Relief, elation, euphoria!! So many emotions after that one! Yewwww we got the win and booked our spot in the Finals! Signed, sealed, delivered, we'll be there. Wasn't pretty but we got the result we were after in a massive game under pressure. Beating the Cowboys who were running second and a genuine Premiership contender is no mean feat and that's a pretty hue scalp heading into next week and the Finals.
I think some people on other sites are being far too harsh on our performance. Yes, our attack was very clunky, but I put that almost solely down to missing Cookie. Anyone who thinks he's not a good dummy half, just watch that game. Without him, the service was just so slow from Havili and Nikorima and it really did cruel our attack. Cowboys have a rushing defensive style, and those constant slow balls gave them time to get in the face of the playmakers. So yea, our attack wasn't great, and we still made far too many unforced errors, probably lucky NQ were doing the same, but we still did enough to win without our hooker against a top 2 team. Should be bloody proud of that!
Defence was the real highlight. Two somewhat hail Mary tries conceded where we did clock off a little but aside from that we were pretty outstanding with the ball. Got put under a lot of pressure with our Season on the line against one of the best attacking teams in the comp but so many times, we kept turning up, held our nerve and held them out in spite of everything they threw at us. We kept gifting them field position but that's very impressive to keep a team like that to 10. A Finals worthy defensive performance.
Elated to confirm our spot in the Finals! Say what you like but nothing will change my mind that that was one hell of a win under the circumstances, and I am so f**king proud of my team. We closed out a tight, gritty, defensive focused game against a quality outfit and maybe that's exactly what we needed!
Enjoy this one. Be proud and get excited. I will be!
