Well that's left me a little bit deflated I must say and I'm pretty dissappointed with that in the end. What the hell happened in that second half boys?! We just came out and looked half asleep, I couldn't believe it. Yes, the Broncos were good in the second stanza and we would've been a bit fatigued but we just didn't even look like throwing anything back at them at all and it was all reather flat at times. It's left me qutie frustrated because I was confident at half time and we should have really gone on with it. Also to lose GI and Tom's milestone games, that hurts man.
I think the attack with set plays and attacking the line looked pretty good tonight. I'm loving some of the variation we have down that left edge, so many different plays and they look great at times. Our passes were also nice and crisp and I think the balance between moving the footy and going through the middle was good. However, we seemingly weren't able to make many meters especially post-contact meters and I think this is due to the Broncos line speed. They were up in our faces every set. And yea, it all just seemed to drop off in the second half. Like I said before that is partly because of fatigue due to little possesion bt still, I wasn't all that happy with our efforts. Also, It was mentioned in the commentary that Daruis Boyd was defending up in the line almost the whole game and he kept rushing at our first reciever. It was a shame we didn't identify this because a few simple kicks in behind would've yeilded some great results. Don't get me wrong though, there were times there when we looked really good and I love the way the boys have this 'never say die' attitude as we did come back but at the end of the day, we should have never put ourselves in that position.
Defence in the first half was really impressive actually. We had a few little lapses but I was really pleased with how the boys scrambled to recover from those lapses and shut them down more often than not. That defence on Nikorima just before halftime was insane!! I'll touch on that a little later. But man, oh man did it drop off in the second. When a little bit of fatigue got into us, we started to look quite fagile through that middle and Nikorima was able to capitalise on this many times, especially with his try which was not great defence between Cody and Sutto. We also started to miss tackles, a lot. That was dissappointing as we started so well in this regard. As I mentioned last week, our right edge has some big defensive issues, especially Gagai, I was really, really not pleased with his defence tonight at all. The defence on Oates all night was not great at all and I simply couldn't believe the try he scored as no one wanted to put their body on the line. In saying that, with a bi of work, I think these issues can be fixed and hopefully Seibs is thinking the same.
Johnston: I thought he was pretty good tonight. Good running of the ball, was pushing up in support quite often, and is becoming quite dangerous on sweep plays out the back. His postional play was great and boy, his defence was outstanding! That tackle on Nikorima has to be up there with one of the try savers of the season!
Kennar: I'm not gonna lie, I was a little dissapointed in him tonight. His runs were allgood, I just would've liked to have seen him a bit more involved as he's such a damaging ball runner. He was also way, way to casual with Broncos kicks in behind. Got caught out once which was a bit of a brain explosion and almost got caught out again later in the game. Maybe though, this is a communication error with those inside/behind him telling him what to do and who's coming etc.
Inglis: A bit of a mixed game if I'm honest. Runs were good, strong and very powerful, did a good job defensively on Roberts apart from when he scored and his lead up work to AJ's try was fantastic but GI was barely involved in the second half. He's returning to form and we really need to get him some ball, he was just too quiet in the second stanza and that's a little dissappointing for his 250th game.
Gagai: Being honest again, I wasn't happy with his performance tonight. His attack was fine (apart from that error and when he cut inside Doueihi when he should've stayed out towards the end of the game), his runs were good, came up with a fair bit of second phase play and I liked the energy he brought but man he struggled in defence big time. It was like he was just all at see and there seemed to be a lot of arm grabbing which is not what you want to see from a rep centre. He really needs to work on this big time as it's the one area in his game that he struggles. I love Gags though and just can't wait to see him finally cross the stripe in the mighty Red and Green!
Jennings: Was pretty good. Liked his workrate and he came in looking for work a lot which is what him and Kennar have become so good at. They were all strong runs too which was great to see.
Walker: Was pretty good as a whole. Great energy, looked very dangerous all game. Gee he's striking up a good combination with those around him on that left edge and I'm a big fan of his assesment of our options down that side. He very rarely get's it wrong. Made an error in defence when he came up on Bird and left a massive hole for Nikorima but what annoted me more was when he played at that ball that was going dead! I wasn't happy with that at all and he knows better, it was a brain snap. it was such a shame he couldn't find AJ when he made that break but the play to put Sutto over was class.
Reynolds: Not bad. In attack he was good, an even more improved kicking game, good pass selection and he took the line on which was fantastic. In defence, he had a mixed night. Some good tackles to stop some tries and his play to help hold Nikorima up was good but then there were times where he just arm grabbed. Crichton needs to help him out more.
T.Burgess: Started really strongly and had a great first half, he was running over the top of Brisbane and was just plowing through them with some fantastic runs. Once he got tired, he did drop off a bit. Started to miss tackles and his workrate came down. His actual runs didn't frop in quality, he just didn't do enough of them.
Cook: Cookie was a little dissapointing tonight too if I'm honest. Didn't run anywhere near as much and when he did, he didn't pick it as well. came up with a couple of errors and was just a bit quiet in general. Not his usual self but he'll rebound.
G.Burgess: Was much the same as Tom actually. Didn't need to rush Milford when they scored their first try. I understand he was providing pressure but there was no one on his inside to go with him which left a huge hole.
Sutton: One of our best tonight imo. His effort in both attack and defence was so good all game and he came up with some great plays in both. I loved his hole running and he's getting a bit agrresive which is good. Really came alive in our comeback and his try was awesome.
Crichton: Wasn't bad. He was busy and did a hell of a lot of running all game which was good but he seemed to make stuff all post-contact meters as the Broncos did a pretty good job on him. Still, I liked his effort, he just needs to help his men on the outside in defence a bit more.
Murray: Was good. Did his normal, outstanding role of running hard and doing a lot of tackling, a real work horse. I love this guy, he just needed more minutes which I'm sure will come as his match fitness comes up.
Doueihi: Not an awful lot to say as he didn't see much action although, he did put himself in good postiion for a try assist late in the game, it's just a shame Gagai cut back on the inside.
Clark: Wasn't bad. Did get that ball stripped in his first touch but was otherwise good. Liked his energy and his hard running provided real impact.
Nicholls: Did his job well which is all we need. I'm liking Nicholls atm, he's kind of like an in form Dave Tyrrell.
Tatola: Looked great when he came on with good energy and strong runs but did he get injured? I don't remember him coming on for a second stint? We needed him out there.
All in all, I'm a little dissapointed as this is a gmae we shoul've gone on with and won but the second half just let us down. Maybe it was due to the five-day turnaround, I don't know.
Still, it's not all bad. We did some great things in that game and we can fix our issues as most are minor and next week will be a good chance for a rebound.
