The return of big Dave should help the on the field goings on . He plays the ball quicker Makes good yards taking 3 with him. Always looks to unload and seems to provide a bit of stability. If his return does not inspire the rest , we have a problem.
Being natural doesn't make it right. I could go back and find all these threads after last year's Cas game. Like it or not Car are better than us tight now. Their defence wasn't below par. They snuffed out a lot of the stuff we tried. They were down on numbers but so were we.
The comments about players and coach mean nothing if those passionate fans just change their mind game to game because they are upset with the result. The games we have lost are tough. I was in a bad mood after Cas as well because we were poor on completion and ball security and more so because of the wrong decision on the try.......but it is the next group of games that will matter most. If we win those then we'll be fine. If we don't then the club will need our support through the middle 8s. Better teams than us have been there before.
A lot of what you say is right, but.....it's interesting the word passionate being used, although the other poster is mainly on about the fans. I watched the game back this morning, and obviously you pick stuff up you missed at the game. What struck me most was, apart from we were poor in most areas, the passing in general was pretty woeful, as was the kicking mostly, but worst of all, for a derby game, there just seemed no passion from both sides?! To me it was like watching a pre-season friendly almost. I'm not advocating foul play, but the game seriously needed a flare up to ignite it, their forwards clearly made more metres than ours, but both packs just lacked aggression, bite, a bit of devilment, it was just too soft for me up front, we need to get some grunt from somewhere, hopefully Fifita can actually spark everyone up. The game as a whole was a big let down for me, I know the NRL isn't perfect, but the standards over here this season have dropped markedly for me, Super league has been not so Super so far......
Our passing is poor, how many times in the last few games have we seen a pass going behind not one but sometimes two or three players. The ball goes into touch or the players fall over trying to catch it. It pains me to say but Miller is one of the worst culprits but he is not alone.
I'm not really sure his passing has improved since he's been here, the best one I can remember was a lovely cut out ball to Hall in the semi a couple of years ago.......which brings me onto, i'm sure that season he scored over 20 tries, he seems to have lost his attacking threat, he's got great evasive skills, quick off the mark, they are his main positives. I hope it is because the grounds have been generally soft, and he'll improve over the coming weeks, we need him to be the tryscorer again he was a couple of years ago.
I just wish we could settle our pivots, that's at least half millers problem, and maybe all of it. 9,7,1 is up in the air all the time, and 13 to some extent, its not helpful. I don't give a flying one about up and comers not getting their chance, you have to make your choice and stick with it, if Rocky is your 1st team 7 then leave him in, accept he isn't going to run the game and make other arrangements, but you have to make those arrangements and hope he creates an "understanding" with the players around him. The thing with 9 is doing my box in too, yes have one on the bench but you have to choose your 1st team hooker who will do his thing for an hour every game and not be an interchange, they can't both be 15 minute impact players. Srsly, these positions are the oil between the cogs.
There's a bloke who's just signed for Catalan from Wests and was at Leigh last season and who we were supposed to be interested in, I think he might be the controlling player with a good kicking game we are looking for?
I seem.to recall mentioning him when Leigh got relegated, but some on here thought he should be left to play in the championship as that was his level. There was also a conversation a week ago when another possible organising half back was available, who ran rings round us.
On both counts is it hind sight, not sure.
One thing that doesn't help, is the constant chopping and changing of the pivots. This would be one thing where I could lay the blame at a coach. They had friendlies to give new combinations chance to gel. Wasn't it Miller and Finn that played in the friendly where we put so.ething like 60 on our opponents. Would we have learned more if we have Miller and Hampshire together for that one.
While very little happened in the halves, it takes time for a half back pairing to gel. It must have taken Finn and Miller about 10 games, and even Tim Smith took a good half a season to settle.
Maybe this team has gone as far as they can go, on the limited budget. That isn't likely to change though, unless we get a sugar daddy on board too, or if our gates go up drastically by about 1000.
I seem.to recall mentioning him when Leigh got relegated, but some on here thought he should be left to play in the championship as that was his level. There was also a conversation a week ago when another possible organising half back was available, who ran rings round us.
On both counts is it hind sight, not sure.
One thing that doesn't help, is the constant chopping and changing of the pivots. This would be one thing where I could lay the blame at a coach. They had friendlies to give new combinations chance to gel. Wasn't it Miller and Finn that played in the friendly where we put so.ething like 60 on our opponents. Would we have learned more if we have Miller and Hampshire together for that one.
