Cougar train off the rails? : Sun May 29, 2011 5:11 pm  

I feel sorry for JD with the hard work that he's obviously putting into his coaching role but, this afternoon, it looked like some players missed the train!

Although the referee wasn't all that great, it was solely down to the players that we lost the game.

First we missed an easy conversion then we gifted 'Haven 6 points just before the break with a missed shoulder charge instead of a full-blown tackle. Was there any use in getting a Super League player across to give tips on tackling? It makes you wonder.

The amount of dropped ball was disgraceful.

Our kicking game was non-existent and we plodded a furrow down the middle of the pitch instead of getting the ball out wide so that our backs could run at the opposition.

If that was our best team then we've little hope for the rest of the season.

8 gifted points would have meant that we would have and should have won. It's a good job that we still got 1 consolation point.

We're still there but a substantial improvement is needed for next week's game and possibly a shuffling of the props - well at least one 'lightweight' prop who did very little this afternoon!

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Sun May 29, 2011 7:32 pm  

666 wrote:

I feel sorry for JD with the hard work that he's obviously putting into his coaching role but, this afternoon, it looked like some players missed the train!

Although the referee wasn't all that great, it was solely down to the players that we lost the game.

First we missed an easy conversion then we gifted 'Haven 6 points just before the break with a missed shoulder charge instead of a full-blown tackle. Was there any use in getting a Super League player across to give tips on tackling? It makes you wonder.

The amount of dropped ball was disgraceful.

Our kicking game was non-existent and we plodded a furrow down the middle of the pitch instead of getting the ball out wide so that our backs could run at the opposition.

If that was our best team then we've little hope for the rest of the season.

8 gifted points would have meant that we would have and should have won. It's a good job that we still got 1 consolation point.

We're still there but a substantial improvement is needed for next week's game and possibly a shuffling of the props - well at least one 'lightweight' prop who did very little this afternoon!

There were some particularly appalling performances today. Like in the first half at Doncaster we didn't respect the ball. You can't win Rugby League games at any level if you can't catch, pass and run the ball in to contact without dropping it. It was only the fact that our defence was pretty solid, with the exception of one shocking attempt at a tackle leading to a try, that we didn't lose by more.

I agree the coaching staff can't be blamed for this. Yes they're responsible for deciding the 17 who go out on to the field but they can't legislate for performances like that. I reckon the team that faces Rochdale next week will be missing the 3 or 4 players that were particularly bad today.

In JD I trust.

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Sun May 29, 2011 7:49 pm  

I must admit immediately after the game I was very annoyed at our performance, but on reflection I offer the following constructive points.

The missed conversion in the grand scheme of things made no difference. We lost by 4 not 2. From experience, it's always tougher kicking when the ball is being held by a teamate. It looked to me at the time like he may have let go of the ball too soon causing the fluffed kick, but I could the wrong on this.

Our defence on our own line today was in my opinion very good. Haven were a big side and to keep them out and force the errors that we did was one highlight. A couple of missed tackles resulted in their tries and I'm sure JD will work on this having viewed the game in midweek.

As for the knock on's, very frustrating. I'd like to see the stats from the first half, but I can only recall completion on 1 or 2 sets. Based on the amount of ball we had the conversion percentage must look poor. In games this season our completion has been impressive so maybe a bad day at the office. I thought Haven came with a game plan and stuck to it. It was nothing flashy, they just played out there sets and kept to low risk plays. In comparison, I thought we tried to force the pass which in the windy conditions contributed to our downfall. Hutch had some poor carries today. There may have been a hand in, but from watching SL and the Championship it seems anything other than a blatant strip is classed a loose carry.

In the second half our completion rate was better from 60 mins on. After Shick scored they were there for the taking, but bad decisions meant we never capitalised. This concerned me as I was hoping JD may use his experience and impress on the lads the needs to keep them under pressure. Kicks running dead and a poor attempt at a 40/20 didn't help us. We also went for the powerplay on the last which didn't work and maybe we'd have been better trying to put them under pressure and force a repeat set.

Certainly room for improvement next week. Rochdale will be smarting from their defeat today so it promises to be a tough game. On the positives, I don't think Haven played bad today and we were awful at times. Given we only lost by 4 points based on our performance shows that had we played anywhere near our potential we could have put 40+ points past them. They drew with Swinton so let's just hope that's our one very bad day this season and we can kick on next week.

Let's keep the faith. We now need to beat Swinton home and away so let's get behind the lads.

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Sun May 29, 2011 8:10 pm  

These are the attendance figures for this weeks games.

Attendance 754 at Cougar Park.
Attendance 290 at Skolars.
Attendance 544 at Workington.
Attendance 674 at Swinton

Attendance at Dewsbury 1167
Attendance at Sheffield 907
Attendance at York 1010
Attendance at Toulouse 1855

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Sun May 29, 2011 8:46 pm  

I wasn't at the game today so I am eagerly awaiting mickeys video to get my cougar fix, but let's just take a step back and look how things really are

Swinton are on a high, they are playing well and have scored the highest points - but they haven't got the badge for best defence, that one goes to the cougars, we may be a little sloppy at times but we have the best defence of our league, could we say that last season - no way!, some fans and I were forever banging on about defence last season (all be it we were in a higher league), we are heading in the right direction, good on JD for turning this around

What we are lacking is attack, we are not terrible, but the table suggests we could be much better, the immediate need is that the 6/7 needs strengthening, (are there some funds available from the squadbuilder scheme?) this way JD can play in a position that will be of more benefit to the team in the short term

The comments on earlier posts suggest some players are not interested in anything other than playing out the game knocking the ball on more often than not, not commiting to the tackles etc etc, if this is the case then it is clearly unacceptable, it may have just been a bad day at the office, but whatever the reason, let's leave the team player decisions to JD, he may read these posts and feel the time is right to make some tough decisions that could possibly leave us more vulnerable on the field, if this happens we may start conceding more points, I wonder what the posts on here would read like then??!

As Stealth posted - in JD I trust

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Mon May 30, 2011 7:53 am  

Harry-Al-Hill wrote:

it may have just been a bad day at the office, but whatever the reason, let's leave the team player decisions to JD,

Couldn't have put it better my self..

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Mon May 30, 2011 8:54 am  

Poor performance and all the players know it, they were gutted in the bar after the match.

Looking on the positive side (when you consider how much possession we gave Whitehaven) our defence was in fact very good. I have not seen the stats but someone said we Knocked on 15 times If we played a side that gifted us that much, I would expect to score more tries. Without the knock ons it could have been a very different game.

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Mon May 30, 2011 10:23 am  

Really disappointed yesterday, the converstion miss was a terrible mistake imo you should never miss from in front of the sticks and the scrum half had a shocking game

only 1 or 2 positves to take from the game. one game definatly to forget.

on a good note though shickell was by far the stand out player today that chip and try was brilliant.

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Mon May 30, 2011 10:33 am  

KECO wrote:

Really disappointed yesterday, the converstion miss was a terrible mistake imo you should never miss from in front of the sticks and the scrum half had a shocking game

A mate behind the posts said that the ball moved on the tee as he kicked it.

Re: Cougar train off the rails? : Mon May 30, 2011 10:40 am  

Dreamer wrote:

A mate behind the posts said that the ball moved on the tee as he kicked it.

The ball was being held by Sagar, but Lawton definately looked back after the kick as though something happend/wasn't right. I initially thought Sagar let go too early but it's not clear from Micky's video.