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After watching the replay, here's my full report,
Mitchell: It was a big game in his career and I gotta say, he was outstanding. I would have liked him to get more involved in attack but we need to remember it's only his second game back. All of the touches he did have, aside from the misplaced bat-on to Paulo in the first half, were classy and he asked plenty of questions of the Roosters defence. His kick returns and running game in general play were strong and I thought he made some crucial tackles at times defending our line. He did get beat by Manu a couple of times but there wasn't really much he could do in both those situations. I want to give a wrap to his attitude last night which was first class. Latrell of the past would have become angry when Manu scored and he would have crossed the line to look for revenge but he showed great maturity to kind of say "alright Joey, you got me there, let's get on with the job." Obviously he had the last laugh on the scoreboard and with the play to seal the game, a great run down the sidelines that gave me flashbacks to GI. Trell in full flight is a beautiful thing. A passionate performance from Trell! Needs to work on his involvement but I'm sure that will come with match fitness and he still made his moments count.
Johnston: A much improved performance from AJ. I enjoyed his work rate with the ball, was much better than last week in this area. Still didn't make massive meters from the game but he didn't shy away from it like he kind of did against Melbourne. Gotta give him a big wrap for his try, it was great awareness for him to switch from defence to attack and get himself in a position to score the second try of his Season. A great pass back inside for Trell to streak away and wrap up the game. He did his job defensively too, obviously a couple of things got by him, but nothing that really cost us.
Milne: Taane was really good I thought. The only real negative to his night was the poor tackle attempt on Manu for the Roosters first try. He just arm-grabbed and let him slip past, you simply can't do that against Joey Manu. That was probably a big reason why he got moved back to the wing, because he did look a bit shaky in defence. Aside from that, I thought the rest of his performance was really good, super physical all game and looked really pumped up. Some great runs coming out of yardage on his way to 98 meters and he would have had a great hand in a try (off the AJ 'kick') had it not been disallowed. Was really physical in defence for most of the game, and putting a big shot on Tupounuia to force an error was the highlight. I want to see him stay at centre.
Graham: Another awesome performance from Stretch!! Super physical once again and got through a lot of the shit work to get us out of trouble a number of times. He made 108 meters off 9 runs which is a fair effort. Didn't get many opportunities attacking the line but did look dangerous and threatened to break tackles when he got the ball in good positions. I loved his defensive game as a whole as he came up with some awesome one-on-one tackles down that right edge to shut the play down, that saved us a few times. I will concede that it was Campbell's fault we conceded that last try, he got it completely wrong on Momirovski but thankfully, we had the game already wrapped up by then. Well done Stretch!!
Paulo: Credit where credit's due, Jaxson was great last night. He well and truly did his job. Looks much more comfortable on that right wing and it showed I thought. Came in looking for work and had some really solid hit ups on his way to 114 meters. Even when he went to left centre, he still looked okay. Didn't get any opportunities to really show us if he's improved there on attack but he did a very good job defensively (as he did all game). A great bit of play to scoop up that loose ball and get a flick pass away to AJ for Latrell's try, that was really great to watch. So it was a lift from Jaxson and that sets the standard for him now, he need to continue to build on that.
Walker: Much, much improved. It still wasn't perfect, still not quite the Cody of 2021 but he really stood up and showed signs. Looked pretty dangerous in the early part of the game when we had all that ball in their 20, he really asked a lot of questions there but couldn't quite crack it. A lot of times in this period, he ran the ball, I would have liked to see him get a pass away as I feel like there was a couple of times there upon watching the reply that we could have had them shot but Cody chose to run. Still, I guessing running a lot isn't a bad option as it puts the opposition in two minds more. I think he indirectly creates Cam's try as he was out the back and all eyes were on him due to how dangerous he is, that allowed Cam to slip through. Cody continued to look dangerous as the game wore on, he had a few good darts and laid on a few good passes on the left and write to create some half opportunities. Loved his try obviously, great vision and instinct to see the space, duck back inside of Cam and open his account for 2022. Defensively, it was a mixed bag. Pretty poor effort along with Taane on Manu for the Roosters first try and then got stepped by Manu for their second try just after halftime. In saying that, he did come up with some good stops at other times hence why I say it was a mixed bag defending. So I still think we need more from him but it was good to see him step up.
Ilias: Speaking of stepping up, I have been liking what I've been seeing from Lachie lately, thought he's been going really well but he certainly took it up a notch last night. Was great to see him get more involved and really own the contest. His ball playing was pretty good in this one. Over the opening two games, he's been criticised for always going out the back and becoming a bit predictable. However, it looks like he's working on that because there was a lot more variety to his game last night, still went out the back at times of course but there was a handful of times he played short and hit the lead runner. While most of these didn't yield actual results aside from good meters, it is good to see because it makes him less predictable if he can play long and short. It's great signs. Was a beautiful out ball to cam for Cody's try, that was a real peach of a pass and he created that try did Lachie. A decent running game, took the line on plenty of times and looked good there. Made the one error but he'll learn from that. His kicking game was solid, got it wrong once when the ball was caught in goal but aside from that it was pretty good and something he'll continue to improve. Great to see him force a line drop out too. Also, outstanding defence all night, chopped down everything that came his way and really stood tall there. I already think he's a better defender than Reyno. So a really impressive night from our young halfback! Still a lot to work on but he is building nicely.
