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I won't recap the whole game tonight, but I'll jump straight to the players instead:
4\. Moltzen - Pretty good tonight overall. I think if he can get settled in the one position, then he should finally be able to build some confidence. He had a couple of shaky moments out there but looks to be steadily improving. His biggest mistake was trying to offload the ball on the first tackle in golden point and he turned it over instead, but his positioning looked ok for the most part. Needs to work on supporting the ruck a bit more, at times there were Tigers forwards looking to offload, but there was no one there in support.
123 metres in attack, 2 tackle breaks, 7 tackles, 3 missed tackles, 2 errors. 7/10.
2\. Tuqiri - Injured after 5 minutes unfortunately which is a massive loss for the Tigers once again. He walked off so hopefully it's not as bad as it initially looked.
3\. Ayshford - Excellent game tonight and was a handful in attack all night, broke plenty of tackles and really deserved to score a try. One of his best games IMO.
180 metres in attack, 2 linebreaks, 13 tackle breaks, 11 tackles. 9/10.
19\. Simona - Excellent debut from the youngster and easily held his own against bigger and more experience opposition. Showed lovely hands in setting up the Mitch Brown try and made good metres all night and defended well also which was my biggest concern about him playing tonight. Should be there next week with Tuqiri likely to be missing.
123 metres in attack, 1 try assist, 1 linebreak assist, 2 tackle breaks, 1 offload, 17 tackles, 3 errors. 7.5/10
5\. Brown - Solid game tonight, safe as usual and scored a nice try. No dramas in defence and he made good metres out of dummyhalf.
109 metres in attack, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 3 tackle breaks, 7 tackles. 7.5/10.
6\. Marshall - Decent game from Benji tonight, looked dangerous in attack and came up with a couple of linebreaks and linebreak assists. I would have liked him to take more authority when the Tigers were attacking the Knights line, as Farah muddied things up a few times, but overall I thought Marshall was alright. Still not at his best, but he's slowly building towards something.
120 metres in attack, 2 linebreaks, 1 linebreak assist, 1 offload, 12 tackle breaks, 8 tackles, 2 errors. 7.5/10.
7\. Lui - His first half was full of promise, he came up with some good tackles, scored a nice try and looked pretty sharp. The longer the game went though, the worse he got, particularly his defence which was terrible in the second half. Not sure what the solution is, like most halves he needs help when the bigger players isolate him, and he didn't get enough help from Dwyer tonight who has his own defensive issues. While he wasn't great defensively, I still cannot see him being dropped as he does provide a very good link between Marshall and Farah and I can't imagine Sheens wanting to change this around.
60 metres in attack, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 2 offloads, 5 tackle breaks, 10 missed tackles, 16 tackles, 1 error. 5/10.
8\. Woods - I thought his first sting was pretty good, he went forward and looked to offload in attack. No question he gets through a lot of work in defence but his second stint definitely brought him undone as he came up with a couple of mistakes with the ball in hand and was eventually hooked. I can't be too hard on him as he's only a baby as far as first grade goes, but tonight was a learning curve for him.
79 metres in attack, 1 offload, 25 tackles, 2 missed tackles, 2 errors. 6/10.
9\. Farah - Rocks and diamonds tonight I thought. Did some very clever things as usual, including a couple of try assists and kicking the winning field goal, but there were also some low percentage, high risk plays which did not come off and really undid some of the good work he did out there. Very busy in defence as usual and overall I have to say he was good, but tonight also showed why he's not in the NSW Origin team IMO.
36 metres in attack, 2 try assists, 2 linebreak assists, 42 tackles, 3 missed tackles, 1 error. 8/10
10\. Galloway - Good game overall. His first stint was a little quiet i thought, but he came to life in the second half and had plenty of good surges which took some stopping. Defensively he was strong too.
118 metres in attack, 1 offload, 31 tackles, 1 error. 8/10
11\. Dwyer - Similar workrate to Ellis, but the difference was the quality of touches Ellis had as opposed to young Simon. He was by no means poor, I thought he went alright out there, and if anything, playing alongside Ellis should benefit him in the long run. His hands are still his biggest enemy as he again coughed the ball up a couple of times and he missed a couple of tackles once again. Not bad, but plenty of room for improvement.
83 metres in attack, 36 tackles, 5 missed tackles, 2 errors. 6.5/10
12\. Ellis - Great to have him back in the side and he definitely made a difference against a pretty committed Knights pack. While his workrate was down on usual due to lack of match fitness, I thought Gareth injected himself at the right times in attack and defence and he came up with some strong runs and hard tackles which we have come to expect. Should be better for the run tonight and one of the Tigers better players IMO.
