Agree with Gotcha. I was very impressed with our first half. I think we missed some leadership in the 2nd half. Thought Sutcliffe looked a bit lost/unsure in the 2nd half and that was the point I reckon where either Sinfield or McGuire would've stepped up and eased the pressure on him. Sadly I think McGuire getting injured was the worst possible thing to happen for us. The likes of Sutcliffe and Lilley just need that bit of direction/leadership at times and when it's missing they aren't developed enough yet to fill that leadership gap/to know what to do next. When you think of who we've got missing from last season it's no wonder we're lacking leadership/direction. Sinfield, Peacock, JJB & McGuire is a lot to make up.
I think our kicking was generally poor, again I think McGuire would've helped in this regard, as would having Falloon fit as Burrow could've kicked and taken control more.
I don't mind Keinhorst, he's a decent squad player. Delaney did look a bit slow and ponderous though. When we get Ferres, Ablett and Ward all playing I think Delaney may just be used to give them a bit of a break.
Been quietly impressed with Galloway, he's not going to do anything amazing but I think he'll be a solid consistent prop who'll be very difficult to knock back.
I think Hardaker's great but there is still a problem with him linking into the attack, it just isn't smooth at all and too often stalls the attack.
Unfortunately the problem of having 3 halves defending reared its ugly head again.
I really really hope people don't overreact to the scoreline. I thought we did bloody well considering who we've got missing. Put Briscoe, McGuire, Falloon, JJB, Ward & Ablett back into that side and I think it's a very close game, certainly we'd be in with a good shout of winning.
I think it's very much like O'Loughlin said, they do everything slightly better and more consistently. Their work rate and focus in both defence and attack is superb. They're nearly always in the right place and backing up/chasing when they need to.
Very pleased to see we're still determined to move the ball around. Very good to watch in the first half.
On the downside, I'm just generally disappointed with British RL. I don't mean the players, and there's a few notable exceptions but I'm disappointed/depressed by the structure and infrastructure of our game and how it's run and I'm disappointed by a far too prevalent attitude amongst RL people.
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just read from sunday and this prob fairest summing up , 1st half was above expectations for me.
hardaker or an uninjured ward would be my captain and jjb club captain.
sutty and lilley deserved a crack but we need to bring in proven quality before we are too far behind.
sinfield and peacock were ice and fire leadership wise hard to replace by anyone.
galloway had a better game , liked ferres , and step too far for jimmy.
hardaker doesn't seem to be beating 1st man running out anymore
just read from sunday and this prob fairest summing up , 1st half was above expectations for me.
hardaker or an uninjured ward would be my captain and jjb club captain.
sutty and lilley deserved a crack but we need to bring in proven quality before we are too far behind.
sinfield and peacock were ice and fire leadership wise hard to replace by anyone.
galloway had a better game , liked ferres , and step too far for jimmy.
hardaker doesn't seem to be beating 1st man running out anymore
Most worrying sign for me is that when we didnt get the bounce of the ball for 10 mins it completely destroyed our patience, we had little resilience and didnt absorb the pressure well enough, I actually think the fitness of some of the player is questionable Mcguire still captain for me, JJb to share with Burrow until Mags is back Who are you gonna bring in for Lilly or Sutcliffe? and its not there fault we have shipped so many points in the last 2 games Hardaker seems vey out of sync in attack imo, he isnt pushing through holes in support when they are available and is being given the ball to early to properly link in with the line (though that might not be his fault) and isnt offered the overlap enough, our attacking set plays in general are poor, in fact, when was the last time we scored off an attacking passing set play? these are problems that persisted last year as well though
Most worrying sign for me is that when we didnt get the bounce of the ball for 10 mins it completely destroyed our patience, we had little resilience and didnt absorb the pressure well.
Tbf after the quick double at the start of the 2nd half it was 14-4 for nearly 15 mins. Once that try from Sutcliffe shinning a grubber into their players hands with less than 20 left then I can understand heads dropping. 16 points in under 20 mins vs NQC wasn't going to happen, but they did keep fighting when they were only 10 behind with 25/30 mins left.
