What a big day yesterday and such an unexpected result for most of us. It goes to show how open the competition really is.
I am not sure where to start. The entire team played well as a team - there were no 'weak links'.
If we had to identify a single catalyst, you'd have to say it was Nathan Cleary. He was a man on a mission and when he decided to pull his finger out, the entire team lifted. Anyone remember how he made 3 or 4 aggressive tackles in a row? From that point on he was a man possessed. As others have pointed out - he kicked the Broncos to death. Reynolds tried to match him and ended up having a similar performance to the 23 GF with the boot. It's amazing what the pressure of a great kicking game can do.
Edwards also had his best game of the season. During this horror stretch I was starting to question the defensive credentials of Edwards but in this game he saved two that most other fullbacks wouldn't. The first was the kick through to Staggs and the 2nd relatively late in the game when the Broncos made a break on their right. He shut that down with positional smarts.
Yeo put in one of his more professional performances. It is so vital that these 3 had good games for us, but they were not alone with several of the newer less experienced players also contributing well. One of the most commendable performances was Jenkins who was just rock solid in every aspect. Sure, he is no To'o but he is extremely handy as a back up winger/centre.
Garner did a great job at centre. He really stabilised that edge in attack and defense. Excellent defense and made a number of incisive runs and had polish and skill when passing.
Luron to the bench was great. A bunch of us were wondering why we haven't seen more of him considering we had no 'punch' on the bench. It seems Ivan finally noticed as well and he didn't disappoint.
Paps had his best game for us and has become an important part of our forward rotation.
Finally I just can't resist giving Tago huge raps. It was easily the best game he's had for us this season. No dropped balls, no silly reads. Made a number of very important runs and shut down everything the Broncos threw his way. I am so glad that Ivan stuck with him, it appears that the dropping to the bench was exactly what was needed to wake Tago up and is a testament to the managerial skill of Ivan.
Without rambling on too much more my last thought about this win was discipline. When we aren't giving away too many stupid penalties we look a far better side.
