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    In the second half i had Taine & Capewah on my side of ther field. I could hear Capewah organising the defense, Telling Taine to stay and calling Marata to slide. Marata would hold, Then slide as quick as he could (Which was slow lol) Taine didn't hold, He shot out everytime to try cut the ball off. Capewah would then try to cover. And eventually Marata hauled his big over to make a good cover tackle.

    What got me is how slow Charnze was when these set plays towards Capewah & Taine were being made. Either , He was on the other side of the feild or casually making his way over to cover.
    I noticed our young bull Leka got shifted over capes & taines side the last quarter of the game? That's how much faith the coaches have in Leka's ability at such a young age to try and shore up the defense on that side.
    That kid is something special. Every other nrl fan forum i go on they all ask if they can poach him!? Lol.

    Mets Has arrived. I have doubted that kid. No more! Incredible on attack & defense. Please let someone else take the goal kicks tho.
     
    Having rewatched the second half, I really didn't appreciate how much damage the Berry injury made not only to our edge defense but also our forward rotation. Shifting Capes to the centers, at one pt both Egan and Healey were both on the field at the same time. So Healey must have been playing in the middle, which just shows how much strife we were in at that pt. Truly epic performance to hold out quite possibly the best attack in the comp.

    Also, Capes was massive. Really picked up in form in the last 2 weeks. Really aggressive in defense and on attack ran some amazing lines for the first try. Everyone in the pack is lifting in the absence of JFH.
     
    Have to say, the Cowboys are a great attacking team and some of their tries were fantastic.

    The first one where Drink water is hidden, before popping Nanai through a gap was fantastic. The Clifford chip to Derby was also a great try. Drinkwater was dangerous all night and looked like he was going to bring them home.

    Even though we conceded 24 points, I think our defence was great, and we just kept turning up
     
    I'm finding the culture of the club really encouraging at the moment, which I hope is going to rub off on recruitment.

    It is hard to get Aussies over here, but the current crop have totally embraced the club, and you can tell that they are buzzing off it. The dog eat dog culture of Aussie to the supportive team/fandom culture of NZ, which we have seen elevate our country above the sum of it parts in many sports.

    You would have to be looking at the Warriors as somewhere that is going places if you were on the market for a club. I really, really hope we make the right moves in the next 6 months.

    Hopefully Cappy is at Magic Round and he, Webster and Robinson are networking.
     
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    Mostly all said - second half concerning, but with the caveat of rocco going, who was looking quite good, and you have to feel for him for sure. TT had a difficult game and there's better cover on paper, but lots to learn for him if he wants it. Also not sure about CNK, but that was a wet game.

    Not to mention Andrew Gee turned the game all by himself with that clanger of the cowboy catching the ball with his foot in the air. It really is the ref, not the long suffering wahs fans, but hey.

    Capewell, another fine performance and he's been playing exceptionally well this year. You can definitely see a different pack and shape emerging, and it's starting to look bloody good. Shout out to Marata, that was a great performance from him too, and he looks far more suited to prop imo.

    Again, we're performing like a great team and someone commented on MB's calmness and organisational skills as captain - couldn't agree more.

    Metcalf came into his own last night, and there's a fine combination between him and CHT developing.

    Good signs.
     
    That game of all games defined our identity. Barnett said as much in the post game. We have discovered what Warrior really is and who you need to be to wear the badge.

    I said before the game defence wins championships. Sure our first half attack was the best I’ve seen in 2 years - but our defence, our grit, our hunger and our never give up attitude won us that game. This team IS special.

    The Cows will be in the mix in the playoffs - they are a bloody good team. That was worthy of a prelim that game. Fast furious ferocious. Our team worked their asses off and defended like men possessed. Remember this is a full strength cows team. We not only had theee big outs but we had several wounded in game. Luke’s tackle will get all the plaudits. But Capewell almost pulled off another in the corner and he’s playing the best footie of his career.
    We are now seeing the value of Capewah.

    Many teams would have folded under that onslaught by the Cows. They had all the luck, several good calls and they played at playoff intensity. How we wrestled back some control with 17 minutes to go after those three tries was immense.

    Well played Webby and coaching staff. They rolled the dice and got an 11 with Healy.

