Re: Today’s match v London : Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:52 am  

ratticusfinch wrote:

Wrench v Ratchford shouldn't be a discussion. If both are fit then Wrench should play every single time. I find it strange that we've been banging on about youth and sticking with them and 5 games in and some are panicking. Yes Wrench has been culpable a few times in defence but he's also scored/assisted tries that Ratchford would have got nowhere near.

These kind of mistakes would've been made by Welsby, Percival, Marshall etc etc when they first got into first team. If Wrench is showing no signs of defensive improvement in 10/15 more games then we might have an issue. He may cost us a game - so be it, we need to crack a few eggs if we're to move on. Ratchford should be emergency back up only.

I agree with this, but it's more than just dropping Ratchford, it's leaving the team without a recognised goal kicker that's troubling (not panicking) me.

Re: Today’s match v London : Wed Mar 20, 2024 8:05 am  

Wires71 wrote:

I agree with this, but it's more than just dropping Ratchford, it's leaving the team without a recognised goal kicker that's troubling (not panicking) me.

Ratchford`s goal kicking hasn`t always been as superb as it is now.

Prior to Wire bringing a specialist RU goalkicking coach it was virtually as inconsistent as we are now seeing from Thewlis and Hayes.

If Ratchford isn`t able to pass his goalkicking skills on to our younger kickers, then the club needs to bring in a goal kicking coach again.

Re: Today’s match v London : Wed Mar 20, 2024 8:21 am  

Then, like Wigan did with Smith, we persevere with Thewlis/Hayes as goalkicker - if in their pursuit of excellence we lose some close games then we suck it up.

Also worth noting that Ratchford bottled a high pressure yet routine kick at goal. Still think he'd be shaky with a pressure kick.

Re: Today’s match v London : Wed Mar 20, 2024 11:50 am  

ratticusfinch wrote:

Then, like Wigan did with Smith, we persevere with Thewlis/Hayes as goalkicker - if in their pursuit of excellence we lose some close games then we suck it up.

Also worth noting that Ratchford bottled a high pressure yet routine kick at goal. Still think he'd be shaky with a pressure kick.

Fair enough. Yes that was sad to see, he clearly bottled it didn't he.

Re: Today’s match v London : Wed Mar 20, 2024 11:51 am  

Boss Hog wrote:

Ratchford`s goal kicking hasn`t always been as superb as it is now.

Prior to Wire bringing a specialist RU goalkicking coach it was virtually as inconsistent as we are now seeing from Thewlis and Hayes.

If Ratchford isn`t able to pass his goalkicking skills on to our younger kickers, then the club needs to bring in a goal kicking coach again.

This is very true, he was a bit so-so for a long time, then became very consistent. Maybe get the same RU goalkicking coach back for Thewlis/Hayes et al.

Re: Today’s match v London : Thu Mar 21, 2024 1:43 am  

I’ll stand by my statement.
Goalkickers rarely lose you a game, but they can occasionally win you one.

The percentage opportunity of kicks comes from tries and poor discipline.
And that is predominantly where games are won and lost.

We are not playing Rugby Union.
.

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

Re: Today’s match v London : Sun Mar 24, 2024 1:14 pm  

wirecation wrote: My view of King is that he looked fairly ordinary on sunday. Yes he takes the ball up a lot but i haven't seen much creativity from him. ie line breaks, offloads to his winger, running decent lines. If we want him just as a battering ram we may as well move him into the second row. https://twitter.com/WarringtonRLFC/stat ... gX75A&s=19

wirecation wrote: My view of King is that he looked fairly ordinary on sunday. Yes he takes the ball up a lot but i haven't seen much creativity from him. ie line breaks, offloads to his winger, running decent lines. If we want him just as a battering ram we may as well move him into the second row. https://twitter.com/WarringtonRLFC/stat ... gX75A&s=19

Re: Today’s match v London : Sun Mar 24, 2024 1:52 pm  

Fantastic Mr Catpiss wrote:

https://twitter.com/WarringtonRLFC/status/1771830550283661753?t=kPKQK-E0_Hc85IJ6MgX75A&s=19

Nice try and a nice assist but I highly doubt that would work against a big side in a big game. That defence was abysmal.

Re: Today’s match v London : Sun Mar 24, 2024 4:28 pm  

I think as much as anything it shows how much Matty Ashton has developed notwithstanding the level of opposition.

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

Re: Today’s match v London : Sun Mar 24, 2024 5:05 pm  

matt_wire wrote:

Nice try and a nice assist but I highly doubt that would work against a big side in a big game. That defence was abysmal.

Maybe but as we saw in the 2009 challenge cup final, Huddersfield had been famed for their compact swarming defence, once it was shown we had the nous to go over and around them they had to adjust accordingly, taking them out of their game plan.

You might not get a try every week but no one was expecting king to kick that, it'll catch some compressed defences out