Saint Helens Vs Wakefield Trinity : Sat Mar 25, 2023 7:42 pm
So…But if a rough ride for everyone at trinity recent weeks.
The coach, the players and the fans are all feeling it. There needs to be a win incoming and soon.
Saints look a little wobbly lately but they still have an excellent group of players and will be tough.
The reality is vs KR we were missing 9 x players from starting 17. Any team would struggle with that. That said there are things within control such as intensity in defence and improving ball retention. Two key areas that cost us vs KR really. Post yard metres from KR was simply unacceptable added to turning over the ball cheaply.
Only time we looked threatening with ball in hand was a 10 minute spell in second half when we upped the tempo and the ball went through plenty of hands to the edges.
So we move onto Saints…
Mash said that Bowden/Kalepi/Gaskell/Smith are 1/2 week away. Hood should also be back.
I wouldn’t play Gaskell at halfback or Full back. Mash seemed excited to have him back next week but he is just not a pivotal player and the best combination we have had this year is Smith/Lino. It’s clear Mash rates Gaskell but even he surely sees his limitations despite his effort. We need continuity at halfback and I think best we have is Smith/Lino. At least there’s points in that and the kicking looks more effective (Salford away).
Part of me thinks should we throw out a few rotation players and rest/prepare for an absolute must win vs Cas. We could have a lot of fresh bodies going into Cas (bearing in mind we have a short turn around d going into it again).
You want to win every game though so I just don’t know.
This will be a tough game. Thoughts?