: Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:11 am  

St Ty wrote:

I think the important thing for us all to remember this season with regards to Armstrong is that as he is only 19 he is going to make mistakes, its inevitable.

What we shouldn't do is gloss over these few errors and overhype him early doors only to turn on him later in the season (if he continues to play in Meli's stead) or a season or so down the line when/if we lose some games and he comes up with a number of errors that contribute to that. We did this with a certain Mr Tyrer at roughly the same age and now many are hopeful he doesn't wear the redvee again.

With the franchising and the changes to the youth and overseas quota's we're hopefully going to see the number of opportunities given to the likes of Armstrong and Wheeler increase across the squad, we need to be prepared to give them all time and not expect miracles from them.

Arguably there's not a better time for us to do this than now with the playoffs being set up as they are, even with the impending losses of senior players like Long and Cunningham we should look forward to seeing the boys in play-off rugby for at least the next three years.

There's a very good article on page 35 of this weeks League Express about the new reserve season which covers some of the points you have raised.

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:22 am  

Offside Monkey wrote:

Can anyone tell me how Frodsham played?

average.

took the ball up as you would expect, defended as you would expect and cost us a try at the of the the first half by running it in on the last tackle rather than passing to the right when we had a 3 man overlap.

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:25 am  

saints35 bulls0 wrote:

average.

took the ball up as you would expect, defended as you would expect and cost us a try at the of the the first half by running it in on the last tackle rather than passing to the right when we had a 3 man overlap.

That's prop forwards for you, eh!?

That's the rest isn't bad against what I rate as a pretty uncomprimising pack. How did his performance rate with that of Hargreaves?

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:04 am  

Offside Monkey wrote:

That's prop forwards for you, eh!?

true - and it wasnt the only time the ball went to a prop on the 5th tackle, but hopefully he will learn to have more of a rugby playing brain as he gets more game time.

Offside Monkey wrote:

That's the rest isn't bad against what I rate as a pretty uncomprimising pack. How did his performance rate with that of Hargreaves?

Hargreaves was pretty average too, but I would have him in over Frodsham at the current time.

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:33 am  

Offside Monkey wrote:

That's prop forwards for you, eh!?

That's the rest isn't bad against what I rate as a pretty uncomprimising pack. How did his performance rate with that of Hargreaves?

He's a better player as I've said on another thread. Hargreaves offers nothing going forward.

He made a mistake that cost us a try, Long was going ape. I think he may have seen a bit of a gap there that wasn't really and got tackled, however that's the kind of mistake I'd expect from a youngster and he'll learn from it.

For me, he should be our fourth prop for the majority of this year.

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:49 am  

saints35 bulls0 wrote:

took the ball up as you would expect, defended as you would expect and cost us a try at the of the the first half by running it in on the last tackle rather than passing to the right when we had a 3 man overlap.

Were you as critical of Puletua when he ended up with the ball on the last tackle twice in the middle of the field and not even close to the line?

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:17 pm  

McClennan wrote:

Were you as critical of Puletua when he ended up with the ball on the last tackle twice in the middle of the field and not even close to the line?

No - it wasnt Frodshams fault (or Puletua's) that he got the ball on the last tackle - but that doesnt excuse what happened next. There was a 3 man overlap and he chose to run it in - it was a mistake.

At least Puletua did the right thing, and offloaded, and one of those occasions led to a half break and a good kick down the line.

I am fine with young players making mistakes, and can forgive them - but that doesnt mean we have to ignore them and cant discuss them on here.

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:49 pm  

saints35 bulls0 wrote:

No - it wasnt Frodshams fault (or Puletua's) that he got the ball on the last tackle - but that doesnt excuse what happened next. There was a 3 man overlap and he chose to run it in - it was a mistake.

At least Puletua did the right thing, and offloaded, and one of those occasions led to a half break and a good kick down the line.

I am fine with young players making mistakes, and can forgive them - but that doesnt mean we have to ignore them and cant discuss them on here.

I had a text conversation with a certain poster on here regarding Sean Ainscough on Friday.

He scored an absolutely superb try, a wingers classic. However, 20 metres from the line his arm raises in the air to the crowd and he dives over the line about 8 metres in from touch. Wigan were six points behind. Ainscough could and should have gone close to or under the posts. Roberts missed the kick and therefore Wigan were still two points behind.

Youthful exuberance Maybe

All you can hope for is that the youngsters don't make the same mistakes again.

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:07 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

I had a text conversation with a certain poster on here regarding Sean Ainscough on Friday.

He scored an absolutely superb try, a wingers classic. However, 20 metres from the line his arm raises in the air to the crowd and he dives over the line about 8 metres in from touch. Wigan were six points behind. Ainscough could and should have gone close to or under the posts. Roberts missed the kick and therefore Wigan were still two points behind.

Youthful exuberance Maybe

All you can hope for is that the youngsters don't make the same mistakes again.

was a classy try that. I thought he was excellent all night for you pies with some very strong returns, in fact he looked one of your more dangerous players. It's a shame really that he will probably still end up behind an average Aussie like Phelps in the pecking order

: Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:08 pm  

saints35 bulls0 wrote:

I am fine with young players making mistakes, and can forgive them -

That's very understanding of you.