Comprehensively outplayed. NSW finally picked a capable team and played to their ability. The loss burns but you have to give them their props, almost flawless game from the Blues.
Tedesco was their standout for me. He can be a bit erratic for my tastes but he was everywhere in attack and defence. Outstanding effort to score and also to stop Gillett from scoring. Easily the best game I've ever seen him play.
Fifita obviously caused us all kind of headaches. When he pulls his finger out, he's almost unstoppable. Combined incredibly well with Maloney, who also showed his big game credentials.
On our boys, we're certainly looking at changes for Game 2. Myles is a tough bastard but he clearly struggled out there. Give Wallace a shot, we need the grunt and he's proving his mettle this year.
O'Neill was a severe let down, easily the worst of our backline and brought absolutely nothing to the table.
Gillett must be playing busted (though he deserves another shit, assuming his body is up to it) and Thaiday didn't give us what we needed off the bench.
I thought Boyd, Milf and Oates were all strong. Friendly fire from Oates on Milf a huge blow to our chances. Blues lost Pearce but Milf was arguably a bigger loss for us. Held his own in defence and created a few opportunities for us on the left. Did his future chances no disservice. Looked more capable than Morgan playing deputy to Cronk. Worth persisting with at 14 if JT is back. Need to develop hislm amongst the playing group for next year and beyond.
I can understand the argument for Boyd at fullback, and I thought his efforts were solid, kick returns were full of vigour, but our edge options were wanting.
With neither Chambers or O'Neill being particularly adept at promoting the ball, we no longer have the weapons out wide that have served us so well (Hodges, GI).
Think we need to recall Slater. Not as safe as Boyd, but does bring that explosive speed off the mark. Simply a matter of having more weapons at our disposal.