It was Leeds' 7th WCC Final, Leeds recorded their lowest ever score (equal lowest try count, lowest goal count) while conceding their highest ever total (most tries against), goes without saying their biggest ever defeat in this fixture and by some considerable distance. Previous reversals were by 4, 8 and 8 - on Sunday by 34.
Over the course of eight days 16 - 94 (-78), you have to go back to the dark days of 1996 to find a bigger brace (-38 & -54 - home to Bradford then away at Wigan)
It was Leeds' 7th WCC Final, Leeds recorded their lowest ever score (equal lowest try count, lowest goal count) while conceding their highest ever total (most tries against), goes without saying their biggest ever defeat in this fixture and by some considerable distance. Previous reversals were by 4, 8 and 8 - on Sunday by 34.
Over the course of eight days 16 - 94 (-78), you have to go back to the dark days of 1996 to find a bigger brace (-38 & -54 - home to Bradford then away at Wigan)
Rather factual post TVOC which will be deemed negative and against the spirit of being a true Leeds fan. You'll have torquemada81 denouncing you if you're not careful.
Most worrying sign for me is that when we didnt get the bounce of the ball for 10 mins it completely destroyed our patience, we had little resilience and didnt absorb the pressure well enough, I actually think the fitness of some of the player is questionable Mcguire still captain for me, JJb to share with Burrow until Mags is back Who are you gonna bring in for Lilly or Sutcliffe? and its not there fault we have shipped so many points in the last 2 games Hardaker seems vey out of sync in attack imo, he isnt pushing through holes in support when they are available and is being given the ball to early to properly link in with the line (though that might not be his fault) and isnt offered the overlap enough, our attacking set plays in general are poor, in fact, when was the last time we scored off an attacking passing set play? these are problems that persisted last year as well though
the tries are not their fault in so far as sutty can't help having one leg and lilley can't help their size , last year zak looked looked dangerous and sutty was good when fit and kev then played better than b4 his axing.
we've got away with 2 small hb and letting kev off tackling
to be proven if falloon and jjb can add anything (jjb only less likely than achurch to get injured)
last year we had a new angle of cuthbo but no organised moves.
in a speech jjb said last year was the coming together of what mcd had been putting in place previous years
so did they rely on jp and did they factor in garbutt arriving 14 games earlier than planned
was discussing on way to widnes how have been planless and idealess for years
The lack of creativity is a major problem atm. I don't remember us breaking them down last night at all . Scoring tries against the cowboys was always going to be difficult but we struggled to score in the 2 previous games too. Having Mcguire out hasn't helped but he is going to be missing for a few weeks yet.
We wernt very good in attack but you have to remeber some of these NRL defences are incredibly well drilled, there was a semi-final a few years back that finished 4-0 and that included Foran Pearce DCE and Maloney, so its hard to be too critical of our attack based on this game
No, the point is that Coote run through because a kicker of Thurstons quality gets that kick through, a kicker of Burrow's quality, or any of the names you mentioned before dont do as often.
And i dont think it is fitness, it was that NQC asked questions nearly every tackle constantly rolling forward and moving them about and keeping leeds on the back foot. NQC's structure and execution meant they didnt have to work as hard
I would go as far as saying I dont think NRL players are fitter than SL players in any meaningful way. I dont think they are particularly faster or more athletic. I just think they are better. What an SL player can do 8 times out of 10, an NRL player can do 99 times out of 100 and these are simple things. You are right those little 1%s are the difference. But those 1%s are the pass being right on the button so the receiver isnt stretching or stuttering, the right pass being chosen, the bomb going that little bit higher, having that bit more spin on it, the grubber being that bit more accurate.
The kick dint go where he wanted, the fullback was just working harder than everyone else just in case. They may not be much fitter, but at the 50 min mark we had used one sub and I think NQL had used all of theres? Next year they definitely will be anyway as their subs are dropping from 10 to 8