Always disappointing to lose to them Dogs, but nothing dented my confidence that we can win this years GF. Lote was brilliant, no surprise there, I thaught Robbie tried his heart out, just appeared that all the defending soaked up too much energy to allow our attack to be as cohesive as it normally is. Obviously the missing Moltzen link was a decisive factor, but I wasn`t unhappy with Lazarus` game, he tried hard and will certainly improve from it. Whether young Blake can hold his spot ahead of Robert Lui when he returns or Arana Taumata is a good argument, but at the end of the day atleast we have options, it`s just about selecting who will gel with Benji and Robbie best.
I was very happy with Bryce Gibbs` effort, he really put in and atleast one of the penalties he conceded certainly should not have been a penalty. Blake Ayshford really impressed me tonight, he showed plenty of character, Gareth and Liam went well as always as did Beau Ryan and Heighington tried hard, but not as impressive as he`s been in recent weeks. I thaught Junior Moors was good off the bench, but thaught we was a front rower short, no idea why Al Schirnack was dropped off the bench, he might have come in handy. On the downside, Chris Lawrence certainly didn`t play badly and didn`t get much opportunity, but I would`ve liked to have see him steam onto the ball a few times to really stamp his authority on the game, he didn`t quite raise the bar like a superstar should, but hasn`t changed my opinion that he`s in the top 5 centres in the game. I was also a little disappointed in Andrew Fifita, he made a couple of good runs, but didn`t rip and tear like we needed him too. I`m sure he hasn`t done that much defending in such a high paced game before, so he too will be much better for it. Benji was obviouly way below his high standard, but the lack of cohesion around him contributed highly to that.
I don`t think the Bulldogs can play much better than that, we were very flat coming off some physical games and were missing some key players. Disappointed in the result, but not the effort !
I was very happy with Bryce Gibbs` effort, he really put in and atleast one of the penalties he conceded certainly should not have been a penalty. Blake Ayshford really impressed me tonight, he showed plenty of character, Gareth and Liam went well as always as did Beau Ryan and Heighington tried hard, but not as impressive as he`s been in recent weeks. I thaught Junior Moors was good off the bench, but thaught we was a front rower short, no idea why Al Schirnack was dropped off the bench, he might have come in handy. On the downside, Chris Lawrence certainly didn`t play badly and didn`t get much opportunity, but I would`ve liked to have see him steam onto the ball a few times to really stamp his authority on the game, he didn`t quite raise the bar like a superstar should, but hasn`t changed my opinion that he`s in the top 5 centres in the game. I was also a little disappointed in Andrew Fifita, he made a couple of good runs, but didn`t rip and tear like we needed him too. I`m sure he hasn`t done that much defending in such a high paced game before, so he too will be much better for it. Benji was obviouly way below his high standard, but the lack of cohesion around him contributed highly to that.
I don`t think the Bulldogs can play much better than that, we were very flat coming off some physical games and were missing some key players. Disappointed in the result, but not the effort !
