After watching the replay, here's my full report,
Mitchell: A very mixed bag for Latrell. Hate to say this but I think it was more bad than good to be honest. Firstly, his running game was pretty good as he was constantly taking hit ups and they were strong runs, was very involved in that area throughout the game. Slipped a great offload to Cody too which got us an awesome line break. However, apart from a few plays across the 80 minutes, he was barely seen out the back of shape. Why? I ask why because I have no idea why he was hardly involved in that area of the game. We need far more in that area. He's a marquee player, one of the best in the NRL out the back of shape but we hardly even saw it in a big game. That's not good enough. So I liked his involvement with his running game but very disappointed in him when attacking their line. I'm also pretty disappointed in his defence, not up to his usual standard. Twice he could have potentially saved a try down our right hand side but his effort in cover defence was piss poor. Instead of giving it everything like he normally would, the effort he showed was piss poor to be honest. Again on the second Panthers try on our left, he could have put himself in a position to be there in cover but he made no effort to get across from mid field at all. This is probably the most I've ever criticised Latrell. Love him but I feel like he deserves it after last night.
Johnston: Was solid without being special. His running game was pretty strong, he returned the ball well, had a good work rate with hit ups out of our end and he was very safe under the high ball, didn't drop one despite getting some tough kicks so that was impressive. AJ didn't get many opportunities in space but he did what he could when he found himself there. A great play for Cody's try, awesome speed and then vision to get it back inside. Could have scored a long range try with his speed too if not for some desperate Panthers defence. The only real negative for his night was the one error he made.
Milne: Bit unsure how to feel about Taane's game so I'm just going to say it was a mixed night for him. For the most part, I liked his efforts with the ball. He ran with aggression and had some really good carries. He didn't get a big amount of opportunities attacking their line and he was well marked but he did have a chance to go for a try in the first half off AJ's offload but I thought he was a bit casual, didn't show the urgency needed. Not saying he would have got there but it would have been a lot closer. Did make an error too. Showed us he does have ball skills though with that lovely tip on to AJ for Cody's try, that was bloody lovely! He did okay defensively for most of the game aside from one huge defensive error for the Panthers' second try. That try was his fault. Cody well and truly has his man covered, but Taane has a brain fart and rushes in from way out! Thus, creating the try! That pissed me off so much, it was completely unnecessary and just a really really poor read. I also think he lost his cool a bit later in the game. So a mixed night for Taane.
Graham: Awesome work from Stretch with the ball, he was huge in this area. A really strong running game as always, quality hit up after quality hit up. Got through a massive 167 meters so was colossal in helping to get us out of trouble, really impressive. He looked fairly dangerous attacking their line, broke 5 tackles so was hard to handle clearly, and he slipped through well for our first try of a great pass from Ilias. However, he did make 2 errors with the ball and the defence from him was not up to his usual standard. I really think he dropped the ball this week on this side of his game. Penrith's first try could have been stopped if Campbell hadn't got caught up on the inside of Luai and tripped over and he also had a hand in the other two lapses down the right edge. He did come up with some good stops and big tackles at other times but those three lapses were really disappointing. Normally a great defender so needs to step up there.
Paulo: Pretty disappointing. He did have some okay runs in attack but did nothing special there really and his defence was just terrible, awful. Panthers first try, he backs off way to much and gets beaten on the outside, makes a poor attempt at tackle on Luai and he gets by. Their third try, once again is a tackle that Jaxson really should be making but he gets beaten on the outside and makes a pretty poor dive attempt. I admit, he's not helped by those inside him because they don't slide quick enough but it's still a tackle that I feel he could have made. Penrith's fourth try, he comes rushing in and doesn't get his man. He goes off for an HIA shortly after. I'm not directly blaming Jaxson for all those tries, just stating he played a role in them being scored. He's normally pretty solid defensively but it seemed to all fall apart last night.
Walker: Didn't really step up when we needed him too in a big game. He was trying hard but nothing was really coming off for him in attack. Looked like creating a couple of chances but it was then shut down or the play broke down. He came up with 3 errors over the 80 minutes too. Made a nice line break in the first half off that nice offload from Latrell and he showed some great skill to get it around the corner and out to AJ but sadly, it didn't really come to anything. His highlight was obviously his try because he had a big hand in that. Great combo with Lachie, great pass from Cody to create the space for Taane and AJ, and then backed up on the inside to score so that was a glimpse of Cody's best, we just need to see it more often. In defence Cody was good. He didn't put a foot wrong there. We just need to get him back firing, he's been getting better and has shown us glimpses but no doubt it's been a tough start to the Season for him. Given our Draw, Cody has a great opportunity in the next few weeks to find some of that form and get back to his best.
Ilias: I am so frickin proud of him!! Massively proud!! In a big game, he wasn't overawed, he really stood up, owned it and I honestly think he was our man of the match!! A wonderful play by him to create our first try, really straightened the attack and then put on a beautiful pass to Campbell to put him straight into a hole, that was lovely. It's such a shame his try was denied through no fault of his own because that would have been a great moment. What about the way he took on Yeo and Fisher-Harris? Stepping off the right foot, backing himself, cutting through and then beating a tackle to 'score,' I absolutely loved seeing that from Lachie and it was a big play. Again, such a shame it was taken off him but a really good sign!! Then a few minutes later, he manufactures a line break on his own with a beautiful short ball to put Tom straight through. The classy touches kept coming in the second half, the most notable being his involvement in Cody's try. Lachie started that movement, took the ball right to the line and played straight before combining well with his halves partner and getting a nice pass away. This held Cleary up, gave Cody some space, created the line break and ultimately, lead to the try. I was just so impressed with his ball playing last night! His defence was okay too. Short kicking game was awesome, showed great confidence and poise to put in two perfect grubbers which lead to line dropouts however, I do think his long kicking game left a bit to be desired but that's something to work on. I also hoped he's learnt his lesson about getting to the ball on the full off the kick off. Just really impressed with him, as I said, I reckon he was our best. Really starting to command respect at this level and will only get better.