    Almost all our players had good games. TT needs to flush the dunny in his second half performance - he just got smoked and his size doesn’t help. He’s a 6 really. Not a winger. Great cover but I’m looking forward to having DWZ And RTS back on deck.

    Same for Bunty. Great servant but can’t wait to see JFH back on deck.

    Overall I’m delighted to win that game.
    In the context of our season, it rights the wrongs of Vegas on the big stage. It is an early taste of what it takes to win in big games and finals pressure. That second half performance and the adversity we handled will be one of our best teachers. Coupled with Broncos Tigers and Cows we are now winning the close games.

    Team, we are a real shout this year. That premiership window is starting to crack open.

    Assuming we get a few troops back next week, Dragons, Dolphins and Bunnies are there for the taking before we get to avenge the Raiders at home.

    Dare to dream. This team is going places.
     
    BangBro's (still banging) said:
    Yep lock him and CHT down ASAP.
    Click to expand...
    CHT compliments Metcalf well.

    They are a real combo with each chiming in and taking the pressure of each other.

    CHT actually has more try/ try assists than Metcalf this year and the kicking is pretty evenly shared with 45% to 55% to Metcalf.

    Webster said preseason we were playing a shared role in the halves and appear to be playing with two playmakers that can interchange the 6/7 roles.

    Metcalf is the frontman but CHT is doing great work in there as well.
     
    Just a quick 10 thoughts i got from this match:

    1. That first 10 minutes is something to be proud of. We defended our line really well and let nothing through. I always rate our defensive moments higher than our attacking ones, and the Cowboys really went searching in that first 10 but couldn’t find a crack in us.

    2. Metcalf’s best game yet — I’d say he was MOTM. Not just for the amazing tries (I especially liked the Kosi one, where he hid behind the dummy half and then sprinted out to put Drinkwater behind), but also for his huge defensive effort. He never let up.

    3. Two tries I think don’t happen if Rocco isn’t injured: the rainbow pass over TT and Capes, and the simple grubber where TT jumps to catch it and is tackled mid-air. Both seemed to happen when the centre and wing just weren’t connecting. I don’t think it’s either player’s fault — if they’d had even one week training together, it probably wouldn’t happen. But a mid-game shift will do that, and the Cowboys are one of the best attacking teams for a reason.

    4. I don’t think Barney gets enough credit as captain. Our boys didn’t look panicked. They looked exhausted and barely standing, but not disheartened. He was always rallying the squad, and once Luke got that try-saver, Barney really lifted them. We then managed to defend our try line for another 10–14 minutes. That is incredibly hard to do. Maybe JFH could do it too, but honestly, without more time with the squad, only Barney has that kind of leadership weight.

    5. We had to shift around four players when a centre went down, and that clearly disrupted the team. Not sure if it’s worth fixing, since it costs depth on the bench. Marata -> R2R, Leka -> L2R, Capes -> right centre, Healey subbed on to lock for 7 minutes.

    6. I thought Marata killed it at prop this game. The stats won’t reflect it because he had to switch positions, but he was strong defensively and a damaging ball runner. Every team needs at least one giant prop, and he looks like ours.

    7. Clark and Egan had their typical rock-solid game. They became sinkholes on attack, giving space to our halves, and were constantly setting the defensive line and applying pressure. That did drop off as the game went on — defending for most of the second half drains any energy you have.

    8. Rocco and Pompey had great games. Good defense on their edge before the shuffle. I don’t blame the first try on Rocco — it was a 2 vs 1. No idea how the Cowboys managed to find a 4 vs 2 on that edge.

    9. CHT did his usual good work defensively and set up a try or two with his short kicking game. He complements Metcalf well and makes our attack look much more unpredictable.

    10. It's wild that we won that game via penalty points considering the last couple of games... 5 from 7 isn't too bad. Hope it gets better.

    Edit:
    11. Only noticed this because some people were saying webby should of subbed on bunty if the props were gassed. It was pretty bullsy to sub on Healey as a lock instead of subbing on bunty. I think it was the right move, but we did use all 8 interchanges. So it looks like more mins for Healey and recovery time for Demetric to go in again over more mins for Bunty at the moment.
     
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