sergeant pepper wrote:
You can see why the club signed Hampshire. I know they are only kids, but I've not seen much spark from either of the 6's that have played so far this preseason.
Was thinking the same in regards Hampshire Isa and Thornley who have been criticised one way or another for being part of the squad in 2023.
The young lads really struggled with the physicality of playing against men.
It is very rare that a young lad comes straight in from the junior pathway and stays in the 17 week in week out without dropping out. Obviously from time to time it happens but that tend to be a bit special.
After a good run out last week some of the same lads really struggled with the physicality against Barrow. It’s a huge step up playing against 17-18 year olds to playing against men and generally we do a good job of nurturing that talent with loan spells so the lads can bridge that gap.
Thornley, Rocky and Isa have proven that they can cope with that level of physicality over a sustained period.
Isa due to the Bateman situation is the one that we will rely on maybe a bit more than we should.
In regards the game itself we lost the small battles due to the aggressive nature and physicality of Barrow.
Nsemba again showed cameos of his potential but probably not enough.
Eckersley again I felt showed a few moments of real quality.
Ellis went well and looked to have adopted a more aggressive attitude and certainly put him self about and was busy whilst he was on. Mago, more minutes but reduced impact. Could potentially be a tough year for him I think but only his first game. Switched off on defence once badly which would have been punished by a SL team not filling in on the inside.
I felt we looked a little sluggish out of 9 until the introduction of Forber.
Shorrocks took on the linking 13 role and I hope he finds his feet there but I’m not convinced about him, just seems to be something missing, but not sure what.
A good preseason game the coaches will have learned more from that than they did last week.
