cf2 is back
Reserve Grader
The Good:
Defence, defence, defence. In the first 12 minutes alone they had a stack of chances to score but we were an absolute brick wall, and that set up the rest of the match and the win there and then. Hugely impressed with the team spirit and the hard work we are almost Saints like in defence, plus our attack too looked extremely sharp with some wonderful sweeping movements across the field. How we didn't score 30 plus points was probably more bad luck (not to mention the penalty count) than anything we did wrong. In terms of player performances the standouts were MOM Hopoate who threatened every time he had the ball, took all the high balls calmly, and thrilled us all with that fantastic kick return break down the hill sideline. Foran was once again superb with some incisive running and fantastic balls. Matai was a constant danger in attack and DCE has continued to grow and chance his arm plus his kicking game was again excellent. How lovely was that Cliffy-esque dummy in the first half. Our forwards once again more than laid the platform with every one of them putting in a huge effort, but none more than Glenn (40 tackles), Watmough (37 tackles) plus Ballin and King who ran hard. And the very best part of tonight: a) No injuries; b) The fact that it feels like we are still only at about 70% of our true potential in attack c) And the fact we have tremendous depth with players like Robinson, Harrison, Rodney and of course Brett and Wolf in the wings. Folks we have a football team here who've quietly racked up a very pleasing 5/7 wins.
The bad:
Not a lot. Whilst the win was never in doubt with our superb defence, the fact that we didn't put them away at 20-4 was a bit disappointing. But hey it's still 2 points and that score totally and utterly flattered them given the 2 very late tries.
The ugly:
Just two things. Referee Robinson who tried his best to destroy the game with his penalty obsession. Was our discipline that bad? I don't think so. The crowd. Sure 14,000 is not bad, and yes I know it was Good Friday, but gees it's disappointing not to see 16-17,000 on a pretty warm night with a Manly team as good as this.
Defence, defence, defence. In the first 12 minutes alone they had a stack of chances to score but we were an absolute brick wall, and that set up the rest of the match and the win there and then. Hugely impressed with the team spirit and the hard work we are almost Saints like in defence, plus our attack too looked extremely sharp with some wonderful sweeping movements across the field. How we didn't score 30 plus points was probably more bad luck (not to mention the penalty count) than anything we did wrong. In terms of player performances the standouts were MOM Hopoate who threatened every time he had the ball, took all the high balls calmly, and thrilled us all with that fantastic kick return break down the hill sideline. Foran was once again superb with some incisive running and fantastic balls. Matai was a constant danger in attack and DCE has continued to grow and chance his arm plus his kicking game was again excellent. How lovely was that Cliffy-esque dummy in the first half. Our forwards once again more than laid the platform with every one of them putting in a huge effort, but none more than Glenn (40 tackles), Watmough (37 tackles) plus Ballin and King who ran hard. And the very best part of tonight: a) No injuries; b) The fact that it feels like we are still only at about 70% of our true potential in attack c) And the fact we have tremendous depth with players like Robinson, Harrison, Rodney and of course Brett and Wolf in the wings. Folks we have a football team here who've quietly racked up a very pleasing 5/7 wins.
The bad:
Not a lot. Whilst the win was never in doubt with our superb defence, the fact that we didn't put them away at 20-4 was a bit disappointing. But hey it's still 2 points and that score totally and utterly flattered them given the 2 very late tries.
The ugly:
Just two things. Referee Robinson who tried his best to destroy the game with his penalty obsession. Was our discipline that bad? I don't think so. The crowd. Sure 14,000 is not bad, and yes I know it was Good Friday, but gees it's disappointing not to see 16-17,000 on a pretty warm night with a Manly team as good as this.