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A few thoughts from me while I procrastinate at work this morning.

1. Paps has lost some of his pace, which was expected - but he's made up for it. He's incredibly smart and his positioning and back up play is phenomenal. If we never see him at his quickest again so be it, there's no fullback I'd rather have.

2. Sua. Wow - Can we play with three fullbacks next week?! It's probably a bit too soon, but I'd love to see him involved in the finals- absolute x-factor.

3. I was initially daunted about the prospect of playing Penrith right off the bat - but whatever. It's probably the perfect time to play them and go after them. We are well rested, and those who played today who will play next week will be full of confidence. Even if we were to go top Penrith and lose next week, I have no doubt we'd still be a good shot of making the Grand Final.

I'm much more excited about this finals series than I was this time last year.

I’ve seen a few people on different platforms talking about Papenhuyzen looking slower but I think it’s deceiving, most mentioning that he didn’t pin his ears back for Sua’s try, but if you watch him closely he never backed himself it wasn’t a case of not having the speed he just didn’t use it, I think he knew Sailor had the angle covered and he summed it up perfectly with the flick pass.

If you watch Paps in defence there was a few occasions when he needed to get on his bike to knock the ball dead, or make a cover tackle & he looked like greased lightning, I think it’s more a confidence issue and you’ll see the flying mullet again in no time!

Also, Sua could be faster which might create the illusion that he's lost some pace too

OK , how good were the following (excluding Sua and Paps).
They don't get the accolade that they desrve, but they stood up last night under the spotlight of a VERY parochial crowd:

Grant Anderson
Tepai Moeroa
Tariq Sims
Tyran Wishart
Jayden Nikorima

The other 2 debutants Joe Chan and Jack Howarth played really well, they hid in the shaddows a bit but they have 1st grade stamps on both of them. Jack didn't do many hit ups, but defence was rock solid.

I honestly expected after 10 minutes we were going to get flogged but people like Paps, Wishart, King and Sims seem to steady the ship.

Probably the the match where I was most proud of the Storm in 2023 (so far).

Piakura gets 3 fines and can play next week, absolute joke

sheet_ed wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 12:10 pm OK , how good were the following (excluding Sua and Paps).
They don't get the accolade that they desrve, but they stood up last night under the spotlight of a VERY parochial crowd:

Grant Anderson
Tepai Moeroa
Tariq Sims
Tyran Wishart
Jayden Nikorima

The other 2 debutants Joe Chan and Jack Howarth played really well, they hid in the shaddows a bit but they have 1st grade stamps on both of them. Jack didn't do many hit ups, but defence was rock solid.

I honestly expected after 10 minutes we were going to get flogged but people like Paps, Wishart, King and Sims seem to steady the ship.

Probably the the match where I was most proud of the Storm in 2023 (so far).

Definitely agree with a lot of this, some of these guys really stood up.

- Nikorima had 2 try assists (should have been 3 if not for Anderson stepping out) and was a rock in defence.

- Moeroa had a bludger last week and played like he got a rocket from CB, was so strong and at his best is devastating.

- Sims won MOTM and really put his hand up to remind us he is more than capable of a big performance at the pointy end of the year.

- Wishart was fantastic and carried on his all time game from the Falcons last week, looked like prime Thurston last weekend did his chances of a recall to the 17 no harm.

- Anderson was either brilliant or awful, but credit where it is due he didn’t drop his head and he worked hard and had a big impact on the game, I like the resilience.

- Howarth looked gassed like Blazza mentioned but his numbers were good, 80m from 8 runs (he actually didn’t get dominated in the tackle at all, always rolled the advantage line) and made 31 tackles for just the 1 miss, pretty solid but might need to trim down and focus a bit more on cardio he looks very muscular and bulky out there.

- Chan was my surprise packet, he got limited minutes but made the most of it, looks the prototypical NRL back rower made some great runs, and his contact in defence especially that late bellringer on Flegler was impressive, would love to see more of him.

As mentioned Sua the pick of the young guns, kid looks a genuine superstar and I don’t think we can afford to leave him out of the side any longer, next season he has to be in the 17 somewhere.

More of that from Sims please.

The great thing about where the side currently is (and how I feel Bellamy treats his selections) is every one of those guys went out there on Friday night wanting to show they could crack the 17 for next weekend. Sims was probably the most evident of this.

Also - Nikorima was awesome. Loved what he offered with his short kicking.

Chan could be a huge acquisition too.

Re: Chan, I'm not surprised. He was playing super league and doing well enough at his age to catch recruiters eye, the upside was always there and I'm glad he showed it when he got the chance. Could really push Loiero for that spot next year if he strings together a good preseason.

Mattpoet wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 12:26 pm Piakura gets 3 fines and can play next week, absolute joke

Pathetic. Truly abysmal.

TC wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 5:14 pm

Mattpoet wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 12:26 pm Piakura gets 3 fines and can play next week, absolute joke

Pathetic. Truly abysmal.

Most ridiculous thing is both of Piakura's Careless High Tackles were both treated as a 1st offence.

Exactly! How can they BOTH be first offences?

So we're gonna finish 3rd.

Utha wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 4:47 pm So we're gonna finish 3rd.

What a strange season

Just reminds you how lucky we are as fans of this team. Feels like we havent played very well this year but we finish 3rd on the ladder.

Yes, we are so lucky as fans to have a team that represents us so well each week and each season. This final round has fallen well for us, but due primarily to the reserve players stepping up superbly .Unlike last season when we limped into the finals, we can head back to Brisbane with key players rested and ready.