: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:34 pm  

tad rhino wrote:

good rugby? maybe in the last ten minutes. outplayed by a more organised and stronger team. men against boys

I thought we played some good rugby for our tries!
I totally agree the better side won but that doesn't mean we can't or won't get better i think our discipline is very poor and that played a big part in preventing us build pressure and i agree with yer other post our defensive effort was poor overall.

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:36 pm  

efcrhino wrote:

Very dissapointed, another game where we don't take our chances...

Webb 9 MOM - Great support play, didn't drop a thing, looks like he's starting to build some form.

Donald 6 - He's wasted on the right, McClennan's got it all wrong IMO, Gibson/Smith/Watkins aren't powerful enough to draw the winger in and offload the ball creating space for the winger, because of this Donald gets no room to use his pace, and last year some of those chances that he didn't take would be taken. Hall isn't as fast as Donald, but he's a lot stronger, what I'm saying is Hall will be alot more likely to win the one on one collisions than Donald, and Donald will be more likely to have room.

Gibson 7 - Apart from a couple of mistakes, he played quite well today, hopefully he can have a run in the side and regain his form of 2007.

Keith Senior 8 - Always looks a threat, great break, we'd see alot more tries down that side with Donald there.

Ryan Hall 5 - Thought to have seen some good signs in the last couple of games, but as I've stated in the Donald comment, he isn't fast enough to play next to Senior.

Danny McGuire 7 - Was a bit quiet but created some chances, which were few and far between

Rob Burrow 7 - Made a couple of mistakes, but great break and showed some spark

Kylie Leulaui 6 - A little quiet IMO, not enough carries because usually he makes lots of metres

Matt Diskin 6 - Nothing special, average performance, hasn't been the same since his injury, hopefully the return of Buderus improves his game

Jamie Peacock 8 - Looked fired up for this one, shame most of the rest of the pack weren't.

Jamie Jones-Buchanan 7 - Good try, but a bit quiet for his normal standards, had a pretty good game though

Carl Ablett 6 - Same as Diskin

Kevin Sinfield 7 - Good vision for the first try, involved in this build up for the last.

Danny Buderus 7 - Couple of bad passes but that's expected for your first game back after 5-6 weeks, but got involved in the game and threatened more than Diskin did

Ali Lauitiiti 6 - Didn't threaten Saints like he usually does, a few good offloads.

Ian Kirke 7 - Was strong in the tackle, made alot of yards, been a good year so far for Kirke

Luke Burgess 7 - No nonsense go forward prop, good offloader as well, thought he had a good game and his position in the 17 which at the start of the season wouldn't be regular, has now become a little more secure.

Can't really argue with any of that efc mate i thought disko was poor last week aswell.

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:37 pm  

how many times did we win the collision? not often. we don't seem as strong. kylie has been very average this season. maybe the weight loss has backfired.maybe the pack is lightweight. whatever the reason we were garbage today. the two late tries disguise the fact.
i thought we were rubbish

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:41 pm  

tad rhino wrote:

how many times did we win the collision? not often. we don't seem as strong. kylie has been very average this season. maybe the weight loss has backfired.maybe the pack is lightweight. whatever the reason we were garbage today. the two late tries disguise the fact.
i thought we were rubbish

We had a lot defence to do on the back of poor tackling and sh#te discipline mate which must of played a part in the pack looking lightweight!
It's just been the story so far this season very disjointed and lacking fluency and structure i'm sure it will come because there were signs against wigan and we all know what threat's we have within the team it's just taking longer to get going this year.

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:41 pm  

To me it was obvious saints were holding back towards the end just like manly. The results have flattered us because of late tries that really mean nothing. We need to improve or we could end up trophyless this year!

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:46 pm  

tad rhino wrote:

we were a shambles. the scoreline flattered us. the pack looked lightweight, the decision to play donald on the right clearly isn't working,gibson,sadly, is not good enough. the injuries have really hit him hard. defence was shocking,loads of missed tackles and we never had a good line. the passing was ponderous and the lack of runners was evident.
we played in the centre third nearly all the game despite the fact it was obvious it wasn't working.
the coaching staff need to take stock because at the moment we don't look a patch on last season.
saints were top drawer,fully deserved the win. lets hope they have a good run and injuries bite. we may need it

i couldnt of summed up the game any better especially donald and gibson lets play to our strenghs and lets start moving the ball again ! no exuses today best team won simple as

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:51 pm  

MeanwoodRhino wrote:

We need some new blood !!!! thats the top and bottom of it

We have lost Ellis and have no replacement, Buderous is looking like a sick note.

Donald is lost on the right.

why did hetherington get someone else once the eastwood deal go t1ts up
he spent quite a bit of time in oz he said he was checking out lots of options

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:52 pm  

RHINOS v. SAINTS
What a game in prospect on Sunday. A near full house should welcome the best two teams by a mile and a big TV audience should be enthralled. The league meeting had everything: big hits, great skill, and despite what the fools on SKY say, the mutual respect between the teams at the end was evident. Saints have been a bit hit-and-miss this season and at the time of writing there are doubts over Long, Wellans, Cunningham and Pryce. Puletua is a great signing but saints really need there big players available for this one.

Leeds should be almost at full strength. Buderus could well be back and, if fit, he will be a big plus for Leeds. That nasty Ryan Bailey should be back to annoy 'ginger spice' while Brent Webb will be the better for a few games. Assuming that both teams are at full strength this is such a tough one to call. There are battles all over the pitch to look forward to, none more than in the front row and in the halves. An intriguing game, one I cannot wait for, and I’m going for Saints to win it at the death by 4.

Tad Saints by 4
Oldham Rhino tips Saints by 6
SouthStander.com tips Rhinos by 12

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:54 pm  

LS16_Rhino wrote:

FFS – we’re top of the league, current reigning champions and run our nearest rivals to two very close defeats – why the fook do we need to change anything???

Exactly

Those criticising the "style" of play are doing so with the benefit of hindsight. We have won 2 championships with it but today we were outcoached to some extent.

Had we scored from the Burrow break it would have been a whole different story IMHO.

For me the Buderus selection misfired and we failed to cope with the rotation of Cunningham / Roby which gave them the edge at the crucial stage of the game.

Also I didnt understand Burrow defending outside Senior. They clearly targeted this and Gidley exposed the mismatch and punished us on that wing.

Having said all that their weakness in goalkicking meant we were still in touch with 10 minutes to go

: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:55 pm  

tad rhino wrote:

RHINOS v. SAINTS
What a game in prospect on Sunday. A near full house should welcome the best two teams by a mile and a big TV audience should be enthralled. The league meeting had everything: big hits, great skill, and despite what the fools on SKY say, the mutual respect between the teams at the end was evident. Saints have been a bit hit-and-miss this season and at the time of writing there are doubts over Long, Wellans, Cunningham and Pryce. Puletua is a great signing but saints really need there big players available for this one.

Leeds should be almost at full strength. Buderus could well be back and, if fit, he will be a big plus for Leeds. That nasty Ryan Bailey should be back to annoy 'ginger spice' while Brent Webb will be the better for a few games. Assuming that both teams are at full strength this is such a tough one to call. There are battles all over the pitch to look forward to, none more than in the front row and in the halves. An intriguing game, one I cannot wait for, and I’m going for Saints to win it at the death by 4.

Tad Saints by 4
Oldham Rhino tips Saints by 6
SouthStander.com tips Rhinos by 12

Too clever for your own damn good G!