Euan Aitken was understandably frustrated after his first season for the Vodafone Warriors.
As one of the Vodafone Warriors’ major acquisitions for the 2021 campaign, he arrived from the St George Illawarra Dragons driven to make a big impression with his new club.
However, an ankle injury in the season-opening 19-6 win over Gold Coast was a huge setback. While he was able to finish the game, he needed surgery which kept him out of the side until round 10. He hadn’t been back long when he was ruled out of the line-up again, this time confined to his room for two weeks after he’d been on a flight on which one of the attendants subsequently tested positive for Covid 19.
When Aitken was finally able to settle into his playing role the season was more than halfway through.
With injuries biting he also found himself handed a new challenge playing in the second row. He immediately excelled there and saw out the season in that position with a series of impressive displays.
He finished up making 14 appearances, scoring seven tries and averaging 75 minutes, 117 metres and 21 tackles a game.
| PLAYER REVIEW | EUAN AITKEN |
|---|---|
| Best | v Wests Tigers (Rd 20) |
| Minutes | 80 |
| Tries | 2 |
| Runs | 18 |
| Metres | 163 |
| Post contact metres | 36 |
| Tackle breaks | 6 |
| Line breaks | 1 |
| Tackles made | 41 |
| Tackles missed | 3 |
| Season | |
| Appearances | 14 |
| Minutes | 1052 (75.14/game) |
| Tries | 7 |
| Runs | 173 (12.35/game) |
| Metres | 1637 (116.92/game) |
| Post-contact metres | 592 (39.92/game) |
| Tackle breaks | 36 |
| Line breaks | 4 |
| Tackles | 299 (21.35/game) |
| Tackle efficiency | 92.57% |
| Missed tackles | 24 |
| Ineffective tackles | 11 |
| Kick pressures | 20 |
| Errors | 6 |
| Penalties | 3 |
