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Well I'll be fuucked.
Where the hell did that come from? Who taught us to run second man plays and play with structure all in a week? Who taught the forwards to run hard? Who rediscovered the grubber? And who the FUUCK slipped something into his spag bol and taught Mini to pass!?!?
Credit where credit is due, great effort from the team. Standouts were Pearce, Kennedy, JWH, MAubs and SKD. Jared Waerea has got to be re-signed. Even in some shite team efforts this year he has been good, and when the rest support him like last night he is a force.
Minichiello had a cracker, if he could do that every week it would be incredible. Still not convinced that those type of performances aren't exceptions to the norm though.
I'll put my hand up and admit that I've been very negative over the past couple of weeks, perhaps too much so. Still, I have always maintained that the problems at this club always run back to Smith. As poor as guys like Anasta and Mini have been, the fact that we've been structureless in attack and defence has been far and away our biggest problem. I've also said that if Smith miraculously wakes up to himself re the "ad-lib" nonsense, we'd be a much better side. This week, all of that went away, and we played with structure and purpose. If it isn't an aberration, and we keep running those second man plays and shifting the ball, all team members will benefit.
There are still a couple of constructive criticisms to be made. Firstly, this win is not justification for continuing to pick guys like JCarney and Arona. Yeah, they might have played solid games, but it is hard to look bad when your team is rolling the forward pack and shifting the ball. The fact that we look hungry and likely is all the more reason to pick guys like Tagive and even Moga, so that we not only dominate up the middle, but that we have class on the edges to finish it all off. Secondly, we have some very important recruitment decisions to be made. Letting Braith go was a fantastic move, and it showed last night. It gives the guys a bit of motivation (someone to play for - Braith is a good bloke, I reckon the playing group both like and respect him), but also, Braith had his best game for us in aaages... and it still wasn't that good. That right there is proof that he is well past any renaissance... his best games are decidedly average. Thirdly, a note to people on here saying things like Kennedy is the best young prop in the game and all that - most weeks, our forwards won't play like that. SKD will drop the pill, Mini will get hammered, the service out of dummy half will be shit, and Pearce will look headless. That is the nature of this side - young and mercurial. Building them up to be something they aren't (which is what happened pre-season) will only lead to disappointment. They are a work in progress, big-time.
All in all, very happy to be eating humble pie this week. I don't think it will happen often this year, and I'm not convinced our game plan this week was the norm, rather an aberration. Still, it is a big improvement.
Where the hell did that come from? Who taught us to run second man plays and play with structure all in a week? Who taught the forwards to run hard? Who rediscovered the grubber? And who the FUUCK slipped something into his spag bol and taught Mini to pass!?!?
Credit where credit is due, great effort from the team. Standouts were Pearce, Kennedy, JWH, MAubs and SKD. Jared Waerea has got to be re-signed. Even in some shite team efforts this year he has been good, and when the rest support him like last night he is a force.
Minichiello had a cracker, if he could do that every week it would be incredible. Still not convinced that those type of performances aren't exceptions to the norm though.
I'll put my hand up and admit that I've been very negative over the past couple of weeks, perhaps too much so. Still, I have always maintained that the problems at this club always run back to Smith. As poor as guys like Anasta and Mini have been, the fact that we've been structureless in attack and defence has been far and away our biggest problem. I've also said that if Smith miraculously wakes up to himself re the "ad-lib" nonsense, we'd be a much better side. This week, all of that went away, and we played with structure and purpose. If it isn't an aberration, and we keep running those second man plays and shifting the ball, all team members will benefit.
There are still a couple of constructive criticisms to be made. Firstly, this win is not justification for continuing to pick guys like JCarney and Arona. Yeah, they might have played solid games, but it is hard to look bad when your team is rolling the forward pack and shifting the ball. The fact that we look hungry and likely is all the more reason to pick guys like Tagive and even Moga, so that we not only dominate up the middle, but that we have class on the edges to finish it all off. Secondly, we have some very important recruitment decisions to be made. Letting Braith go was a fantastic move, and it showed last night. It gives the guys a bit of motivation (someone to play for - Braith is a good bloke, I reckon the playing group both like and respect him), but also, Braith had his best game for us in aaages... and it still wasn't that good. That right there is proof that he is well past any renaissance... his best games are decidedly average. Thirdly, a note to people on here saying things like Kennedy is the best young prop in the game and all that - most weeks, our forwards won't play like that. SKD will drop the pill, Mini will get hammered, the service out of dummy half will be shit, and Pearce will look headless. That is the nature of this side - young and mercurial. Building them up to be something they aren't (which is what happened pre-season) will only lead to disappointment. They are a work in progress, big-time.
All in all, very happy to be eating humble pie this week. I don't think it will happen often this year, and I'm not convinced our game plan this week was the norm, rather an aberration. Still, it is a big improvement.
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