Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:22 am  

Great to see that our defense is working so well, there is a real determination from the boys, massive credit to them and the coaching staff. As they say defense wins matches. There have been long periods in all three games when the opposition have been dominating possession, field position and are on the front foot but we have stood firm.
Some of the individual efforts have been fantastic, either a stunning tackle count - Arona and Ashurst or a one off brilliant read and execution of a try saving one on one.
I thought like Salford that Catalans played well, what a joy to see Greg Bird play, asked to play at 6 he produced some really classy touches, the ball that put Mead through on the inside was a joy but not quite as joyfull as the seeing the magnificent tackle by Arona on Mead to prevent a certain try from that move. Just how good is Arona , he is so consistent.

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:27 am  

bellycouldtackle wrote:

what a joy to see Greg Bird play

Agree about the defence - but that's a bridge too far; he definitely has some skills, but he's is easily one of the grubbiest, most unpleasant players I've ever seen play the game.

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:35 am  

I worried whether our defence would become a little weaker after Kear left, as he seemed to be credited with sorting our defensive structures but, there is a real steel in all of our defensive work.
It's no coincidence that ourselves and Saints, who have a slightly lower points against, are the top 2 in the table.

Early days and there will be stiffer tests than Catalan and KR but, we aint giving much away.
Long may it continue.

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 10:06 am  

bellycouldtackle wrote:

Great to see that our defense is working so well, there is a real determination from the boys, massive credit to them and the coaching staff. As they say defense wins matches. There have been long periods in all three games when the opposition have been dominating possession, field position and are on the front foot but we have stood firm.
Some of the individual efforts have been fantastic, either a stunning tackle count - Arona and Ashurst or a one off brilliant read and execution of a try saving one on one.
I thought like Salford that Catalans played well, what a joy to see Greg Bird play, asked to play at 6 he produced some really classy touches, the ball that put Mead through on the inside was a joy but not quite as joyfull as the seeing the magnificent tackle by Arona on Mead to prevent a certain try from that move. Just how good is Arona , he is so consistent.

Give over Belly he's a clapped out old fool who just cheats. You're very easily pleased if you think a few Hail Mary passes makes Bird a joy to watch, in fact I dispair with you at times

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 10:58 am  

All players deserve respect Vasty, Bird is a multi capped Aussie international , a State of Origin super star, one of the few players who you should pre fix with `The Great `. Each to their own and all that but for me Bird is a gifted multi talented player, he is tough, hard hitting, quality defender with silky handling skills and a great rugby brain. I humbly suggest that you must have been watching a different player.

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:26 pm  

bellycouldtackle wrote:

All players deserve respect Vasty, Bird is a multi capped Aussie international , a State of Origin super star, one of the few players who you should pre fix with `The Great `. Each to their own and all that but for me Bird is a gifted multi talented player, he is tough, hard hitting, quality defender with silky handling skills and a great rugby brain. I humbly suggest that you must have been watching a different player.

No I wasn't. Might I suggest you still think you are watching the Greg Bird of five years ago not the one on display these days.

He has my respect as far as it goes though frankly I've never rated him that highly and even in his pomp 'the great' nah not for me.

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:28 pm  

As pointed out by MC on twitter. One journo scoring every player in the game gave the Catalan players a higher rating than Arona. I know it doesn't really matter but when will the rubbishing of our players ever end. I am surprised they are still not prefixing our name with the word "Struggling" as they have done ever since we got promoted.

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:41 pm  

bellycouldtackle wrote:

All players deserve respect Vasty, Bird is a multi capped Aussie international , a State of Origin super star, one of the few players who you should pre fix with `The Great `. Each to their own and all that but for me

Bird is a gifted multi talented player, he is tough, hard hitting, quality defender with silky handling skills and a great rugby brain.

I humbly suggest that you must have been watching a different player.

Agree with that, but he is a bit of an outside toilet.

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:44 pm  

So was Bill Ashurst, I like that bit of dog in a great player

Re: Great to see : Mon Feb 26, 2018 5:56 pm  

Bird 'was' all the things you mentioned belly but not anymore, I have to agree with vasty.
Every time he gets tackled and it's anywhere around the shoulder area, he's throwing his head back, looking for a cheap penalty.
Was a talent in his first spell at Catalan but that player is no longer playing.