Never mind the final result, I enjoyed the game and was impressed by a few of the juniors, but was super impressed by their attitude. There was no giving up by the team even though they were outgunned, outrun and playing in hot conditions, our club has pride, tenacity and guts running through every grade. A couple of points:
- Since we have established that the Bunker staff can read the minds of players, hence their ridiculous ruling Jenkins changed his mind from the ball to a tackle, I would like to challenge them to read my mind and tell me what I am thinking. I’ll give them a clue, the first letter begins with a ”C”.
- As Ivan has said, Eddie Blacker’s tackle summed up what the club is about. An incredible effort considering the game was lost, there was only a minute to go. When he arrived, everybody said he was slow. If there was any doubt that to be a top NRL team you need to have a mastery of sports science, Eddie Blacker is the walking proof that you do.
- The change in our club’s fitness levels since the days of Ronnie Palmer, has been incredible and played a large part in our club’s improvement. Sadly, Ronnie is the trainer at the West’s Tigers and maybe finishing his excellent career as a wooden spoon winner.
- I don’t understand all the negativity about Turuva with 157m and 8 tackle breaks. “He was walking at times”, well of course he was. They are playing in hot conditions at a level of intensity they have rarely played at before. They do not have the condition to play 80 minutes at this level yet. Especially when they are surrounded mainly by NSW Cup. It is different when you drop in the regular first grade team surrounded by hardened NRL veterans. They help you cope and do a bit more work. On Saturday, there was nobody going to take up the slack, they were all in the same boat and facing a top four team. I thought he went well and tried his guts out.
- Lindsay Smith and Blacker really do look like future first graders. Smith’s 91m and 33 tackles at 86% is a brilliant effort. He looks like he reads the game and found gaps instead of trying to bash through with brute strength. Blacker bashed out 87m in 30 minutes, but needs to work on his tackling with a 76% effective rate. Even so, coupled with running down Dearden, it was a great effort first up. Henry was very good as well.
- Many thanks to SOS for his efforts this year, he has done a great job steering the good ship Panthers while other halves have been missing. I wish him well at the Dolphins. A bit if work on his long kicking game (he currently wields a pop gun, when he needs a howitzer to be truly effective) and he could be a really good half.
- Can we please stop with this idea that Staines isn’t a first grader? 177m, 3 tackle breaks, a try assist and a line break assist. He played well and showed plenty of determination in a beaten side. Given encouragement and development he can be a good player for another club. I certainly wouldn’t swap Peachey for him. I hope Blade gets the club to see sense. Stick a fork in Peachey. He is done.
- 9 penalties, 3 six-agains and a sin-bin, playing away from home against a top four side, and in hot conditions yet there we were chasing fullbacks with a minute to go. Ivan Cleary and the management team, take a bow. You have created “a bus” that everybody is on and it’s full of players, with drive, accountability, commitment, and a will to win. How can you take 13 players out of NSW cup and still win a semi-final match? That says more about this club than the minor premiership. Awesome.
