Criticisms of Gillett and Papalii IMO are unwarranted. They did what they were sent out to do with the time they were given, and the limited use of the ball the play makers gave them.
I thought they both were excellent at what they did. For mine, it was more a game plan issue than anything else.
Initially, I thought Cronk was ordinary, until I saw quite a few nice touches from him, and I was actually surprised the positive difference DCE made. Next year maybe DCE instead of Cronk
Thurston's defence on Lewis was first class and shot Daley's plan to bits
I thought Myles was poor until I read he was injured in which case I don't understand why he was there. I also reckon GI is totally wasted in the centres. If Slater plays next year, he should play wing and share the job with Inglis.
If Gallen and Hayne played, and with Myles having little impact, I wouldn't be so sure we would have won tbh (Well, if Hayne played, the Blues would have had 2 Hayne's on field anyway).
As they say in drama: Exeunt Pearce and Maloney. What a pair of nuffies. If they had Adam Reynolds/Sutton, or Reynolds/Carney, along with Gallen and Hayne (1) NSW would have been far more dangerous against the Maroons whose overall game was super quality for say 30 out of the 80, and the rest compensated for by flashes of brilliance and stunning one-on-one defence, together with continual **** ups by NSW
I mean the dropped balls by Dugan and Jennings with almost certain tries in front of them was unforgivable if I were a Blues supporter