Ponga got snapped milking, he should be apologising, not finding exscuses or some over the top ego where he thinks he would have done more in the final 10 that he didnt show in the 70, delusional. I really dislike Ponga for his self absorbed universe he lives in.
Anyway, good game. Warriors looked in control but also not quite gelling just yet. I think the roster is excellent, if
Kosi can catch and defend like that, hes going to create competition for that position. So pleased to see backs in our team leaping to catch the ball again like Fus, Ken and RTS did.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad resolves our FB woes, RTS was brilliant but 95% poisitional and defensive. Walsh was 99% offense and couldnt tackle a tackle bag. Its so good to have a defensive FB who also has pace on offensive. Pace would be something Id like to see in the team, we have Metcalf in the 30, a 100m pace specialist and his long range try reels show it, but hed have to play one of the centres and possibly the wing.
Shaun Johnson feeding his pace with an overlap would be deadly. Some how we still have some money for a Marquee in the salary cap....
I was just so impressed with the defense in many periods, even
Shaun Johnson got his act together on defense after a few bump offs.
Egan came to us as an under developed half back, who we stuck by in dummy half. He is still a very small guy, but pound for pound one of our toughest. He now knows when to take the offside dummy halfs on, when to run 10m+ and when to pass. I wanted a marques hooker, but now I wouldnt want to lose
Egan. Too many brilliant defensive efforts and guys in our team like Niukore folding players in half.
Was fabulous to see
Shaun Johnson taking the line on again which is really the job of he 6,
Shaun Johnson just needs to be more switched on with his bombs before starting the match. Martin Im not sold on yet, I hope he becomes like a Hughes for the warriors and cant wait for him to break the line and put his after burners on. It was nice to see some shape in the back line so early in the season. that is what scores tries the most after all.
Id have to give the game a B- or C+ or 6/10. It was definitely above our avg games last year, but still has a lot of improvement left, and by that I mean this roster and an excellent 30 man squad has the talent and attitude to become a top 4 side, which is playing 9-11/10 every game.
I see the potential that we havnt had since Cleary was coaching us. My expectations are pretty high.
I dont expect to beat the Roosters as they have some monsters coming back after a Rd1 loss. But if we put in a decent effort and stick with them on the scoreboard, I can live with losing to top 4 teams this early. After week 9 I expect us to be challenging them.
