't get the wraps that the likes of Tom or Nicho will get but was just as huge for us. As always, it was a massive effort from Keaon. Just kept going and going as he does, powering forward after contact on every run. 168 meters off 18 runs makes for great reading! Loved his try, made it look easy. The only thing about his performance I didn't love so much were the two penaltiers he gave away in quick succession during the first half as they contributed to the game turning in the Dragons favour for a bit. However, those two moments certainly aren't going to stop me from loving Keaon!

Su'A: Two awesome games in a row and it seems Jaydn has finally found some form. This is the kind of form that saw him picked for Origin, he's been that good! So much aggression in his runs last night which I loved to see. Pretty much everytime he hit the line, he was going at full tilt with no thought for self preservation. Churned out some big stats, 140 from 13, didn't put a foot wrong in defence and his try was a real powerhouse effort. Looked like he was going to be held up but in a show of strength, he managed to get it down.

Arrow: jai was also very good. Maybe not a spectacular performance like some of the other forwards but he still had an awesome game and certainly didn't let anyone down. Went about his business and I kind of feel like he was the unsung hero of last night. It's impossible to replace Cam Murray but Jai did his best to fill in. 143 meters and a try is a bloody good night for any lock.

Taaffe: Not a lot to say about him as he played very limited minutes so was barely able to have any impact. I reckon Wayne could have brought him on earlier once the game was over and gave Cody or Reyno a rest.

Mago: Loved Pati's efforts last night. Made a real impact off the bench with some big post contact meters. Such a strong lad! I certainly wouldn't want him running at me.

Host: Hosty was awesome coming on and slotting into that left edge. It meant Keaon had to move but we didn't miss a beat. Had some great carries to bend the line back and generate some quick-play-the-balls, while his defence was solid as always. Great job against your old club Hosty.

Moale: Extremely impressive debut. His minutes were cut short a bit by that HIA so it was just a taste for him and us but i really liked what I saw. Some big carries where he was able to put his aggression and strength on display and he certainly wasn't backing down to the Dragons forwards. A nice debut, can't wait to see more!

All in all, a comprehensive night for the lads. Very happy to win by that much and we showed that ruthless attitude by putting on 50. Still a bit annoyed to concede the tries we did though, that remains a work on but over all, I'm stoked!!
 

BotanyBorn&Bred

Juniors
Messages
1,896
I know this might surprise some but I actually think that they didn't play that well.

That patch in the 1st half before South's scored twice to end the half was pretty ordinary, I thought that Mansour was really ordinary, Arrow was very quiet for a guy we are paying $850K, we bombed 2 certain tries in the first half, and the discipline wasn't really there. And that St.George team was one of the worst teams I've seen in years.

Having said that, we scored 50, if we were really on, it could have been 70, which is just unbelievable to think is possible, I don't think any team can match us in attack, again the questions are our defensive in the middle and around the marker, and our discipline when the reffing decisions are going against us. It's scary to think what we could do if we can fix this up.

But in perspective Melbourne beat us 50-0, beat the Roosters 46-0, and were beating Penrith 30-0. That's 133-10 against 3 real contenders. Ok, I know none of the 3 were full strength, but if we are going to win, we need to strive for that kind of perfection.
 
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