Team News



Ratchford

Russell

Atkins

Evans

Penny

Gidley

Sandow

Hill

Clark

Sims

Currie

Hughes

Westerman



Subs

Dwyer

Bailey

Westwood

Cox

Probably the best 17 we've put out all year

That team, 100% fit is quality but bumps and bruises seem to have been causing us problems recently. Catalans missing a fair few this week so we should be picking up 2 points. It should still be a tough game though.

Let's just hope we don't score first!!!!

what the hell are we playing at..another bilge half..and dont get me started on russell and wasterman...

Catalan playing like they want it more than us.SHOCKING.

Smith very honest at the end there, and bang on the money too. I said when Evans took it in on the last with 30 seconds to go that it was a stupid thing to do, if there's one team you don't give one more go in a tight game it's Catalan. Luckily we were able to see them off. Thought Smiths comments about us playing the victim at the minute and letting teams dictate the pace of the game right through was on point too, that has been a big problem recently. He looked pretty pee'd off too so I would expect to see a big change next week as his patience looked thin.



Frayssinous thought they had some bad decisions against them tonight. I can't really think of one. I think the yellow for the lift was harsh, especially when Pellisier clotheslined someone off the ball and stayed on the field but other than that I felt like the penalties they conceded were fair enough, as were ours.

You're right, Smith was spot on. Apart from when he said Lineham and Ormsby were in the mix for next week. Why on earth would we even consider them?

very lucky to win tonight.... we were poor again.



the team seems to lack direction and purpose.



i will be amazed if this side wins a trophy this season

As with Hull last week we came up against a bigger & more mobile pack & were lucky to hold on for a good result in what was a very entertaining game. I would like to thank whoever made the decision to go for 2 point penalties though because ,otherwise ,the comments on this forum would be very different tonight.

Catalans game plan was pretty simple; big forwards driving down the pitch wearing teams down, excellent last tackle kicking by Carney. Nice gentle pace to let the forwards recover. Unfortunately we allowed them to play that way for much of the game when we should have been playing a much faster game with quick ptb.



What we can take away from the game though was the fact that we didn't try and overdo the off-load and we took most of the goal kick options when given the penalty. Surprisingly our kicking game was poor apart from the last quarter. Perhaps we can also claim that Penny, Russell, Hughes and Westwood were not quite up to match speed. Overall though that was pretty poor and some of the passing down the line was shocking.

Probably to highlight the fact to the players he wasn't happy with that performance and he could replace them for next week if he wants.

Poor performance but we were the better team and deserved the win. I know Catalan were missing some players but to win and play poorly has to be a positive.



How Westerman got man of he match on sky I don't know. He wasn't awful but gave some stupid penalties away that hurt us.



Suspect Sims will have another week off next week now.

Appreciate that but he could, given the performance, have chosen almost anyone. Russell made a couple of howlers but made 166 metres. Lineham and Ormsby are so far away from current requirements I just found it little odd to highlight those positions. If I saw either of them near the team for Widnes I'd find it staggering.



I was pleased to see Hughes return and play 80 minutes. That will set him up nicely for next week. But please, no Lineham or Ormsby in the 19.

+1

I've just gone through the Sky game again on fast-forward checking the substitutions, by my reckoning Hill played 71 minutes? Not sure quite how accurate it was, the Sky team did miss Bailey coming on for Cox early in the second half, but ~70 minutes is just incredible.

On a positive note, 3 guys returned and got 80 minutes under their belts, plus Westwood who put in two decent stints. 4 changes is a lot, and was always going to impact on quality. The low point for me was the lack of minutes from Cox and Bailey. I can only remember Bailey touching the ball twice.

Well, I appear to be somewhat in the minority, and my positive mood may be down to the fact that a four-pack of Double Deckers are a £1 in Asda again, but I thought we dug in for victory really rather well.



Make no bones about it - that Catalan team are going to be in the shake up for Old Trafford. They are a huge team, and have plenty of guile to go with it. Yes, the game swung on the length of the field try dismissal, and they had a few out but I thought we held our nerve really well and showed plenty of bravery.



What is obvious is that Hill, in particular, and several others are playing pretty banged up at the moment. The return of Hughes and Westwood in particular is a huge bonus, and they'll be all the better for last night.



Not too long ago, we'd have got blown away last night. We didn't, we rallied, we won and we're going ok, with plenty of improvement to come.



Go treat yourselves to a double-decker guys.

Some great points Morrissey. Although not a classically good performance the first half definitely lacking in the lustre department we stuck at it and raised our game in the second half particularly when the game became more combative. We claimed the two points showing some composure when in the past we might have played panic rugby and lost by two. I sensed that the players knew in the second half that the game was there's to win and went for it



On the Double Decker front, without wishing to burst your chocolate positivity, before we all 'get on board' it might be worth checking out if there is any multi pack skulduggery at play they are notorious for short measures

Watching the game back we deserve a lot of credit for our defence in the second half. We put on some massive hits.

Can we please give Chris Hill a rest, either that or next time some g*bsh*te pipes up, can Hill give him a crack and have a week off that way?

It'd be ideal if he did that v Widnes next week and sat out Hull KR.

I really don't think he wants a rest and we still need him to play every game the way we're playing at the minute.

Last three games were against 5th, 3rd and top. We got 4 points out of 6. No one else seems to want to break into the top 4, so we are looking at a single game in late September to get us to OT. That's how precarious the new system is. Hull could easily be four or six points clear come the end of the Super 8s, but could just as easily lose that semi final against the 4th place team.

I would agree with this, he has really looked knackered at times. Trouble is, the competition has become a lot tighter this year. Gone are the days when we played an easy team and could field a few youngsters. Morgan Smith is the only youngster to debut this year when Sandow was injured. And Toby King, Jack Johnson, Joe Philbin, Sam Wilde and Declan Patton have only made 12 appearances between them. Perhaps we will get in a good position in the top 4 whereby we can give him a rest, but my suspicions are that he will get flogged all year.