Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Sun May 31, 2015 9:38 pm  

When Walsh returns I don't think you can have both Flanagan and Wilkin in the team as back rowers so that means Flanagan drops out of the 17. The impression I get is that Flanagan looked better under Brown than Cunningham, so I don,t know if KC has changed the "styling" of some of the back rowers. We probably need to see more consistency from Sav to nail down selection every week, he's quite capable of it.

Its a long way off for the return of Vea and Greenwood, maybe KC is playing percentages and forfeiting attack plans for a scrambling defence instead, so the chance of entertaining rugby is not cooking just yet.

Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Sun May 31, 2015 9:51 pm  

When any one of Walsh, Vea and Greenwood are back, Flanagan should be the first to be dropped. He's woeful.

Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Sun May 31, 2015 11:50 pm  

As a neutral just thought I'd share my observations having watched your boys lots via sky and live today and last week
Don't get this go for the two every opportunity. It's been to your detriment 3 times in the last 2 games
Why are walmsley amor and Masoe all off at the same time?
Why is Wilkin doing all the kicking (averagely) burns kicked very effectively v hull and did none hardly today?
Turner was dangerous 1st half. No ball 2nd half?
As a hull fan leeds wire or wigan would not get my support. So would like to see saints do well but seem like your trying to beat yourselves at the min. Still winning though so fair play. Just as a neutral u seemed to put obstacles in your own way today.

Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Mon Jun 01, 2015 8:07 am  

airliebird,runninglate! wrote:

As a neutral just thought I'd share my observations having watched your boys lots via sky and live today and last week
Don't get this go for the two every opportunity. It's been to your detriment 3 times in the last 2 games
Why are walmsley amor and Masoe all off at the same time?
Why is Wilkin doing all the kicking (averagely) burns kicked very effectively v hull and did none hardly today?
Turner was dangerous 1st half. No ball 2nd half?
As a hull fan leeds wire or wigan would not get my support. So would like to see saints do well but seem like your trying to beat yourselves at the min. Still winning though so fair play. Just as a neutral u seemed to put obstacles in your own way today.

To quote Alex Ferguson - "The sign of a champion team is to still win when playing badly"

Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Mon Jun 01, 2015 8:59 am  

I thought Sav and Thompson were excellent today. At one point in the second, both them and Richard were on the pitch whilst Mose, Amor and Walmsley were off. I thought this was a bit strange, but it was actually a good period for us.

Our kicking game was awful. Far too many bombs that were going too deep, or kicks roiling over the dead ball line. I was really enjoying Burns's contribution early in the season, especially the way he was linking with Greenwood and Vea, but he seems to have gone into his shell, somewhat.

Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Mon Jun 01, 2015 9:26 am  

I think that you could argue that we've been guilty of contributing to our own downfall somewhat. Our discipline hasn't been good this season (awful against Catalan) and we've been taking teams up the field at times. Obviously without Luke Walsh in the team our kicking game is going to suffer but it has been an issue and was again yesterday. Against Rovers we conceded a couple of tries from charge down's and the same applied against Wigan at the DW. As I say, being without our first choice 7 all season has contributed to that but I wouldn't say we've necessarily been outclassed too often this year. Against Warrington at the start of the year Wilkin was excellent but on the whole our kicking game hasn't been great. As I say though, as obvious as it sounds, we haven't had a 7 all year.

You'd like to think that Walsh and Percival will come back soonish and will make a difference. Walshy will obviously add a lot to us going forward and will enable us to attack in a way that is more threatening (plus will assist the kicking game) whilst Percy is an immense talent with all the attributes needed to be a top quality centre. Defensively he's improved dramatically and with the ball he's all class and will cause teams problems, especially if we can move the ball quickly and get him in space.

I was impressed with Savelio yesterday and James Roby was outstanding. Every week he gives 100% and whenever Amor/Walmsley/Masoe etc find a quick play the ball he's deadly. Add in his kicking game and his game management and you have the all round number 9. We just need to hope that he stays fit as he is crucial to our chances.

I think we're in a decent position. We're a point off top spot and have been playing with a back rower at 7 all year. Vea and Greewood were looking dangerous down the flanks early in the season and have been out for a while now. Put Luke Walsh/Percival in the side and we will be difficult to stop I think but the small details will need to be cleared up and looked at for me.

Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Mon Jun 01, 2015 9:34 am  

I genuinely fail to see what Flanagan offers on the pitch. He makes no yards and with the ball he is shocking. His stint at hooker made me long for the masterful skills of Stuart Howarth. Do we have no kids waiting in the wings for a chance in the second row?

Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Mon Jun 01, 2015 10:02 am  

JonB95 wrote:

I genuinely fail to see what Flanagan offers on the pitch. He makes no yards and with the ball he is shocking. His stint at hooker made me long for the masterful skills of Stuart Howarth. Do we have no kids waiting in the wings for a chance in the second row?

I thought he looked quite good under brown.

Re: 19 man Squad v Warrington : Mon Jun 01, 2015 10:08 am  

JonB95 wrote:

I genuinely fail to see what Flanagan offers on the pitch. He makes no yards and with the ball he is shocking. His stint at hooker made me long for the masterful skills of Stuart Howarth. Do we have no kids waiting in the wings for a chance in the second row?

Works his backside off and is willing to put his hand up to play in a position that's unfamilar to him to help his side out. A proper team player and no doubt doesn't cost much on the salary cap. Nobody said he was a first choice selection, but when we're missing Greenwood and Vea, I'm made up we have someone like Flanagan to step in. Maybe we should be more supportive of our squad players.

As for yesterday, what a fantastic victory. Missing Lomax, Walsh, Percival, Vea & Greenwood yet still showing the character to hang on in there when we could have potentially been blown away out of sight in that 1st half. Wilkin doesn't have the kicking skills of Walsh but fact is, he's doing a great job. The proof in that is that we're winning games. You don't win games if you have a poor kicking game.