I think we are all getting too old for this s***t. Heart attack grill again towards the end but as webby said, despite the scoreboard, this game was much more comfortable than the others. We were clearly the better team- if we don't screw up the short kick off and JFH wraps his arms around the tackle, we are clear 13+ pt winners at 16-0.
Just a few thoughts ruminating from yesterday.
1. Defense: In the pre-game thread, we were all freaking out about the silky backline that the dolphins had. Hammer, Herbie, Katoa (aka next Andrew Johns), etc that put 40+ on the storm and almost 30 on the raiders. So what an amazing effort to keep them scoreless for 73 minutes. For the first time all year, Katoa seemed clueless under the pressures of our compressed rushing D. Capes made Herbie his b**ch. Absolutely manhandled him all night.
2. Forwards: Absolute beasts tonight. Laid the platform very nicely in the first half and defensively were gritty in the second half. Barney with another captain's knock with 170m over 52mins. Erin also busting out another 150+ meters in this game. Leka also toiled hard with 131m over 48m. Finally, shout out to TSS on an amazing debut. Didn't look out of place in the side and was defensively solid. Looks like a smiling convict and played like one. No doubt he gets another run next week with Barney and JFH both out next week.
3. Niukore: Marata back to his dangerous best yesterday. Although Webby seems set to prefer using him in the middle moving forward, I'm actually not so sure. Offensively, he is clearly our most damaging ball running backrower. Nikorima was freaking out every time he got the ball on the edge. Looks to me that the Leka/Niukore back row combination is our most lethal attacking combo. It really did a job on the Broncos a few weeks back and I'd give serious thought to using it as our first choice option moving forward.
4. DWZ and RTS: We really need more out of DWZ. He has runs on the board and deserves some loyalty, but running for 75m is really not good enough. Maybe he is still playing a little injured which is why he isn't getting as involved as he should be. At his peak in 2023, he was easily running 150-200m a game. That's where we need him to get back to. RTS on the other hand was very busy: ran for 209m in his first game back. Made a couple of errors that could have been costly but never stopped trying.
Overall, another great win by the boys. We can now go back home on a 4 game winning streak on the road and look to bury the scars of Vegas. Hope Canberra are ready, because revenge is on the menu next Sunday.
Just a few thoughts ruminating from yesterday.
1. Defense: In the pre-game thread, we were all freaking out about the silky backline that the dolphins had. Hammer, Herbie, Katoa (aka next Andrew Johns), etc that put 40+ on the storm and almost 30 on the raiders. So what an amazing effort to keep them scoreless for 73 minutes. For the first time all year, Katoa seemed clueless under the pressures of our compressed rushing D. Capes made Herbie his b**ch. Absolutely manhandled him all night.
2. Forwards: Absolute beasts tonight. Laid the platform very nicely in the first half and defensively were gritty in the second half. Barney with another captain's knock with 170m over 52mins. Erin also busting out another 150+ meters in this game. Leka also toiled hard with 131m over 48m. Finally, shout out to TSS on an amazing debut. Didn't look out of place in the side and was defensively solid. Looks like a smiling convict and played like one. No doubt he gets another run next week with Barney and JFH both out next week.
3. Niukore: Marata back to his dangerous best yesterday. Although Webby seems set to prefer using him in the middle moving forward, I'm actually not so sure. Offensively, he is clearly our most damaging ball running backrower. Nikorima was freaking out every time he got the ball on the edge. Looks to me that the Leka/Niukore back row combination is our most lethal attacking combo. It really did a job on the Broncos a few weeks back and I'd give serious thought to using it as our first choice option moving forward.
4. DWZ and RTS: We really need more out of DWZ. He has runs on the board and deserves some loyalty, but running for 75m is really not good enough. Maybe he is still playing a little injured which is why he isn't getting as involved as he should be. At his peak in 2023, he was easily running 150-200m a game. That's where we need him to get back to. RTS on the other hand was very busy: ran for 209m in his first game back. Made a couple of errors that could have been costly but never stopped trying.
Overall, another great win by the boys. We can now go back home on a 4 game winning streak on the road and look to bury the scars of Vegas. Hope Canberra are ready, because revenge is on the menu next Sunday.
