There is no point playing your best football now. Accumulate points and build towards the Finals. This year has been bad for injury and it has had an impact.
Cleary out for a month and then comes back in extreme heat conditions in Townsville. Looks rusty, struggles for fitness, who'd a thought?
Martin carried a shoulder injury for at least three weeks. Against Manly his arm dangled by his side as he struggled through the game. Its a testament to his toughness he even played. He looked better last night, hopefully its getting better.
Moses has carried a bad shoulder and looked a shadow of himself. Fish was struggling with a bereavement and looked drained of energy. Essentially it has meant our world class front row has not yet been fit and on the field at the same time. Henry has played 10 games. He is a rookie in the toughest position on the field.
Sorrensen has played 3 games. When he comes back fit it will be like getting a new player.
I am not trying to make excuses, but context is everything. Forwards win games, the backs decide by how much and our forward pack has started the season in bits. That pack belted the Eels and destroyed the Broncos in the first half of the 23 GF. Get them back fit and in form and things will look different. On the plus side, Mav and Henry are getting valuable experience and Smith is showing signs he is going to be a good first grader.
As for the backs, it has been a mixed bag.
Dyl has probably proved he is the best fullback in NSW. I hope he doesn't get picked for SOO. A brilliant start to the year and he has added another level of creativity to his game. He couldn't do any more and right now, he is the best player in our team.
May has come back from a year off. To me he has proven that he is not inhibited mentally by the ACL injury, he plays tough. But he is a rookie centre and still a rookie player. He will only get better.
Tago has been brilliant one minute and average the next. Alomotti now adds competition to the centres and hopefully it will spur May and Tago to greater heights.
As for our wingers, they have done their jobs and they aren't why we have struggled. Turuva has improved this year and its a shame he is leaving, although I understand we can't keep them all.
In the halves, I would give them a pass. No Cleary for a month and Luai has come back from major shoulder surgery. You can see he is slowly getting back to his best. All things considered, they have kept the team on track. Last night Cleary's ability to ice his kicks when he is struggling for fitness, won us the game.
I would give us a "B", needs improvement, for our season so far. Injuries will decide whether we can win number four and so far, injuries have made our start to the year a bit stop, start. You can see the bones of a Premiership team is still there and just when you think they will emerge, we stumble and look average. We keep winning though........