89 metres in attack, 32 tackles, 4 missed tackles, 1 error. 7.5/10
13\. Heighington - Probably the Tigers best tonight. After copping a rocket from Sheens a couple of weeks ago for not playing direct enough, he has really stood out over the last 2 weeks with some very determined running up the middle and he's proving hard to put down. Made great metres tonight and broke a few tackles and defended well as usual.
155 metres in attack, 1 offload, 6 tackle breaks, 30 tackles. 9/10
14\. Ryan - Came on early to replace Tuqiri and went alright overall, although there was one brain explosion which cost the Tigers a try where he let the ball go over the dead ball line only for Newcastle to freakishly bat it back and score. That piece of play was not smart at all, but thankfully the rest of Beau's game was very good I thought. Came up with a couple of good runs and defensively he was good.
139 metres in attack, 6 tackle breaks, 8 tackles, 5 missed tackles, 1 error. 7/10
15\. Fulton - Good game from Liam tonight. Got belted a couple of times hitting the ball up, but he kept getting up for more. Scored a good try and defended very well as usual. At times his size definitely counts against him playing in the forward pack, but tonight he went well.
76 metres in attack, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 1 offload, 3 tackle breaks, 39 tackles. 7.5/10
16\. Gibbs - Solid game from Gibbs tonight, went forward well and defended well. Doesn't have the size and impact that Galloway and Fifita offer, but his defence around the ruck is noticeable as he hits low and hard and is very effective at dropping his opposite.
102 metres in attack, 20 tackles. 7.5/10
17\. Fifita - Powerful game tonight and really caused havoc at times with his brutal fend. Looked a little leaner if anything and it showed with his workrate, as he made a lot of hitups and defended well around the ruck. Pick of the props ahead of Galloway tonight.
131 metres in attack, 1 offload, 12 tackle breaks, 26 tackles. 8.5/10
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There you have it, feel free to agree or disagree. Some players tonight were undoubtedly good, others were hot and cold, and others were solid. It was definitely a hard fought match and I was pretty impressed with the Knights, they looked pretty sharp at times and the Tigers had to scramble well to contain them.
Still a few inconsistencies in the Tigers game which hurt them, but they definitely looked committed tonight and while the execution let them down at times, they hung in there and their class got them home in the end.
4\. Moltzen - Pretty good tonight overall. I think if he can get settled in the one position, then he should finally be able to build some confidence. He had a couple of shaky moments out there but looks to be steadily improving. His biggest mistake was trying to offload the ball on the first tackle in golden point and he turned it over instead, but his positioning looked ok for the most part. Needs to work on supporting the ruck a bit more, at times there were Tigers forwards looking to offload, but there was no one there in support.
123 metres in attack, 2 tackle breaks, 7 tackles, 3 missed tackles, 2 errors. 7/10.
2\. Tuqiri - Injured after 5 minutes unfortunately which is a massive loss for the Tigers once again. He walked off so hopefully it's not as bad as it initially looked.
3\. Ayshford - Excellent game tonight and was a handful in attack all night, broke plenty of tackles and really deserved to score a try. One of his best games IMO.
180 metres in attack, 2 linebreaks, 13 tackle breaks, 11 tackles. 9/10.
19\. Simona - Excellent debut from the youngster and easily held his own against bigger and more experience opposition. Showed lovely hands in setting up the Mitch Brown try and made good metres all night and defended well also which was my biggest concern about him playing tonight. Should be there next week with Tuqiri likely to be missing.
123 metres in attack, 1 try assist, 1 linebreak assist, 2 tackle breaks, 1 offload, 17 tackles, 3 errors. 7.5/10
5\. Brown - Solid game tonight, safe as usual and scored a nice try. No dramas in defence and he made good metres out of dummyhalf.
109 metres in attack, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 3 tackle breaks, 7 tackles. 7.5/10.
6\. Marshall - Decent game from Benji tonight, looked dangerous in attack and came up with a couple of linebreaks and linebreak assists. I would have liked him to take more authority when the Tigers were attacking the Knights line, as Farah muddied things up a few times, but overall I thought Marshall was alright. Still not at his best, but he's slowly building towards something.
120 metres in attack, 2 linebreaks, 1 linebreak assist, 1 offload, 12 tackle breaks, 8 tackles, 2 errors. 7.5/10.
