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Burgess: A lot of the boys put in a big effort for this game but now more so than Tom. That is one of the better performances of his career and easily his best of this Season. A mammoth performance!! Seemed to play more minutes but was no less effective as he just kept going and going, rolling and rolling all night. He finished up with just over 240 meters which is huge! Even after contact he was hard to stop and his massive 80 post contact meters shows that. You can't ask for much more from a front rower really. Tom is a huge reason for our dominance in this game as the forwards just kept rolling and they were lead by him. It was his efforts that laid the platform. One of our best the other night for sure!
Cook: Nice game from Cookie as his good form continued. It wasn't quite as spectacular as last week but it was still a really good performance. He set the tone early with his running game, going for a few darts. There was one brilliant run in particular early on where he darted down the short side and almost set up a try for Mansour. That was his best run of the night but even after this he still probed and had some dangerous runs. They didn't really lead to anything but they don't have to, the fact is that Cookie is running which is when he's at his best. Good service from dummy half for the whole game and as always, his defence was top notch as he got through a lot of work in that area.
Tatola: Stood up in this one and had a really good game in partnership with Tom. Those two were more like their 2020 form which was barnstorming and that was on show the other night. Junior forms one of the best one-two punches in the game with Tom when they're both on. Junior has been building in these first five Rounds and I thought this performance was his best so far. Some huge ones, with the highlight being one that made twenty meters, to finish up with 135 meters which is reflective of a great front rower's performance.
Host: Was unsure how Hosty was going to respond for his first game back since that poor performance in Round 1 but I thought he was really good actually. A huge improvement. His runs were all pretty strong and he was busy all night. ran some really nice lines off Benji, one of which he almost went straight through off a short ball. What's more, he made no errors after dropping a few in that Round 1 game. jacob's defence was rough too as he put in some really strong tackles with a couple of big hits in there too. With another good performance next Round, I really think he could be putting himself in the frame to take Mago's bench spot.
Su'A: Played well last week in his best game for the Season but I think he improved on that and this week was even better! Jaydn was menacing out on that right edge as he got through a lot of work and looked really aggressive in his runs as we've come to know and love. There was a few times there where he really threatened the defence. I'm also liking the comination between him and Graham, they've played a lot together now and it's starting to really develop for a few dangerous moments on Thursday night. One was a great play in the first half where Jaydn made a really strong run and was able to free his arms, he just popped the ball up knowing Campbell would be there and we pinched extra meters as a result. As a whole, I though Su'A's defensive game was good and he came up with a few big hits but it was a poor attempt to tackle Issako in combination with Reyno.
Murray: Another great game from Mr consistent A.K.A Mr reliable. He just went about his business as we have come to know and love. Has such a huge impact in our game and that was on show again the other night as he put on countless quality runs to once again clock up over 100 meters. Really helped lay the platform through the middle. Defence was incredible from Cam again too as he got through a lot of work there and made some great tackles. Being able to chop down Payne Haas all by yourself is no mean feat!
Hawkins: Awesome to see him debut!! Obviously didn't make a huge impact as he only played 14 minutes but he wasn't required to make an impact as the game was over. Had some really nice touches and kicks, most noteably his 40/20 attempt that almost found the mark. That showed great confidence and vision. But it wasn't only that, off the same kick it was then Hawko leading the chace! That was awesome, I liked what I saw from him.
Nicholls: Just another solid performance from Nicho as his form continues. Faultless all night including his work rate and effort as he made a real impact off the bench in his stints. Settled into his work well and it was just run and run hard, He did that and finished with 146 meters which is awesome.
Mago: Pati has been great for us this year but I have to admit, I wasn't impressed with him the other night and I feel like he deserves some constructive criticism. I don't have lot to say becuase he didn't make a big impact. Only having five runs isn't good enough. Pati is better than that. I'm hoping he shows more next week as he'll have Hosty hot on his heels for a bench role in Round 7 if he doesn't.
Arrow: Wasn't bad but it was probably is worst performance of the year so far, just didn't make as much of an impact as he has in past games. I'm not sure what it was, maybe he wasn't that bad and was just outshone by Tom and Junior, I don't know but there's no question he didn't have as big of an impact. Dropped it cold in his second run too. I'm not saying he had a bad game, it's just not the kind of performance we're used to from Jai.
