Boyd worst on ground again? He had his one decent game for the season, probably thought he didn't need to do anything tonight.
Also, how many chances does Shibasaki get? Every game he's bloody trash. Bloke is completely useless. Almost cost us the game with his late knock on and brought literally nothing for the other 79 minutes.
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How does Dearden get 2? He was basically a passenger. Milford was great tonight.
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The knock on with 5 minutes to go wasn't great. I don't think it was so much him containig Mitchell either. The roosters were off tonight. Our forwards were fantastic and Milford kicked very well. Shibasaki doesn't bring anything to the team. That knock on was very close to game changing. He may as well not be on the field in attack...
I thought after a shaky start with those terrible passes, boyd was ok, and as captain was sending the right messages to his teammates. He quickly cut out those passes in his play and got on with things. It wasn't his best game but there were worse out there. There were more than a few errors from nearly all our players. Some led to changes of possession, some didn't. As I said earlier, it looked rusty and disjointed but with the maintenance of pressure on their opponents and their willingness to defend, they wrestled control from a well-drilled side and worthy premiership favourites.
There was no single error that was particularly worse than any other, apart from Offa's brain fade. I disagree with the idea of hooking him like some commentators suggested ( it was born out of over-enthusiasm, rather than negligence), but I'm sure a warning will be sent to him this week by the coach about it.
Most of the players people are praising did not play 80 minutes and therefore will naturally look a little better than those that didn't on the field. Likewise, players like saguaro who played only 20 minutes or less will look positively electric. Don't get me wrong, they were good, but it's important not to try and expect an 80-minute player to do the same as the fellow who's done 20 minutes (otherwise why play with interchanges at all?).
I hope we have learnt the value of discipline and patience, from this game. It is what has got us over the line. It is the difference between forcing a mistake from an opponent, deep in their own half or making one in ours. Likewise, the willingness to defend needs to be replicated. These are attitude driven, and their continuance will be sorely tested when we play away. That is the next goal.
