Tough to decide, which is always good. This was a tough grinding game, and the players that contributed the most to stifling Penriff get the points from me.
3 - Mahoney - 64 tackles in 80 minutes. Maintained good line speed most of the game, was in their faces and was often the guy taking the brunt of runs from JFH etc. The only one of their forwards who made decent metres was Yeo, and Mahoney was a big factor in limiting the rest of them. I also noted that he kept out of the spotlight this game, which gives hope that he can pull his head in a bit and focus on the game and what the team needs.
2 - Hayward - 38 tackles in 45 minutes. The highest tackle rate of any of our players, constantly at them with his line speed. Also shows smarts with his defense, so often picking out the guy who is getting the ball and positioning himself to cut off options when he isn't the first man in. Doesn't do many hitups, but when he does he works for the quick PTB rather than metres, and is good at it, his two PTBs were lightning quick, we need the rest of the team to be switched on when he has a run to take more advantage. He also runs more support lines and decoy runs when we have the ball, smart and always busy.
1 - Kiraz - Can't ignore him, he had a great game despite being in discomfort after the Cleary tackle. 240 metres, 3 line breaks, 5 tackle breaks and a great try. I marked him down a bit because of the 3 errors, 1 at a pretty crucial time in the first half, and also the amount of times he let the kicked ball hit the ground when it was his to take.
Honourables:
Hughes - Most run metres of any of our forwards, keeps getting some decent quick PTBs. Made some good dominant tackles to slow them down a bit. Lovely play to get in behind the landing zone of one of their attacking kicks and collect the bat back.
Tracey - The #1 FB at the Dogs. No errors, no pens. 166 run metres. We look tougher defensively with him back there.
King - 53 workhorse minutes. 40 tackles with only 1 miss. 106 run metres, gave away 1 6 again. For a big guy he puts in a lot of quality in the middle of the field.
Mann - Looked like he was having a tough time out there, but he presents a threat in the middle with ball in hand, does well as a link man, and still gets decent metres (99) and quicker PTB than most of the other forwards. 24 tackles with 0 misses, and no errors or pens.