But yea, over all a very classy performance. Once again I feel like we played within ourselves but that is a good sign as we put on 35 points. We're going well and I'm happy but there's still a lot of improvement in our team which should be scary to our opposition.
Cook: Nice game from Cookie as his good form continued. It wasn't quite as spectacular as last week but it was still a really good performance. He set the tone early with his running game, going for a few darts. There was one brilliant run in particular early on where he darted down the short side and almost set up a try for Mansour. That was his best run of the night but even after this he still probed and had some dangerous runs. They didn't really lead to anything but they don't have to, the fact is that Cookie is running which is when he's at his best. Good service from dummy half for the whole game and as always, his defence was top notch as he got through a lot of work in that area.
Tatola: Stood up in this one and had a really good game in partnership with Tom. Those two were more like their 2020 form which was barnstorming and that was on show the other night. Junior forms one of the best one-two punches in the game with Tom when they're both on. Junior has been building in these first five Rounds and I thought this performance was his best so far. Some huge ones, with the highlight being one that made twenty meters, to finish up with 135 meters which is reflective of a great front rower's performance.
Host: Was unsure how Hosty was going to respond for his first game back since that poor performance in Round 1 but I thought he was really good actually. A huge improvement. His runs were all pretty strong and he was busy all night. ran some really nice lines off Benji, one of which he almost went straight through off a short ball. What's more, he made no errors after dropping a few in that Round 1 game. jacob's defence was rough too as he put in some really strong tackles with a couple of big hits in there too. With another good performance next Round, I really think he could be putting himself in the frame to take Mago's bench spot.
Su'A: Played well last week in his best game for the Season but I think he improved on that and this week was even better! Jaydn was menacing out on that right edge as he got through a lot of work and looked really aggressive in his runs as we've come to know and love. There was a few times there where he really threatened the defence. I'm also liking the comination between him and Graham, they've played a lot together now and it's starting to really develop for a few dangerous moments on Thursday night. One was a great play in the first half where Jaydn made a really strong run and was able to free his arms, he just popped the ball up knowing Campbell would be there and we pinched extra meters as a result. As a whole, I though Su'A's defensive game was good and he came up with a few big hits but it was a poor attempt to tackle Issako in combination with Reyno.
Murray: Another great game from Mr consistent A.K.A Mr reliable. He just went about his business as we have come to know and love. Has such a huge impact in our game and that was on show again the other night as he put on countless quality runs to once again clock up over 100 meters. Really helped lay the platform through the middle. Defence was incredible from Cam again too as he got through a lot of work there and made some great tackles. Being able to chop down Payne Haas all by yourself is no mean feat!
Hawkins: Awesome to see him debut!! Obviously didn't make a huge impact as he only played 14 minutes but he wasn't required to make an impact as the game was over. Had some really nice touches and kicks, most noteably his 40/20 attempt that almost found the mark. That showed great confidence and vision. But it wasn't only that, off the same kick it was then Hawko leading the chace! That was awesome, I liked what I saw from him.
Nicholls: Just another solid performance from Nicho as his form continues. Faultless all night including his work rate and effort as he made a real impact off the bench in his stints. Settled into his work well and it was just run and run hard, He did that and finished with 146 meters which is awesome.
Mago: Pati has been great for us this year but I have to admit, I wasn't impressed with him the other night and I feel like he deserves some constructive criticism. I don't have lot to say becuase he didn't make a big impact. Only having five runs isn't good enough. Pati is better than that. I'm hoping he shows more next week as he'll have Hosty hot on his heels for a bench role in Round 7 if he doesn't.
Arrow: Wasn't bad but it was probably is worst performance of the year so far, just didn't make as much of an impact as he has in past games. I'm not sure what it was, maybe he wasn't that bad and was just outshone by Tom and Junior, I don't know but there's no question he didn't have as big of an impact. Dropped it cold in his second run too. I'm not saying he had a bad game, it's just not the kind of performance we're used to from Jai.
But yea, over all a very classy performance. Once again I feel like we played within ourselves but that is a good sign as we put on 35 points. We're going well and I'm happy but there's still a lot of improvement in our team which should be scary to our opposition.
