: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:55 am
There were a lot of HKR fans there, as ever, although a lot quieter than usual. bearing in mind the pounding the team was getting from the Bulls forwards for most of the game, it is understandable but once they started to believe that they could keep the Bulls out with that magnificent defence, the volume went up.
I for one love it when HKR come to town, they are what you might call "proper" fans and support their team whether it is likely to be good, bad or indifferent.
Thought KR's goal line defence was really outstanding, with 15 or 20 to go I was convinced, the battering they'd taken, that they were bound to weaken but they didn't.
For the Bulls, much to take from the game, especially that monster display by the pack - but serious injuries to Slimomona and Langley disrupted the last quarter significantly. Thought Burgess, Scruton, Menzies etc were immense, and there were so many top hits throughout the game, I take my hat off to the KR lads who just kept getting back up. There must be some bruises this morning.
Thought Platt was very good, one unlucky moment when he tried to take the winger on out of defence a la Slater, got caught, but was extremely unlucky that the TJ called him in touch. Maybe his boot scraped the line, but whatever it was not a brainfart as some have suggested, it was a calculated gamble which could have paid off and didn't cost us. At least he didn't throw the ball away a la Slater when collared
Against that, his position play was excellent, his running out of defence was fine, he got some excellent tackles in, never looked like dropping a ball. Dunno if he was taken off due to reshuffle following injuries, or an injury to himself, but he certainly wasn't taken off for lack of form.
Nero was one of several who could deservedly have won MoM, and looked like the player he used to be before he joined the Bulls. Hope he keeps it up, on that form he is as good a centre as anyone's.
Very disappointed with Jeffries. He goofed on several occasions and never produced anything notable. If Platt had been Jeffries, he'd have been murdered by now. Thought that Ricky "Sideways" Sheriffe was very poor, and looks to have no pace at all. I know he has some - but what was he doing?
The Bulls will be so disappointed with that last set of six, as all they had to do was play them out, but they couldn't do it. Jeffries coughing the ball up (again). But, from a KR point of view, they hadn't given up on the game, gang-tackled Jeffries, and did what they had to do to work the ball loose. So, good play, bad play, depends which way you look at it. Then the Bulls scrambled well in defence but of course Dobson miraculously sliced an impossible looking DG over from wide left, somehow it scraped over, and imho a draw was a very fair result.
The Bulls were much the classier team in the forwards, where most of the game was played, and the pack looked awesome but would have been very harsh on KR to lose by a DG having tackled like demons all day. They richly deserved something. And the Bulls probably didn't quite deserve to win for not managing to turn all the possession into enough scoring chances, or put one more chance away.
