: Sat Feb 14, 2009 5:00 pm
AJ Viking wrote:
Well he must of if GMR only mentioned him once.
Probably only Halliwell was better than him in all the centres last night. You're old boy Roberts played very well winding everyone up, wouldn't stop talking to the ref, but he did the job he set out to do. Taking nothing away from Oldham, they did well. Not too worried though at this stage of the season the result will be meaningless in a few weeks anyway.
Halliwell was the best centre on the park last night, TKL went ok in patches and certainly wasn't poor. Mind you, like Nanyn for Oldham last year, it's difficult to shine at centre if the ball is constantly turned back inside. As for 2Bobs, he was an immense leader for Oldham and it was only when he went off injured that Widnes began to break us down. Yes, he talks to the ref, but Webster, Smith and Doran where hardly quiet in this regard. Perhaps the fact that 2Bobs usually comes away from the ref smiling, whether the decision has gone for or against us gives you a clue how to handle referees. Widnes players approached with disrespect, shaking heads, pointing fingers, aggressive (particularly Doran and Smith) - it's hardly going to help.
Excellent report DParky, altho' I would make a couple of points. When OConnor bombed the try the score was 18-4, a try then and it was game over. Wildbore threw 3 or 4 punches at a grounded player before O'Connor came in to defend him, it was hardly an even scuffle. Wildbore was right to walk, but O'Connor should have been sin-binned. The "strange get together" was a team talk instigated by John Stankevitch, who ran onto the pitch with the kicking tee and then called all the players round presumably for a b*ll*cking - completely illegal and hopefully Widnes will get hauled over the coals for it, especially as it had a major impact on the game and the way Widnes played it.
