Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:39 am  

[quote="KaeruJim"]Taken as a whole though we seem to put in strong second halves because we are tiring out the opposition in the first.

I dunno i’ll take the win away to Cas. The conditions have been rubbish all year so far too. I wasn’t delighted with most of that first half either but there are aspects of how we play which are deliberate.[/quote]

it worked because cas were dreadful. can you see it working against wire, wigan etc. it certainly didn't work against saints

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:52 am  

The defence is crazy, concede tons of metres but very few line breaks. Tries against have mainly come from speculative kicks and individual howlers. Then again they wouldn't be conceded if we were 30 yards up the pitch.

In attack our backs appear to do far more work than most teams hitting the ball up. Score some cracking tries though.

Fusitua must be close to a return soon, hopefully for a sustained period.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:08 am  

tad rhino wrote:

it worked because cas were dreadful. can you see it working against wire, wigan etc. it certainly didn't work against saints

It worked against Leigh, Salford, Catalans though didn't it? We weren't a million miles off Saints either, particularly in that first game - we actually looked very good in the first half . When our line speed was good...!

Warrington is a really interesting game because this is a side who might be similar to us in quality this year. I just hope it's dry and not freezing so we can see more of what we can do.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:17 am  

Broadacres wrote:

The defence is crazy, concede tons of metres but very few line breaks. Tries against have mainly come from speculative kicks and individual howlers. Then again they wouldn't be conceded if we were 30 yards up the pitch.

In attack our backs appear to do far more work than most teams hitting the ball up. Score some cracking tries though.

Fusitua must be close to a return soon, hopefully for a sustained period.

I was trying to watch closely last night and I'd just say we are trying to defend efficiently. The penalty against Bentley I thought was really harsh for once - the Cas player was moving forward off the mark constantly as Bentley was trying to get into marker position. Some other calls went our way though.

Listening to the presser etc. I'd say Leeds are very happy with that result. It's another one we did lose last year: if we keep on converting fixtures from Ls to Ws we'll be in the mix come season end.

Beating Warrington would be significant.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:30 am  

Loiner at large wrote:

Don't think we learned anything new from that game. It followed a familiar theme in that we just try and stay in games in the first half. Cas probably played better than they have done recently first half but looked like Leeds when they got in our 25 no structure and clue how to break us down. 2nd half they were gassed and truly awful and we should have put more points on them. Positives all the players generally highlighted. Millar was excellent and thought he was very good defensively as well on a horrible night I think Frawley more culpable for the Cas try. Next week will give us a clearer picture of how and if we are progressing.

Agree with all the above. A win as expected, but can we just ignore that first half ? It’s true the defending in our own third was good, but the way Cas just rolled us down field was shocking. If ever there was a masterclass in how to look clueless near the try line, it came from both teams in that first half. Thought Miller was fantastic both in defence and attack, Handley did a lot of tough carries in the 1st half, and then Croft and McDonell made a big impact in the 2nd as did Lisone with a powerful stint. Let’s see if he turns up next week. Also, before we forget it’s an 80 minute game, Croft was none too clever in the first half. I’ve noticed his long passing game isn’t the strongest, and some of his passes have a big Red Cross on them for his team mates. He’s great to watch when he fires though. Can’t say I didn’t enjoy beating the inbreds, but I struggled to look forward to a game against such poor opposition. Like Loiner at large said, we learnt nothing from that game apart from Cas will be lucky to be playing in Superleague next season.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:05 am  

Thought Bentley was very good in his stint last night - I still wouldn't have him in the starting 13 but he was ferocious.

For Wire, assuming Holroyd returns, we should be pretty close to my first choice 17 other than Fus and possibly Gannon. Not sure how fit a few are but it should be a good contest and another yardstick for us.

You would imagine London will finish below Cas but they are clearly going to have a tough season.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:47 am  

KaeruJim wrote:

Thought Bentley was very good in his stint last night - I still wouldn't have him in the starting 13 but he was ferocious.

For Wire, assuming Holroyd returns, we should be pretty close to my first choice 17 other than Fus and possibly Gannon. Not sure how fit a few are but it should be a good contest and another yardstick for us.

You would imagine London will finish below Cas but they are clearly going to have a tough season.

So your first choice does not have Bentley and Newman in then

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:50 am  

KaeruJim wrote:

Thought Bentley was very good in his stint last night - I still wouldn't have him in the starting 13 but he was ferocious.

For Wire, assuming Holroyd returns, we should be pretty close to my first choice 17 other than Fus and possibly Gannon. Not sure how fit a few are but it should be a good contest and another yardstick for us.

You would imagine London will finish below Cas but they are clearly going to have a tough season.

29 tackles and only played 40 minutes. If we going to continue to play the way we are he definitely needs to play the first half every week!
Will be missing next week so others need to step up defensively.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:55 am  

ploinerrhino wrote:

So your first choice does not have Bentley and Newman in then

It wouldn't have Bentley and of course it would have Newman, who I'm expecting will get stitched up and be able to play next week. He didn't fail his HIA.

Re: Rd 6 I Cas (A) : Fri Mar 29, 2024 11:01 am  

Newman did not fail his HIA, he needs stitches in a badly cut lip.

Holroyd did not play because of heavy bruising sustained when a Saints player pushed him into the advertising signs.

Gannon is out long-term - they are taking it slowly because of the concussions. I doubt he's ready yet.

I agree Leeds should have had an antidote to being pegged back for so long in the first half. We should also credit the outstanding defence a bit more too. I agree it will need to be better against Warrington.

I can see a pattern developing with the Smith haters that we only win when the opposition are poor. At what point do you give the guy some credit for those four wins? Okay, we have better players this season, does Smith not get credit for identifying them and signing them, or is it GH? But I thought everyone agrees that GH has lost the plot when it comes to recruitment... People have been moaning about Olpherts, the guy is moved on, and who gets the credit? This time last season we weren't winning as much, and the mantra was all about getting results - so what has changed now we're getting a few?