Well we needed to come out tonight and make a statement didn't we? Well, what a statement we have just made!! A much, much improved performance that will have us rolling into this finals series. The momentum is back and we have found that form again, it was so good to watch!! The energy levels were back, completion rate returned to where it should be and there was not a bad performance by anyone. Definety some of the best footy we've played all year right there.
Attack was menacing tonight. You could see right from the start we were switched on and ready to go. As I mentioned earlier, the energy levels were fantastic and the boys just looked so hungry. The forwards starting rolling and just about every set in this game was really, really good. Our play-the-ball speeds were just so fast!! As a result, we started to gain momentum, got on top of them and eventually absoulutely dominated them. I think in the end, we were able to starve them of the ball with great, pressured attack and we ended up running for like 1000 more meters than them which is crazy. I enjoyed how we played patient footy and for the first time in a while, didn't stray from the game plan and kept pouring through that middle, the boys trusted in the process and boy did it pay off! And then the big one, we cut out our errors, you can see how much that improved our performance. When attacking the line, we looked very slick when going wide and the time taken to set up plays was back to were it has been, it was very quick. It was pleasing to see that we struck all over the park too, it wasn't just down the left. Finally, I loved how we were rutheless and in the end were able to put them to the sword.
Defence was pretty good. Like the attack, the boys looked so hungry right from the start and we were able to dominate them with a great defensive game. Getting numbers in the tackle, hitting them hgard and them forcing them back was on the menu all the time tonight and it was really great to see. This meant they could hardly make ground with th ball. Obviously, defence was pretty shaky at times and I was a little disappointed with the ease the Tigers were able to score from thos etwo kicks but thankfully, due to good attack, they hardly had a shot at our line after that. What's more, I was getting quite annoyed with our dicipline in the first half as we were giving them way too many piggy back penalties which let them out of their own end but to the boys credit, this was fixed in the second half.
Johnston: Was pretty good. Didn't get too involved in taking hit ups or the kick returns but attacking the line, he was very good, a constant threat out there with his speed and I thought his passing game to have a hand in a couple of those tries were really good. Great to see him bag a meat pie himself off some great support play.
Graham: Very good tonight. Did a great job at taking kick returns of running it out of yardage and he was able to put us on the front foot with some awesome runs. Great to see him score off that lovely backline shift and he was probably a bit unlucky to not get another off Cody's bomb.
Inglis: One of our best for sure. He was just so menacing all night and almost everytime he touched the ball, he looked likely and like he was threatening to break through. Whether it was a skip to the outside of a defender or a show of strength to go right through them, it was great to see GI so menacing and it's a really great sign. Was also pretty menacing on defence.
Gagai: Not bad at all from Gags. Probably not as good as some of the other outside backs but he was still fantastic. I liked his work rate in that game and every run he took was a good one. Provided some nice passes for Graham throughout the whole game too, especially that one for his try.
Jennings: Was great to have him back. The work he does coming out of our own end is just outstanding and that was clearly no different in this game. Jenko had such a high work rate and I think he really went looking for the ball which is great. All the runs he did have were powerful too and he was able to nab a lot of post-contact meters on each of them. grat to see him score again too off some beautiful work from his inside men.
Walker: How good was he?! Cody was popping up everywhere in attack for us and at times was just toying with the Tigers defence due to his elusive running. He created a lot of good opportunities for his outside men, looked dangerous everytime he touched the ball, had a nice short kicking game that yeilded results and scored a try himself off a beautiful jinking run.
Reynolds: Found some great form tonight. His kicking game and game management were first class and due to the hard work from the forwards, he was able to work his magic. Reyno's kicking game built a massive amount of pressure because he was able to put the ball inside their red zone and trap them there so they struggled coming out of their own end. His kicking game just really suffocated them. In addition, his running game was great. Unlike last week, he was once again digging right into tne line and taking it on which yeilded a lot of opportunities for those outside him and created indecision in the Tigers defence. His running game was on show for his try, that was beautiful and it was a play they wouldn't have been expecting. Only negative for him was the fact that a few times, he rushed out of the line and left huge holes.
T.Burgess: After a quiet couple of weeks, he stepped up tonight in a big way. Still played long minutes but he actually looked more energised and along side his twin, really led the charge. Every run he had was done with intent and desire, it was flat out. The desperation he showed to get up once tackled to get a fat play-the-ball was reall good to see too and it was this that gave us the momentum to carry on with it. Also managed to get a great try off that beautiful line he ran, it's good to see our props doing that. Tom's best game in a while and he layed a great platform.
Cook: Not his most explosive game but was still very good. A lot of defensive work as always, picked his time to run nicely, got the forwards rolling beautifully and had a hand in a lot of our close range tries with that slight skip out of dummy half which were great plays.
G.Burgess: He really was amazing tonight. Seibs used his bench strategy more effectively and it payed off for George. He was just barnstorming running for way over 100 meters with first class, menacing runs. Because of his amazing work, a great platform was layed and the attack flourished. it wasn't only attack though, he was super dominant in defence too. He really led the charge tonight and I think he was our best.
Sutton: Great to see Sutto find form again! His work rate was way up and he looked very hard to handle all game with that strong running, I think it was more like his mid season form which is awesome. Sutto's step back on the inside is so lethal and he did an amzing run to se up AJ for his try. To top it all off, he goes and scores one himself! A great game from Sutto.
Crichton: Pretty good again. I just love him coming back on those angles off Reyno or Cook and it occured a lot tonight, one of which turned into a great try off a beautiful hole run. He was good defensively and all his runs were quality.
S.Burgess: Another player that returned to form in a big way. Tonight was more like a classic Sam performance with that fantastic hard running of his. All his runs were very good and he was quite aggressive, I loved it! It was inpirational Sam once again as his work rate was also pretty high. I just hope is injury is nothing bad and he's good to go for the finals. Hopefully us taking him off was just to wrap him in a bit of cotton wool for the finals.
Hunt: Didn't get much game time but was pretty decent when he did come on for GI. Got involved a lot and had some nice runs.
Murray: What a game from Cam! One of our best! Had increased minutes again and he certainly made the most of it with a fantastic performance. An amazing running game where every run was huge meters and a quick play-the-ball as well as awesome defence like always. Was a really top game from Cam.
Clark: Was pretty good. Obviously reduced minutes but he did his job when he came on. Calrky kept that momentum going, came up with some awesome tackles and then took the goal kick at the end which was really cool to see in his last regular season home game.
Britt: Was also decent. Not an awful lot to say but he did a nice job.
I'm just very happy with that game as we have re-announced ourselves as a real threat and we will now roll into those finals with confidence and momentum. We've brought up the 50 for the first time this season and the Tigers are not slouches so that was a HUGE win for us.
So we are now guarenteed a 2nd or 3rd placing which will see us play the Roosters!!!!
We're back baby!!
