Freakish! There is really no other word for Kalyn Ponga's performance against the Sharks last Friday.
To do what he did to get us over the line in such an important game when he was as crook as a dog will live in my memory for a long time.
We all knew Connor [Watson] had been struck down with something because he was in bed and missed captain's run the day before the game. But I didn't realise K had also been affected until I saw and heard him vomiting and dry-retching after we finished warming up for the game.
To be honest, I didn't know how he was going to get through the game let alone go out there and carve up the Sharks like he did. Through the game, you could hear him coughing and being physically sick in between his frequent moments of brilliance. It really was freakish what he did.
He cops plenty of attention from rival sides every week and his physical toughness has never been questioned but this just showed everyone how mentally tough he is as well to be able to put how crook he was to one side and still come up with a 5-star performance in what was a real crucial game for us.
Credit to Connor as well for his big contribution under trying circumstances.
The other player on everyone's lips after our win was obviously Brodie Jones and for good reason. How good was he? To come up with those big plays for us shows just how much he has grown as a player and I'm so proud of him because he has worked really hard for it.
A few people have asked me was I okay after I only played 42 minutes against the Sharks. The answer is 'I'm all good'. Five or six years ago, I might have blown up at the coach for giving me those sorts of minutes but I had a chat to Adz [Adam O'Brien] after the game and he just told me it's about managing my work-load a bit.
He wanted fresh legs out there which is fair enough and I know I'm not getting any younger. We also have some big games coming up as well over the next three weeks so it's about being as fresh as possible for them and I respect that. You can't knock a coach for wanting to look after his players and try and ease the burden a little bit.
The first of those really big games is tonight against the Panthers on their home ground. As tests go, they don't come any bigger.
Penrith have been flying, playing with a lot of energy, a lot of confidence and a lot of skill and we are going to have to match their up-tempo style to give ourselves a decent shot at knocking them over.
They have a lot of young, enthusiastic guys and there is a real chemistry about the way they play. What we do know is we are going to have to have our heads on for the full 80 minutes to stay in the fight and we'll be aiming to do exactly that.
