Utter downer. I thought with the new, more basic style of play it would be much harder for us to be as headless as last season, but I was wrong. Our spine was really poor. They are the guys that need to take control when its going pear shaped and yet none of them did. Frawley just again looks a really poor player, but Ackers was poor and so were Smith and Croft. Add to that an edge defence that seemingly panics at the first sign of pressure, and it's all over.
There's a reason why Handley, who was a centre in his youth, has never lasted more than a game there - for all his talk and training there he shows no composure at all when defending in that position. Not just his fault - the lack of communication between second row, wing and centre was awful.
If available I think we have to bring in Clark-Wood and shove Handley back on the wing. Tough on Lumb but that edge will get taken apart every week. Hopefully either O'Connor or Sinfield are fit to take over at hooker. We need much more from there. I'd also put Edgell to full back and Connor to 7. Connor can't do worse there and his lack of speed will be less exposed. Jenkins must come in, maybe for second row, but I also find watching Cam Smith really painful in games like this. He's no captain and even after another off season with a changed style he finds a way to cripple attacking moves. I do not care how many second or third man in tackles he makes, before anyone lobs out the rather pointless stats.
