I'm not gonna get carried away by this result, as it was against the Sharks after all, but it's also not so doom and gloom as some would like to imply...
Positives:
- We shored up the ruck and were able to contain a strong forward pack relatively well.
- Although this wasn't the most creative opposition, we shut them down, scrambled well enough to kill both their chances (one of them a clear penalty imo, when Glenn is taken out and Bukuya gets through. Probably would have been a no try in review had Kahu not made one of the best one on one tackles I've seen in recent memory).
- Performances by the "rookies" Wallace, Nikorima and especially Oates, with Ofa not disappointing in his short stint.
- Improvement in Milford, although he is clearly still struggling with the positional change, and probably the lack of good ball as well.
- Hunt not showing any sign of "second year syndrome", playing a pretty good game under the circumstances, and probably being the main reason we won this game with his try saving interception and excellent kick that led up to the second try.
- Kahu's improvement and confidence gain, hopefully taking on the way to the heights he is capable of, especially in attack. Besides his positioning, bomb catching and solid defense, he ran hard without fear into big men on kick returns, and challenged the defense with a few good runs that took him inches from the try line. Speaking of, I disagree he should have passed the ball on those occasions, as the winger was well covered and his name was... Maranta!
Negatives:
- Lack of go forward, starting with Blair, whom in 6 possessions... ran the ball once. He is simply not a prop, never has been one, and never will be. Were it not for Parker being there, I would put Blair at lock... in fact, I probably would not be against swapping Parker and Blair's positions. We definitely need Gar to get his butt in gear, at least until Ofa gains a regular spot in the 17.
- Attack is dull and needs a lot of work on combinations, positioning and timing. There are signs things are happening, with Hunt and Milf showing up on both sides of the ruck, but we lack depth and synchronisation, and we also need more people sniffing around the ruck for offloads or half chances.
- Tied to the above is Macca's slow service, although he was quite good at controlling the game when we were in front. Niko was better in that regard, giving the halves just that little bit more time to play with, but is still suss defensively. I wish we could make a hybrid with the qualities from both of them!
- Maranta... sorry, but he needs to go, as does Reed as soon as Copley comes back. We need Vidot's go forward, and I am absolutely convinced he won't be a worse finisher than Maranta!
- Glenn is still too much of a turnstile in defense, but let Thaiday simmer on the bench a bit longer, until he realises he cannot be a passenger anymore, at which point, Glenn should be benched.
- Gillett's head knock will hopefully not stand in the way of him playing against the Cows!
All I want for now, is to see improvement from game to game. We will know better where we are against a quality side like the Cows.
