Re: Next up... St Helens. : Fri Mar 18, 2016 11:32 pm  

craigizzard wrote:

You do know that you can't run as fast with the ball as without it? Watkins was caught up in possession by Dawson - who is very rapid - but that doesn't mean he's lost his pace.

Watkins used to be very rapid but for some time has looked to have lost some speed off the mark and pace over a distance. A couple of season ago he would not have been caught as he was tonight IMO. He doesn't look sharp or fully fit to me.

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Fri Mar 18, 2016 11:39 pm  

World's Biggest Winger out for 6 weeks.

Allegedly.

According to acolyte Peter Smith of the YEP.

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Fri Mar 18, 2016 11:45 pm  

Juan Cornetto wrote:

Watkins used to be very rapid but for some time has looked to have lost some speed off the mark and pace over a distance. A couple of season ago he would not have been caught as he was tonight IMO. He doesn't look sharp or fully fit to me.

He looked like a centre looking for his winger or inside man instead of pinning his ears back as a winger (as he was playing in the 2nd half)

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Fri Mar 18, 2016 11:48 pm  

William Eve wrote:

World's Biggest Winger out for 6 weeks.

Allegedly.

According to acolyte Peter Smith of the YEP.

What injury did you sustain that forced your year long absence in 2015?

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:01 am  

Much work to be done.

Nice to see JJB play a full game. Falloon looks a compromise, has some skills around the ruck with the ball but a gaping gash in the middle defensively at times.
Still, he didn't get a lot of help from the chuckle brothers, Galloway and Cuthbertson.

Watkins was awful. I don't think he's lost any pace, he just didn't realise anyone was chasing him. Big mistake, always gas it, never assume your clear. Still, he was better on the wing than at centre in the first half.

I guess we're seeing what "off the cuff" looks like with players totally unaware of what each other are doing.
All Indians and no Chiefs.

Still, we were a level or three better than Saints. What a shower of $h1te.

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:37 am  

ThePrinter wrote:

What injury did you sustain that forced your year long absence in 2015?

Think it was something to do with his eyes, after trying to count empty Club Wembley seats. Must've been bad as he kept mistaking fans for empty seats.

Or... broke his jaw spitting his dummy out (again) when when he quit the forums (again), vowing never to return (again) leaving us to enjoy our "dying game".

Or (least likely) he he got a girlfriend last summer and she dumped him just after Xmas when she realised what we've all known for years

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Sat Mar 19, 2016 6:19 am  

I though we looked much better with Faloon playing and doing well. Hardaker apart from the dropped bomb had a good game making plenty of breaks.

Watkins had a stinker, Hall was poor again.

Ablett was awesome on his return.

Big Keithy and Cuthbo did well.

Anybody know why Garbutt and Singo didn't play?

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Sat Mar 19, 2016 6:35 am  

The less involvement Hardaker has in our attacking line the better for me - still a major weak area of his (his only weak area fwiw)

I think it's time to admit defeat in trying to push him into an extra pivot role and concentrate on trying to make into a support playing full back, similar to Wellens, getting on the shoulder of any half breaks. We'll need this even more so when McGuire retires.

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Sat Mar 19, 2016 7:04 am  

McGuire has a calf tear so it could be a few more weeks. Singleton and Garbutt were dropped because their poor performance last week i.e. missed tackles primarily.

Interesting game last night - defence in the first half was attrocious from both sides, it should have been better given Thaler allowed both sides to be offside for much of the game.

On the positive - Galloway had his best game so far, Handley was really good and showed his versatility when moved to the opposite wing. JJB put in a huge stint as did Falloon who will improve once he gets used to the structure.

Very good turn out from the Saints fans which was impressive - Roby showed his class best player on the field by a distance

Re: Next up... St Helens. : Sat Mar 19, 2016 7:15 am  

I kept commenting how less effective Roby is these days, didn't think he was that great at all. All their danger was McCarthy Scarsbrook, and Walsh because we wouldn't tackle him. But then again Roby was still a big presence in defence.

Our missed tackles though from certain individuals was pathetic. Your fullback you could normally excuse with breaks, but he normally pulls them off. Five missed tackles from Zak is poor. Walters and Sutcliffe also with five missed tackles each, and Walters wasn't exactly on for that long. Ablett with six missed tackles, which I am sure all or the majority at least we're in the first half. They are appalling stats for a champion chasing team. Our metres per carry is hardly anything to write home about, but as Thaler forgot about the offside rule, probably explainable.