Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 9:11 pm  

Better second half but still too many areas of concern, Smith was well off form - hopefully he can find his feet again soon. We looked to get back to grindning down the opposition more in the second period which is what we should be doing as that is our game. Still too many unforced errors - although maybe the the conditions did have some bearing - can't be easy playing in that heat and humidity. Never seen so much holding and messing about in the tackle though - made for a poor game overall.

Will need to improve by a fair bit against Leigh especially in how we start the game - start like we did tonight and we could be in for a long nigh, their half backs will be more of a threat if we give them that much field position.

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 9:23 pm  

Never in doubt

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 9:24 pm  

Very pleased with the win - a defeat would have made the top 2 extremely tough.

Nervy and tense in the first half with terrible performances from both halves. We needed a moment of magic to change the momentum and Wardle provided it. Could have been 14-0 down and it gets us to 8-6 and from that point the intensity raised enough to pull away.

Thought Havard, Thompson, Nsemba and Keighran were pretty strong along with the X factor of Wardle and Field. Walters had a nice cameo.

Id stick with the Smith and Hampshire combo as we're probably best to try and get some continuity but they'll need to improve massively if we have a chance of winning either of the next two. Smith has been poor for the last few weeks and Hampshire just looked off the pace. He's had so little game time though I think he deserves some leeway.

But the win tonight means that even if we lose the next two (as I suspect we might) we'd still be in a good spot to get to the top 2 in the final 6 games.

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 9:52 pm  

Good win in the end. We looked short of confidence and energy for 45/50 mins but when we found both we looked more like ourselves. I still think we’ve a few tough weeks ahead but we’ll get through it and give making and winning the GF a good crack.

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 9:55 pm  

Going back on myself a little but the other option would be to play Keighran at 6 and move Eckersley back to centre. Keighran is a talented ball player - I'd be interested to see how that would go.

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 10:06 pm  

MadDogg wrote:

Going back on myself a little but the other option would be to play Keighran at 6 and move Eckersley back to centre. Keighran is a talented ball player - I'd be interested to see how that would go.

I was hoping for that change at half time but in fairness to Hampshire, he was much better after the break. Hopefully it gives him some confidence and momentum because he looked devoid of either first half (and has done every time he’s played). In fairness to him, it can’t be easy keep playing in fits and starts.

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 10:20 pm  

So will Hampshire play against Leigh, or Farrimond?

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 10:22 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

I was hoping for that change at half time but in fairness to Hampshire, he was much better after the break. Hopefully it gives him some confidence and momentum because he looked devoid of either first half (and has done every time he’s played). In fairness to him, it can’t be easy keep playing in fits and starts.

Agreed - its a shame we couldnt have got him out on loan somewhere. The crowd was starting to really get on his back so thankfully the try settled him down a little.

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 10:26 pm  

moto748 wrote:

So will Hampshire play against Leigh, or Farrimond?

Personally would be surprised to see Farrimond again this year unless there are further injuries - hes still very young and has already played more games than I'm sure he would have expected. Needs more physical development but will really benefit from both his positive and negative experiences this year in the first team.

Re: Hudds(h) : Thu Aug 01, 2024 10:51 pm  

Barring injuries and suspensions, same team v Leigh.
Still think if we'd have scored in the first minute when Marshall should have passed to Wardle then we'd have put 50m past them.
After our first try they fell apart and we stepped up!