8th Jul 2020
A step in the right direction
Back to equal 8th in a tough slog win over the last placed Bulldogs. The team still have a lot of work to do tranform themselves, but it was a step in the right direction. We are struggling to dominate teams up the middle and as such the team is in the middle of a transformation in their attacking strategy. Bennett continued his strategy to ease Roberts back into being a 80 minute players. This week we have a 5 day turnaround against a team we are on equal terms with. So its a important 4 point game coming up. 7 more wins to make the finals.
Gagai strong effort
Dane Gagai has had a great game out on the wing. He replicated his SOO intercept try in the final minute of the game. He has a unorthodox running style which has proven very effective in traffic, week in week out. Now without the effect of State of Origin, I expect Souths to see the best out of him over the coming weeks.
Burns rotten luck
What rotten luck for Braidon Burns. He has struggled with long term injuries over the last few years, and to see him go down in a freak injury and out again for the season, just when he was getting back up and running is devestating for him. Hope he has a speedy and health recovery from this knee injury.
Crowds return
Round 9 has seen a steady return of fans back to the game. Crowds are now starting return, but many fans are wary of going to games. There is a lot of confusion on who can and cannot go, how do you buy tickets and the protocols of entry. The other issue is that people have developed a habit of avoiding crowds during COVID and it will take time for confidence to return.
Round 8 - Stat Attack
Statistically it was a average game. Completion dropped to 74% from 77% last week. Errors were steady at 12 again this week. We gave away 6 penalties and 4 6-again calls from 10 last week. Souths Effective 1st tackle improved to a average level of 34.6m from 38.6m last week. Our missed tackles improved to a very good level of 20 from 26 last week. Opposition offloads dropped to 8 from 7 last week.
Looking at our left side defence - Johnston-Graham-Walker-Lowe (1-2-1-3) was steady at 7 missed tackles again this week. On the right side DGagai-Roberts/Burns-Reynolds-Su'A (2-1-2-4) dropped to 9 from 8 missed tackles last week week. Ruck defence Tatola/Sele-Cook-Burgess/Knight-Murray/Mago (1-1-0-1) was improved to 3 from 11 missed tackles last week.
Our go forward was improved at 2001m from 1613m last week. Tatola, Knight, Gagai, Johnston, Mitchell and Roberts made 10+m per run. Burgess, Tatola, Cook, Su'A, Lowe, Murray, Knight, Dane Gagai, Johnston, Graham, Mitchell and Roberts making 100+m in the match. With Dane Gagai running a outstanding 300+m. Defensively Murray was our best in the tackling raking up 49 tackles. Tatola, Burgess, Knight, Burns and Mago didn't miss a tackle.
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