[quote="Wildmoggy"]
Worrying? No. Frustrating, yes. So near and yet so far, so often!
It has been much said but before I go on, I want to make it clear that I think what Michael Carter and this group of players have achieved is incredible, for all the reasons many of us have said. I respect every single one of them immensely. But if we are to go any further I think it is fair to make constructive comments. We have had 3 very good seasons by our standards, last year marginally the better but the last 2 years there has been a consistent pattern of coming close but losing by a narrow margin when we ought to have won, periods of games when we implode and matches now and then when we just don't show up, especially after defeating top 4 sides.
This season the biggest issue for me has been interchanges. We simply cannot have a period where we have Fifita and Pauli off the field together and if you have that period when Wood isn't on, it gets worse.
Also, I am not sure on this point but I will say it anyway and see what you think. Miller's missed tackle stats must be influencing something? 2 seasons in a row the top missed tackle player in the league. This is perhaps most frustrating of all as I love watching him play with ball in hand.
So what can we do about all those issues? Well, spending fortunes isn't an option. But I don't see why, when fit, we can't have one or the other of Fifita and Pauli on the pitch. We need another forward with real punch to add to the squad, which might alleviate that issue too. Miller? I just don't know but I probably think he offers so much in attack that we should try to find ways of covering for his defence errors and training the backside off him to improve in that department. I hate singling anyone out but I'm afraid Hirst just does not quite have it at SL level for me though I feel he has given his all for us and I really admire him for that. But the lack of punch is probably most noticeable in him. I don't think we have used Bachelor enough. Whether some knocks kept him out sometimes I didn't know but there were times I could not understand his lack of selection. Not used Annikin enough either, though he did have a bad injury a while I know.
As a coach, I would give Chris B+ but he needs to learn when to make quick interchanges when we look like our meltdown is starting. He sat on his hands on Friday night when the sin-binning was taking hold and after it as we continued to be poor. We needed the big guns on and he left Pauli on a bike and Fifita on the bench. Not the first time I have thought he was slow to react either this season.
As I say, not meant as some slagging off; overall I think we have been superb and I am so happy and grateful to all concerned that we have a team and club to be proud of and that we are usually a competitive side that people are wary of playing right up to the league leaders and champions. But, if we are to progress, That's just a few things I have mulled over.