Mitchell: It was a big game in his career and I gotta say, he was outstanding. I would have liked him to get more involved in attack but we need to remember it's only his second game back. All of the touches he did have, aside from the misplaced bat-on to Paulo in the first half, were classy and he asked plenty of questions of the Roosters defence. His kick returns and running game in general play were strong and I thought he made some crucial tackles at times defending our line. He did get beat by Manu a couple of times but there wasn't really much he could do in both those situations. I want to give a wrap to his attitude last night which was first class. Latrell of the past would have become angry when Manu scored and he would have crossed the line to look for revenge but he showed great maturity to kind of say "alright Joey, you got me there, let's get on with the job." Obviously he had the last laugh on the scoreboard and with the play to seal the game, a great run down the sidelines that gave me flashbacks to GI. Trell in full flight is a beautiful thing. A passionate performance from Trell! Needs to work on his involvement but I'm sure that will come with match fitness and he still made his moments count.
Johnston: A much improved performance from AJ. I enjoyed his work rate with the ball, was much better than last week in this area. Still didn't make massive meters from the game but he didn't shy away from it like he kind of did against Melbourne. Gotta give him a big wrap for his try, it was great awareness for him to switch from defence to attack and get himself in a position to score the second try of his Season. A great pass back inside for Trell to streak away and wrap up the game. He did his job defensively too, obviously a couple of things got by him, but nothing that really cost us.
Milne: Taane was really good I thought. The only real negative to his night was the poor tackle attempt on Manu for the Roosters first try. He just arm-grabbed and let him slip past, you simply can't do that against Joey Manu. That was probably a big reason why he got moved back to the wing, because he did look a bit shaky in defence. Aside from that, I thought the rest of his performance was really good, super physical all game and looked really pumped up. Some great runs coming out of yardage on his way to 98 meters and he would have had a great hand in a try (off the AJ 'kick') had it not been disallowed. Was really physical in defence for most of the game, and putting a big shot on Tupounuia to force an error was the highlight. I want to see him stay at centre.
Graham: Another awesome performance from Stretch!! Super physical once again and got through a lot of the shit work to get us out of trouble a number of times. He made 108 meters off 9 runs which is a fair effort. Didn't get many opportunities attacking the line but did look dangerous and threatened to break tackles when he got the ball in good positions. I loved his defensive game as a whole as he came up with some awesome one-on-one tackles down that right edge to shut the play down, that saved us a few times. I will concede that it was Campbell's fault we conceded that last try, he got it completely wrong on Momirovski but thankfully, we had the game already wrapped up by then. Well done Stretch!!
Paulo: Credit where credit's due, Jaxson was great last night. He well and truly did his job. Looks much more comfortable on that right wing and it showed I thought. Came in looking for work and had some really solid hit ups on his way to 114 meters. Even when he went to left centre, he still looked okay. Didn't get any opportunities to really show us if he's improved there on attack but he did a very good job defensively (as he did all game). A great bit of play to scoop up that loose ball and get a flick pass away to AJ for Latrell's try, that was really great to watch. So it was a lift from Jaxson and that sets the standard for him now, he need to continue to build on that.
Walker: Much, much improved. It still wasn't perfect, still not quite the Cody of 2021 but he really stood up and showed signs. Looked pretty dangerous in the early part of the game when we had all that ball in their 20, he really asked a lot of questions there but couldn't quite crack it. A lot of times in this period, he ran the ball, I would have liked to see him get a pass away as I feel like there was a couple of times there upon watching the reply that we could have had them shot but Cody chose to run. Still, I guessing running a lot isn't a bad option as it puts the opposition in two minds more. I think he indirectly creates Cam's try as he was out the back and all eyes were on him due to how dangerous he is, that allowed Cam to slip through. Cody continued to look dangerous as the game wore on, he had a few good darts and laid on a few good passes on the left and write to create some half opportunities. Loved his try obviously, great vision and instinct to see the space, duck back inside of Cam and open his account for 2022. Defensively, it was a mixed bag. Pretty poor effort along with Taane on Manu for the Roosters first try and then got stepped by Manu for their second try just after halftime. In saying that, he did come up with some good stops at other times hence why I say it was a mixed bag defending. So I still think we need more from him but it was good to see him step up.
Ilias: Speaking of stepping up, I have been liking what I've been seeing from Lachie lately, thought he's been going really well but he certainly took it up a notch last night. Was great to see him get more involved and really own the contest. His ball playing was pretty good in this one. Over the opening two games, he's been criticised for always going out the back and becoming a bit predictable. However, it looks like he's working on that because there was a lot more variety to his game last night, still went out the back at times of course but there was a handful of times he played short and hit the lead runner. While most of these didn't yield actual results aside from good meters, it is good to see because it makes him less predictable if he can play long and short. It's great signs. Was a beautiful out ball to cam for Cody's try, that was a real peach of a pass and he created that try did Lachie. A decent running game, took the line on plenty of times and looked good there. Made the one error but he'll learn from that. His kicking game was solid, got it wrong once when the ball was caught in goal but aside from that it was pretty good and something he'll continue to improve. Great to see him force a line drop out too. Also, outstanding defence all night, chopped down everything that came his way and really stood tall there. I already think he's a better defender than Reyno. So a really impressive night from our young halfback! Still a lot to work on but he is building nicely.
