Titans deserved the win, they came up here hungry for it. I don't underestimate the effect of early possession advantage, but fact is we weren't in the contest for 80% of the night.
There's a lot they have to go over by next week, including, but not limited to:
- Sims should be nowhere near a starting position. He's good for short stints of seek and destroy on defence, or crash balls at the line. Other than that, the more time he spends on the field, the worse he performs for errors and penalties.
- Joe O needs to go back to reserve grade. Our other options may be greener than ideal but he's had plenty of opportunities. Give someone else a crack, if only to send a message.
- Care of the above, we need to sort out the front row rotation with priority. Lodge is warming to the task, and I think Sammy still shows some hustle off the bench. TPJ will help, but does his best work as an impact weapon, his motor still needs work. If Sims and Joe can't pass for half a prop between them, then we desperately need someone to put their hand up.
- Halves need a massive kick up the ass. Disagree Kodi was better, Milf at least banked a repeat set and we could have jagged another try if Pearson didn't have Burgess hands. In any case, their cause wasn't helped by some awful handling around them, but they need to be much better.
- We have two classy centres. Let's get the ball out to them, FFS. Granted they can look for more work, but we cut Bird right out of the action for much of tonight.
Very few positives tonight outside of Lodge's gradual progression.
Will we better next week? I don't doubt it. But we have a hell of a lot to work on if we want to be more than middle of the pack. Get to it.