7\. Lui - His first half was full of promise, he came up with some good tackles, scored a nice try and looked pretty sharp. The longer the game went though, the worse he got, particularly his defence which was terrible in the second half. Not sure what the solution is, like most halves he needs help when the bigger players isolate him, and he didn't get enough help from Dwyer tonight who has his own defensive issues. While he wasn't great defensively, I still cannot see him being dropped as he does provide a very good link between Marshall and Farah and I can't imagine Sheens wanting to change this around.
60 metres in attack, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 2 offloads, 5 tackle breaks, 10 missed tackles, 16 tackles, 1 error. 5/10.
8\. Woods - I thought his first sting was pretty good, he went forward and looked to offload in attack. No question he gets through a lot of work in defence but his second stint definitely brought him undone as he came up with a couple of mistakes with the ball in hand and was eventually hooked. I can't be too hard on him as he's only a baby as far as first grade goes, but tonight was a learning curve for him.
79 metres in attack, 1 offload, 25 tackles, 2 missed tackles, 2 errors. 6/10.
9\. Farah - Rocks and diamonds tonight I thought. Did some very clever things as usual, including a couple of try assists and kicking the winning field goal, but there were also some low percentage, high risk plays which did not come off and really undid some of the good work he did out there. Very busy in defence as usual and overall I have to say he was good, but tonight also showed why he's not in the NSW Origin team IMO.
36 metres in attack, 2 try assists, 2 linebreak assists, 42 tackles, 3 missed tackles, 1 error. 8/10
10\. Galloway - Good game overall. His first stint was a little quiet i thought, but he came to life in the second half and had plenty of good surges which took some stopping. Defensively he was strong too.
118 metres in attack, 1 offload, 31 tackles, 1 error. 8/10
11\. Dwyer - Similar workrate to Ellis, but the difference was the quality of touches Ellis had as opposed to young Simon. He was by no means poor, I thought he went alright out there, and if anything, playing alongside Ellis should benefit him in the long run. His hands are still his biggest enemy as he again coughed the ball up a couple of times and he missed a couple of tackles once again. Not bad, but plenty of room for improvement.
83 metres in attack, 36 tackles, 5 missed tackles, 2 errors. 6.5/10
12\. Ellis - Great to have him back in the side and he definitely made a difference against a pretty committed Knights pack. While his workrate was down on usual due to lack of match fitness, I thought Gareth injected himself at the right times in attack and defence and he came up with some strong runs and hard tackles which we have come to expect. Should be better for the run tonight and one of the Tigers better players IMO.
89 metres in attack, 32 tackles, 4 missed tackles, 1 error. 7.5/10
13\. Heighington - Probably the Tigers best tonight. After copping a rocket from Sheens a couple of weeks ago for not playing direct enough, he has really stood out over the last 2 weeks with some very determined running up the middle and he's proving hard to put down. Made great metres tonight and broke a few tackles and defended well as usual.
155 metres in attack, 1 offload, 6 tackle breaks, 30 tackles. 9/10
14\. Ryan - Came on early to replace Tuqiri and went alright overall, although there was one brain explosion which cost the Tigers a try where he let the ball go over the dead ball line only for Newcastle to freakishly bat it back and score. That piece of play was not smart at all, but thankfully the rest of Beau's game was very good I thought. Came up with a couple of good runs and defensively he was good.
139 metres in attack, 6 tackle breaks, 8 tackles, 5 missed tackles, 1 error. 7/10
15\. Fulton - Good game from Liam tonight. Got belted a couple of times hitting the ball up, but he kept getting up for more. Scored a good try and defended very well as usual. At times his size definitely counts against him playing in the forward pack, but tonight he went well.
76 metres in attack, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 1 offload, 3 tackle breaks, 39 tackles. 7.5/10
16\. Gibbs - Solid game from Gibbs tonight, went forward well and defended well. Doesn't have the size and impact that Galloway and Fifita offer, but his defence around the ruck is noticeable as he hits low and hard and is very effective at dropping his opposite.
102 metres in attack, 20 tackles. 7.5/10
17\. Fifita - Powerful game tonight and really caused havoc at times with his brutal fend. Looked a little leaner if anything and it showed with his workrate, as he made a lot of hitups and defended well around the ruck. Pick of the props ahead of Galloway tonight.
131 metres in attack, 1 offload, 12 tackle breaks, 26 tackles. 8.5/10
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There you have it, feel free to agree or disagree. Some players tonight were undoubtedly good, others were hot and cold, and others were solid. It was definitely a hard fought match and I was pretty impressed with the Knights, they looked pretty sharp at times and the Tigers had to scramble well to contain them.
Still a few inconsistencies in the Tigers game which hurt them, but they definitely looked committed tonight and while the execution let them down at times, they hung in there and their class got them home in the end.