While very little happened in the halves, it takes time for a half back pairing to gel. It must have taken Finn and Miller about 10 games, and even Tim Smith took a good half a season to settle.
Maybe this team has gone as far as they can go, on the limited budget. That isn't likely to change though, unless we get a sugar daddy on board too, or if our gates go up drastically by about 1000.
There’s quite a few on here that think that the championship is the level for several players,but I agree EW, Drinkwater looked the part against Hull.
Apologies for pulling the final sentence from a much longer post - but it strikes a chord with me; I've been arguing against this for a couple of seasons now, but I have to say that the games I've watched so far this season, and especially the past two weekends, I'm coming around to that way of thinking.
The latest blight on the game - hanging on to the ball during the tackle - and the inconsistent way that's viewed by the officials, could almost be the final nail in the coffin for the game as a spectacle; and if that wasn't enough, we're now subjected to some of the most ridiculous interpretations of 'obstruction' that I've ever seen. The game is so sensitive to that particular offence now, that defenders are 100% being coached to make contact with an attacking player and chuck themselves on the floor as if they've been shot - and officials are lapping it up. Observe the unedifying spectacle of defenders surrounding the ref and pointing to the screen after a try has been scored - and Mr Hicks falling for that to such an extent that he sent one up to the VR with the words, "Look for an obstruction somewhere over here..." with a vague arm-wave, clearly indicating that he had seen no such incident, but was responding to pressure from players.
The game is on its backside in many ways - but the saving grace has always been the on-field action; the governing bodies failure to grasp a pernicious and deliberate culture of cheating and gaming the system over recent years however, has removed that pillar.
Rugby league in 2018, is, I'm afraid to say, boring.
Apologies for pulling the final sentence from a much longer post - but it strikes a chord with me; I've been arguing against this for a couple of seasons now, but I have to say that the games I've watched so far this season, and especially the past two weekends, I'm coming around to that way of thinking.
The latest blight on the game - hanging on to the ball during the tackle - and the inconsistent way that's viewed by the officials, could almost be the final nail in the coffin for the game as a spectacle; and if that wasn't enough, we're now subjected to some of the most ridiculous interpretations of 'obstruction' that I've ever seen. The game is so sensitive to that particular offence now, that defenders are 100% being coached to make contact with an attacking player and chuck themselves on the floor as if they've been shot - and officials are lapping it up. Observe the unedifying spectacle of defenders surrounding the ref and pointing to the screen after a try has been scored - and Mr Hicks falling for that to such an extent that he sent one up to the VR with the words, "Look for an obstruction somewhere over here..." with a vague arm-wave, clearly indicating that he had seen no such incident, but was responding to pressure from players.
The game is on its backside in many ways - but the saving grace has always been the on-field action; the governing bodies failure to grasp a pernicious and deliberate culture of cheating and gaming the system over recent years however, has removed that pillar.
Rugby league in 2018, is, I'm afraid to say, boring.
Well in SL it is There is less of a problem in the lower leagues where we don't have the video ref to complicate matters.
It's quite simple. Allow the video ref to use their own initiative. So if a player isn't interfering with the play it's not an obstruction. It's a bit like being an "inactive" player in football's offside rule. That's clear up some of the dafter decisions.
As for the messing about in the ruck I think coaches and players are mainly to blame. They're all bending the rules to gain an advantage and the poor ref is left to unpick it all.
As for Wakey I think you need a replacement for Finn since he provides the steadyness and structure. He's not going to be able to go on forever and is rapidly approaching the end of his playing career.
Well in SL it is There is less of a problem in the lower leagues where we don't have the video ref to complicate matters.
It's quite simple. Allow the video ref to use their own initiative. So if a player isn't interfering with the play it's not an obstruction. It's a bit like being an "inactive" player in football's offside rule. That's clear up some of the dafter decisions.
As for the messing about in the ruck I think coaches and players are mainly to blame. They're all bending the rules to gain an advantage and the poor ref is left to unpick it all.
As for Wakey I think you need a replacement for Finn since he provides the steadyness and structure. He's not going to be able to go on forever and is rapidly approaching the end of his playing career.
If i was Chester I would be inquiring about Matty Smiths availability at Saints. Very similar to Finn with a few more seasons in him and is now way down the pecking order at Saints.