Yeehaaa!! What a performance, what a win!! That was a game we really needed to win and boy did we do that, we did it in style! Great commitment, decent execution and a bit of a killer instinct was certainly on show tonight. It feels great to put fourty on a team as we haven't done that in a long time it seems so I was really happy to see the score blowout tonight. A big boost to the boys confidence and a big boost to our for and against.
Attack was on fire tonight! How can you really complain about the attack when you score fourty points?! The middles looked great and we marched up field with ease at times which set a great platform and the rest of the team worked off that. Our spine really fired tonight and we put on some fantastic plays and scored some brilliant tries. All kinds of variety of tries too. Beautiful sweeping backline plays through a number of hands, long cut out passes, direct running into gaps and even a tr off a kick! You name it, we scored it tonight!! I'm really happy to see our attack finally start to come together and we have built on that from last week and improved even more. There weren't many negatives in tonight's performance but if anything, it was the errors. We seemed to make a lot of errors in our own half, particularly after points which is a big sin. With all due respect to the Warriors, better teams will make us pay for that. I also thought that our execution was a wee bit off at times and we could have scored even more tonight. But anyway, very happy with the attack.
Defnce was very good in this one. Yes, the Warriors didn't throw a hell of a lot at us, but even when they did, we still held our own and held them out which was great to see. Plenty of scramble defence today which saw quite a few try savers and I loved the effort from all the boys in that area. Our line speed was decent and I don't think we missed a lot of tackles which is also a big tick. We had two lapses for Warriors tries but I can cop that as it was a really good defensive performance over all.
Mitchell: Once again, one of the best players on the field in this one and the Warriors found it hard to contain him. He was very keen to get involved obviously as he was taking hit ups, charging onto the ball with speed on his kick returns and chiming in beautifully on our backline moves in attack. He looked dangerous every single time he touched the ball and you could just see that he was loving it. Once again put on two absolute pearlers of try assists, both showing immense skill and decision making. It was seriously glittering stuff. But it wasn't just the pretty stuff, Latrell was great with the gritty stuff too. he saved a couple of tries tonight through some great cover defence and being aggressive, that's what you want from your fullback. Great stuff Latrell!
Gagai: In a side where most were great, he was a bit average again tonight. Had a few good runs and had that fantastic intercept which was a great play but that's about where the highlights stop for Gags. Gotta say he was pretty good defensively as he made some great decisions to shut down a few scoring opportunities but apart from that he was quiet.
Graham: Campbell was the complete opposite of quiet, my god. That is probably one of his best games in the Red and Green. He just looked so hard to handle all night and the Warriors really had a hard time stoppoing him. It was fantastic lead up work for his try but when Graham got the ball, he still had a lot of work to do. And boy did he do that! Ducking, weaving and pushing through defenders, it was brilliant to watch, Great game Campbell.
Burns: I think this is up there with Burnsy's best performance for us as he was much improved. It all came of the back of his defence I think too as he was really, really good in that department. Coming up with great reads in defence all game to just shut that Warriors right hand defence right down time and time again. It was much better than what we've seen from him recently. I enjoyed his attack too as he was busy taking hit ups all night and made a couple of half breaks too. He looked dangerous tonight.
Johnston: Was good. Didn't let anything passed him after that first Warriors try and was great on the attack. Never thought I'd say this about AJ but he was charging into the defence on hit ups and kick returns, it was really great to see. Finished off two sublime tries too, his second one being super impressive with that bouncing ball.
Walker: Certainly celebrated his 100th game in style! Was one of those games where he just looked so dangerous each time he touched the ball and he was creating plenty of opportunities for those around him. Had a hand in some great attacking plays and tries. His kick as he was tackled to set up Burns for his try showed incredible skill, that blew me away to be honest. He was defensively sound and scored a great try too.
Reynolds: His best game this year! One of our best tonight. His short and long term kicking games were indeed on as he hit them sweetly in what seemed to be everytime. That put a lot of pressure on the Warriors back three and we were able to generate some momentum on the back of that. His goal kicking was great again too. But the best thing about his game today? He ran the ball!! He ran direct and he actually ran with the Footy! This created so many opportunities for us and Reyno did a fair bit of playmaking tonight. Scored a great try off running the ball and hitting that hole. A top notch game from Reyno, that's what we've been after from our little general!
Tatola: Didn't do anything special, it was just a really good, solid performance from Junior. He just went about his business, was busy, ran hard and had agression in both attack and defence. He competed in every play and I really liked his attitude. Was eating up the meters nicely.
Cook: A try through sheer strength and determination, one try assist, one line break, 157 running meters, five tackle breaks and 51 tackles with none of them missed. Wow. Easily Cookie's best game of the year, his best game in a long time in fact! The forwards were rolling and we've seen the effect that has on Cook as he was able to get out from dummy half a lot more and do what he does best. He picked his runs well and this kept the Warriors defence in two minds all game. When he did run and just pinned the ears back, it looked like the Cookie of old. He brought the forwards onto the ball well, was creating opportunities and obviously had a fantastic defensive performance. However, I still feel he overplayed his hand at times so he still has some stuff to work on but tnight was a step forward for him.
Burgess: A great game from Tom once again!! And again this week, he was a real forward leader out there as he lead the way with strong carry after strong carry, often generating a large amount of post-contact meters and putting us well and truely on the front foot. He did come up with an error but that was the only negative of his game tonight.
Su'a: Jaydn was pretty decent. Played his role on the edge well. He hit the ball up with a lot of aggression and tonight in particular, he just looked so strong. Just about every run he made tonight, he was able to stand in the tackle with blokes hanging off him and still keep moving. However, I think he let himself down a little tonight with a few soft errors.
Lowe: Much better than last week but still a bit quiet so I don't really know what to say. I suppose he did his job but we still need more from him in my opinion.
Murray: great game once again from Cam, one of our best forwards for sure. As per usual he just kept going, and going, and going through that middle third. I know he did have a rest but it seemed like he just never stopped. Hard running, finding his front quickly and then a quick play-the-ball, that was happing plenty of times tonight as we've come to expect from Cam. Good to see him ball play too and he provided the crisp pass for Reyno's try.
Knight: Wayne apparently revved him up pre-game and said he needs to take more responsibility over his bench role and I think he did that tonight. He did still come up with an error but apart from that, I quite liked his work. Ran hard, was agressive, put a few good shots on in defence and provided great impact off the bench.
Mago: Played more minutes tonight which was good and I really liked what I saw. Made a really good contribution from the bench and was bouncing defenders off everywhere when he ran the ball. I liked his purpose and intent, good hard running.
Amone: Gutted for Tom! He was playing so friggin well up until that injury. Let's hope it's nothing serious.
Sironen: Also got increased minutes and did his job well. Good to see him get more involved.
All in all, it feels so friggin good to smash a team and it feels so friggin good to beat the Warriors! I'll have a bit of wood over my mates now haha.
We weren't perfect tonight so still have plenty to work on and I think it's also important we don't get carried away by the 40 points as the Warriors were poor tonight. Still, I'm extremely happy though, well done boys!
