Walker: Outstanding. Another guy who's had his tough moments against this mob but there were no such issues the other night. Man, he was good, really stood up in a big game. Had a hand in pretty much everything good we did in attack; he was involved in pretty much all those plays somewhere. Even when the defence kept denying us, he was still looking really dangerous and was creating half chances. Great play by him for Trell's first try as (helped by the decoy run from Cartwright) he managed to tie up two defenders and create a bit of space for Trell to do his thing. But the best moment was no doubt that match winning play. It was typical Cody. Always on the ball, always sniffing for an opportunity and that was the case once again as he pushed up on AJ and took that amazing pass, bet an attempted ankle tap which kind of put him in an awkward position but was still good enough to get a miraculous pass away to Tass to set up the winning try. It actually wasn't easy for Cody, mainly due to the ankle tap kind of stumbling him a bit, but he showed his freakish ability and pulled it off. Cody's defence was really really good, almost nothing got past him. Probably my only criticism of him comes on Crichton's second try. He got a bit caught up on Cleary for slightly too long when he didn't really need to because Jed was there. This meant Tass, in turn, made a poor read and they scored in the corner. But aside from that, it was classic Cody in a big game. Loved it!!
Ilias: Was actually really impressed with him the other night. On the biggest stage, in one of the biggest games, he played great! Really bounced back from a few (not bad but) average weeks. Firstly, his kicking game was much better. There was a bit of variety there with bombs, grubbers (one forced a drop out) and a couple of smaller chip kicks. His bombs were going higher, and it was pleasing to see that for the most part, he was kicking them a bit deeper. He even pulled off a really intimidating spiral at one point. Provided the kick for Latrell's second. That was pretty pinpoint. Just goes to show that Lachy can do it, he just needs to do it more consistently. What's more, his defence was really good. But I personally, was absolutely loving his ball playing. Did a great job there. You look at a lot of our best attacking plays in that game, particularly for Latrell's first and the match winner, and Lachy is first or second receiver. He was taking it right to the line, straightening, which ties up defenders, before then executing the pass. Great stuff in that regard. In fact, without Lachy doing what he does, we may not have scored that last try and won the game. It's such an underrated part of his game that he does so well.
Arrow: Brilliant all game, One of our best forwards no doubt. I said it last week and I'll say it again, Jai has been one of our biggest losses in the games he's missed, and Thursday night just proves that. He played big minutes in two different roles but just didn't stop. Really took it to Penrith with his aggressive and direct carries. He was a real workhorse and just didn't stop in both attack and defence. Loved his work.
Cook: Speaking of loving someone's work, I was loving everything that Cooky was doing the other night too! That is probably the best he's performed against Penrith, certainly in a while. he simplified his game and either just ran or just passed. His service was good, and he brought the boys onto the ball well. That try of his was brilliant. Sensed that Eisenhuth and Leota had clocked off a little, reacted quick and brushed his way through, beautiful to see. We hardly ever score tries like that against Penrith. And as always, his defensive work was on point. He topped the tackle count for us with 41.
Sele: Absolutely awesome!!! Jeez I rate this guy!! When he's fit, he's honestly one of the most underrated props in the game. Against one of the best packs in the comp, he really stood out and shone. Played pretty big minutes for him with 50, and he gave it his all the whole time. Barnstorming runs and there was plenty of them. it was quality hit up after quality hit up. Full of power and strength as he just kept those legs pumping. 19 runs for 164 meters. That is simply huge! Love this bloke and he is such a valuable member of the team.
Chee Kam: Not too much to write home about but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Nothing at all special out on that right edge but he just battled away and did his job, both with and without the ball. We certainly missed Keaon but I wasn't unhappy with Cheeks. Although, he almost had a big stuff up on the Tago no-try. he really should have cleaned up that ball.
Host: Not really sure what was going on with him in this game. Been so good the past two weeks but barely did much on Thursday night. Only 25 minutes and just 3 runs for 21 meters. It wasn't because of injury as he came back on late in the game. An interesting one.
Murray: Great, great, great, as per usual. The definition of leading from the front. He was in everything! Quality hit ups, constantly had good go forward and poked his nose through on numerous occasions. A massive 17 runs for 137 meters tells the story. Along with 40 tackles and only 3 missed, once again, he could barely walk at times, he gave that much. Huge effort.
Cartwright: Really not impressed with him aye. Probably the only player I'd really question why he is actually in the side. Largely ineffective and made a really poor error which lead to Crichton's third try. If it wasn't for our remarkable comeback, I'd be fuming at him.
Suluka-Fifita: Pretty short stint, but he certainly did some damage!! Loved his effort and the impact he made. Went full tit on every run. Great to see!!
Burgess: I'd say he was good. However, just being good isn't up to Tom's usual standards. He just seemed a little bit off in this one. Tom kind of admitted that himself in an article on NRL.com after that game where he said he was surprised how much it took him to adjust to coming off the bench again. So, I'd say that was it. Still made a bit of impact and had some great carries, but it just wasn't his usual stuff. He'll be better for the run.
Moale: A little blown away by him in this one! We've seen him really start to build in recent weeks after going a bit off the boil but man, he exploded the other night! A 20-year-old kid having a great game against a champion forward pack, it was so impressive. He just went hard and gave it everything he had in every run. Constantly bent the line. All his carries were quality. We're getting some middles back and Davvy is making a real case to keep his spot. So proud of him.
In conclusion, oh man, what a night!!!! Against a team that has dished out so much pain on us, a team that has been so much better than us and had the wood on us for a long time, a team that has dominated the last two years and probably blocked us to potentially winning two premierships, a team that is again the team to beat this year, a team we hate so much. Not just to beat them, but to beat them in the way we did in the last minute was incredible, So friggin special. It is something I will never forget and will forever be one of my favourite wins, one that sticks out in my mind.
Just so proud of the boys. We did it without Junior, Keaon and Liva too.
This could be Season defining. We have proven to everyone else and more importantly, ourselves, that we can win this comp. We've just sent a warning out.
But there is still work to be done, there is still so much improvement to be made, and there is a long way to go. It's about carrying on with it now.
Enjoy your weekend! I certainly will be after that!
Glory, Glory.
