Re: Our "forwards" : Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:39 pm
moto748 wrote:
I have to agree with Itchy, as I just posted on the Warrington thread. I watched Wests beat the Bunnies last night. Their skipper and best forward by a mile was out injured, they have a side full of kids, and they shipped 60 points the previous week. They have three very talented young players in Brooks and Moses in the halves, and Tedesco at full back. But Moses pulled up injured in the warm-up, so they had to play a second-rower at five-eighth (a la Gregson). Tedesco left the field injured around half-time, and Jordan Rankin (of "not good enough for Hull FC" fame) went from wing to full-back. But guided around by the kid Brooks, they still did enough to hold off Sam Burgess and co and his team full of Origin players. And actually Rankin, although his goal-kicking was a bit hit and miss, had a bloody good game and scored two tries. Seems to me the main explanation must lie in the coaching.
That's o.k but can those young players at Wests do it for five or six games which is what many Wigan fans are asking of their team? I don't think they can. IMO the young players at Wigan have done as much and more that realistically could be expected of them
Go back a few years to around 2003 when the "kids" beat Saints and won a few games. I was naive to think we were building a team that would dominate for the next 10 years. Some of those kids were very good players but struggled with consistency and the team fell apart. That is why we need to get the experienced players back a.s.a.p otherwise it will take a long time for the younger players to regain confidence. Some will inevitably fall by the wayside (it happens at every club)
If you want comparisons look at Leeds who have lost a similar amount of players this season to us.
Am I happy with the performances, no.
Am I satisfies with where we are under the circumstances, yes.
I agree with Jonh however that the attack has looked very disfunctional for so much of the season. To me it looks as though the timing is out for whatever reason, something that can happen in the first few games, but should have been addressed by this stage.