If you're saying the good far outweighed the bad then I'd agree. Haven't watched the game back yet but I don't remember too many defensive howlers. As a general point, I doubt defending bombs is ever going to be his strongest suit, given his build. But that build helps him score tries like the one you refer to, lends punch to his carries out of defence and enables him to break tackles in open play.

They worked well together, kicking was great. I was showing my lad how McGuire gets the ball to sit up for a short kick and how Burrow puts backspin. The skill to do that under pressure is phenomenal. Aiton impressed me as well at 9. Looks like he is settling in well now.

I hold my hands up, I didn't think it was a good signing when it was announced but he is exactly what we needed. A very good hooker which we never had with McShane

Teams are also starting to be a lot smarter about where they kick to.

There's a definite increase in the number of kicks that are being dropped 10-15 yards in from touch, trying to put them on the head of Burrow. That then forces Hall to come through traffic to get them, rather than being in a one-on-one contest with his opposite winger.

Why is he finding it easier under high balls when attacking than when defending? Because all the advantages in that position are with the attacker. That's just basic. It's easier to attack the high ball from a running start than a standing one.

we weren't watching you

Thought kirke looked pretty strong

8 carries 57 yards, 24 tackles and 2 misses. I noted him make one decent cover tackle on a half break by London.

Mulhern, the young lad on debut with a much shorter stint made 7 carries for 58 yards.

Brad Singleton, another youngster in real terms made 16 carries.

The stats make for a bit of strange reading on this one,
Kirke (8 carries for 57) JJB (7 carries for 50) and Achurch (6 carries for 56) yet all did decent numbers in tackling (24, 21, 26 respectively). On the other hand Leuluai made 13 carries for 142 but only made 8 tackles apparently.

Ablett had a strong game in both, 14 carries for 125 and 29 tackles. Think we should keep him in the forwards next week (take a punt on Briscoe at centre perhaps if needed?)

Special mention also to Aiton, top tackler with 39 and 0 misses. Also Alex Foster was top for London with 39 and 0 misses also.

As usual the actual stats were not needed. Thought Kirke did a good strong performance in his first stint, and probably where those carries came from. His second stint was a bit of a joke, lazy and Kirke-esque.

On the stats though, kind of paint a different picture on Ward, who looks impressive by those alone.

Like you say, stats do not give the full picture. They are indicative of offensive work rate when it comes to carries though. 8 carries is 8 carries.

They're also illustrative that the vastly experienced Kirke only carried the ball once more than the young lad on debut.

My gripe with Kirke has always been about his lack of carries.

I'm surprise that he only had 8 carries. I thought from watching the game he took the ball up quite a lot. Without being bothered to look through the game again, I'll retract the comment. He should have taken the ball up more than that. He had a long enough amount of pitch time

Kirke was playing prop and carried the ball up the middle. I don't want to watch a team that hits the ball up the middle all game. Not sure i'm worried about that stat in that game. A lot of Kylie's carries were kick off returns as well which probably bulked up his number above Kirke's.

I'm not. It's actually a step up.