Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:44 am  

Going to be a really tough encounter, not the easier proposition it might have been 2-3 months ago. Hopefully the players won't take it for granted and will give 100% to go for a crucial win. Sadly I won't be able to make this one, would love to be there.

Knowing just our luck Leeds will probably also magically find some form just going into the fixture with us too.

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 10:02 am  

My main worry is Finn is back in the squad .He as been a good player in is time but age as caught up with him.He is far too slow in every thing he does for S L.St attacked down is side all the time on Friday. He is now to slow to get across to cover any gaps and St exploited this..If Chester keeps playing him think question have got to be asked about is coaching ability

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 10:05 am  

If Finn plays I think it will be for a very good reason. You’ll need to be damned good coach yourself to question Chester’s coaching ability.

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 10:08 am  

Catalan were good but we were beat before we got onto the pitch, I think you will get a win, good luck.

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 10:19 am  

alegend wrote:

My main worry is Finn is back in the squad .He as been a good player in is time but age as caught up with him.He is far too slow in every thing he does for S L.St attacked down is side all the time on Friday. He is now to slow to get across to cover any gaps and St exploited this..If Chester keeps playing him think question have got to be asked about is coaching ability

I'd let Chester worry about Finn if I was you, as for his coaching ability he's not done too bad really, and to be honest Saints have exploited quite a few teams beside us this season with quicker backs than Finny.

[PopTart]

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 10:32 am  

I get the point about Finn. But it's as much to do with teams targeting him as him being too slow.
If you replace him the next guy will have the same target on his chest.

Sts did a move that I saw Huddersfield do on us too to great effect. I'm sure others have too but I just didn't see it.
The scrum half runs at Finn with a player inside and outside running a line straight at Finn. It pins him to the ground and also makes the people either side move in. When they swing the ball out past him, there is a massive overlap.
It would be hard for Rocky to defend this too. The best way to stop it is for the inside defended to get across and push Finn out wider.

For me Hampshire has done enough to keep his place. For me the question is do you want Max or Finn.

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:13 am  

PopTart wrote:

I get the point about Finn. But it's as much to do with teams targeting him as him being too slow.
If you replace him the next guy will have the same target on his chest.

Sts did a move that I saw Huddersfield do on us too to great effect. I'm sure others have too but I just didn't see it.
The scrum half runs at Finn with a player inside and outside running a line straight at Finn. It pins him to the ground and also makes the people either side move in. When they swing the ball out past him, there is a massive overlap.
It would be hard for Rocky to defend this too. The best way to stop it is for the inside defended to get across and push Finn out wider.

For me Hampshire has done enough to keep his place. For me the question is do you want Max or Finn.

Right now I'd go with Jowitt, in fact, I'm still a little surprised that Chester brought Finn straight back and changed a "winning team".
I understand Finn's superior experience but, if we dont give the younger players a shot, the will never gain experience for themselves.
Jowitt was, again, unlucky to be dropped.

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:14 am  

Not convinced Catalans are punching their weight at all, seen them a few times recently not the Cas game but there's a lot of huff and puff about them turning a corner.
There's a lot of grappling, rolling about and laying on at pob slowing the game to a standstill, the forwards are turning up a bit and Drinkwater is making his mark, but I still think they'll be relying on teams around them to fail for a top 8 finish.
I guess, refs and penalties are going to play a big part in the result, WWF fest

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:33 pm  

Upanunder wrote:

Not convinced Catalans are punching their weight at all, seen them a few times recently not the Cas game but there's a lot of huff and puff about them turning a corner.
There's a lot of grappling, rolling about and laying on at pob slowing the game to a standstill, the forwards are turning up a bit and Drinkwater is making his mark, but I still think they'll be relying on teams around them to fail for a top 8 finish.
I guess, refs and penalties are going to play a big part in the result, WWF fest

They have won 6 from their last 8 games, with a 1 point reverse at Huddersfield and a 26 -12 reverse against Saints being their only losses. The games they have won are against Leeds (twice), Cas, Widnes, Salford and Hull, which apart from Widnes, are sides that we haven't beaten this season !

As PopTart said, our destiny is firmly in our own hands with games against Leeds, Catalan and Hudds still to come (which could end up being a top eight decider.
However, if we beat them next week, we can definitely start looking up the table and not looking over our shoulders.
We have an extra days rest plus, they have to travel from Perpignan so, we should be favourites but, make no mistake, this is a big game

Re: Catalans : Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:42 pm  

wrencat1873 wrote:

They have won 6 from their last 8 games, with a 1 point reverse at Huddersfield and a 26 -12 reverse against Saints being their only losses. The games they have won are against Leeds (twice), Cas, Widnes, Salford and Hull, which apart from Widnes, are sides that we haven't beaten this season !

As PopTart said, our destiny is firmly in our own hands with games against Leeds, Catalan and Hudds still to come (which could end up being a top eight decider.
However, if we beat them next week, we can definitely start looking up the table and not looking over our shoulders.
We have an extra days rest plus, they have to travel from Perpignan so, we should be favourites but, make no mistake, this is a big game

We beat Salford at the start of the season plus the Leeds and cas lineups they have played against were significantly weaker than when we played those sides