VETERANpropSiaSoliolais
proudofhisside’simprovement
in 2019 butsaidthey’vegot
plentylefttodoiftheywantto
matchthelikesofMelbourne.
TheRaiderssitfourthonthe
ladderwith 12 winsandsixlosses,
andareallbutassuredoftheir
firstfinalsberthsince2016.
“We’reprobablynotquite
thereyet,butwe’regetting
there,”SoliolatoldBigLeague.
“Weunderstandwhat’sinfront
ofus.We’regoingtohavetocome
upagainstManly,theRoosters,
Rabbitohs,Melbourne,andthe
Warriorsthisweek.Theyhad
a touchmatchandthey’llbeupfor
it being back at home.” – MBYOUNGhalfLachlanLewisadmits
hehada mixedgameinhisfirst
NRLappearancesinceRound8,
howeverhewasabletotickoff
a careerhighlightinhisfirst
meetingagainstCooperCronk.
TheRoostersplaymakerhas
beentheyardstickformost
halvesinthecompetition,andit
wasnodifferentforLewis,who
sayshemodelledhisgameon
thechampionNo.7ashecame
throughtheranks.
“Itwasreallycool.I’venever
playedagainsttheRoostersand
CronkandJamesTedesco,”hesaid.
“Growingup,Cronkwastheguy
I basedmygameonandtooka lot
ofpointersfrom,sothatwasreally
cooltocomeupagainsthim.I gave
hima bitofchatandI swearhe
didn’tknowI wasthere.” – MGSUPERCOACHWayneBennett
thinksCodyWalkerisnearly
backtohisbestafterthe
representativefive-eighth
starredinSouthSydney’stense
winoverStGeorgeIllawarra.
Walkerstartedtheseason
highonformwhichsawhim
selectedtomakehisOrigin
debutfortheBluesinGame
One,butaftera mediocre
performancehewasleftout
ofthesquadforthefollowing
matchandhisformwentsouth.
HoweverBennettbelieves
hisclassyplaymakeris
regaininghismojo.
“I’dsaidtohimduringthe
week[beforegameagainst
Dragons]hewascomingback
tohisbestandasa coachyou
knowyourplayersbetterthan
anybodyelse,”Bennettsaid.
“Icouldseeinthepastcouple
ofweeks,hewasoutofform
whenhecameoutofOrigin
andthedisappointmentthat
goeswiththat,butI thought
hehandledit wellandhewas
gettingbettereachweek.”
Followingfour-straightlosses,
theRabbitohshaveturned
thingsaroundwiththreewinsin
a row.Walker’sformchangehas
influencedtheirperformances.
“AgainstNorthQueensland
I saidtohim,‘That’swhereyou
wanttobe,you’renotmaking
theline-breaksbutyou’reabout
to’,”Bennettsaid.
“And[againsttheDragons]he
gottherewards,hestartedto
runtheballagainandstarted
to be Cody Walker.” – MB28 BIG LEAGUE 2019 Round 20FRUSTRATIONisgrowinginthe
HunterfollowingNewcastle’s
fourthlossonthetrotwhichsaw
themdropoutofthetopeight.
Allthegoodworkthatsaw
themsoarintopremiership
contentionhasbeenundonein
recentweeks,andcoachNathan
Brownisfedupwithhisside’s
defensiveattitudeafterlosing
athometotheWestsTigers.
“Ourlastthreeorfourweeks
we’veslowlydeclinedinattitude
andresiliencearoundour
defence,”Brownsaid.
“Whenwelostfivetostart
theyearwewerestilla good
defensiveteam.Atthemoment
we’vegotdifferentpeoplepicking
andchoosingwhenit’simportant
toputtheeffortin.
“Ourdefensivecoachcertainly
hasn’tchangedanything,maybe
a coupleofpeoplethoughtthat
it’sacceptable to not put theright
ef for t in .” – MGHOOKERCameronMcInneshascalledonhisteamtofight
despitebeingallbutoutofcontentionforthefinals.
Theymayhavelost 10 gamesfromtheirpast12,but
McInnessaystheywon’tbethrowinginthetoweljustyet.
“Win,loseordraw,if wefightthenit’llturnaroundfor
us,”thehookertoldBigLeague.
“Ijustwantustofighteveryweekandthat’swhatwedid
[againstSouthSydney].”
Despitetheirimprovedperformance,theDragonssuffered
a heart-breakinglosswhenSouthSydneywingerCampbell
Grahamscoredwiththefinalplayofthegame.
“Weweren’teventhatgoodintermsofpolish,”McInnessaid.
“Wewerescrappy,madetoomanyerrorsanddidn’t
completeoursetsbutwewerestillinthegamebecause
wecompeted– it shouldbelikethateveryweek.”
Withthereturnoffive-eighthGarethWiddop,theDragons
spinehada reshufflewithCoreyNorman(pictured)shifting
tofullbackandMattDuftyrelegatedtothebench.
“IthoughtCoreywasoutstandingatthebackand
Garethisoneofthebestplayersintheworldfor
a reason,”McInnessaid.
“We’vegotsomegreatplaymakersinourside,butit
doesn’tmatterwhatposition everyone is playing, as long
PHOTOS: as we’re doing our job.” – MB
NRLPhotos.com:
Gregg
Porteous
(Soliola,
Walker),
Nathan
Hopkins (Norman, Keary),
Shane Myers (Lewis), Paul Barkley (Brown), Scott Davis (Latu)