Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 8:07 am  

My initial take was mixed. Mainly I’m happy that certain doom mongers were disappointed and we get 1 week more of sunshine in our lives.

However I didn’t agree with RS that we saw a good performance there. Our attack broke down multiple times and we are garbage in yardage still. The game was what it was; a mid-table side v a relegation side (we just happen to have three relegation quality sides this season).

Another worked move off a scrum; Croft is organising Newman and Handley, all looks interesting and then the pass from the scrum is round his ankles and he gets whacked by the defence. That’s us in a nutshell.

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 8:08 am  

[imgur][/imgur]

mattsrhinos1978 wrote:

Take the win, and more comfortable than a lot of us predicted

As already mentioned, Smith and Newman, both awful

Martin, croft and Handley all good

Momerovski offers very little ball in hand, he dosnt look lightweight, but certainly runs like it, was solid defensively to be fair, with 1 very good read.

Like just about everybody else I agree on Smith. I was hopeful before the season began that he would play much more direct thereby creating room for our new spine and helping out our undersized props, but his ambles across the line do the exact opposite. Disagree on Momorosvki. I never expected him to be as good in the yardage carries as McDonald but I did expect him to be a wingers centre and I think he is. He really looked after Edgell well and the way he straightens his line will always provide chances for overlaps if he gets a supply of decent ball. Really don't know what to say about Newman other than that he'd do well to focus on the basics. He was making the same mistakes in the warm up that he made during the game.Enjoyed the game because my expectations were so low, pretty much anything positive was a pleasant surprise.

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 8:14 am  

Handleys try was a well executed move, from the scrum. Just the type of play we have seen too little of this season.
Agree with what has been said about Cam Smith. He plays as if he is the main half back in the team. As much as i dont rate Frawley, it cant help playing second fiddle to Smith most of the game. He can be an effective forward taking the ball up but wants to play halfback too often.
An improved display but Cas are the worst team ive seen at HQ this season.

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 8:20 am  

London were worse surely? I thought Cas were really poor.

Our D for their try from their number 11 was embarrassing.

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 8:31 am  

In a nutshell, an abject Cas team were accordingly routed by their opponents. Long term positives, an excellent crowd ensures maximum “Fandom” points from IMG thus mitigating the threat of relegation for at least another year. Short term positives, we all go home happy with the sun on our backs laughing hysterically at just how bad Cas were. We have a couple of byes coming up soon guaranteeing us another 4 points and a game against opponents below us in the league (Leigh). We also have the bonus of the crazy “extra” games against London and Hull later in the season, another two byes and another 4 points. This season we have 16 points basically handed to us on a plate, it’s a great foundation from which to build our title challenge. In reality, yesterday was just 2 points against one of the bottom tier Superleague teams. We all know nothing can be based on games like yesterday’s. You can’t judge structure, line speed, technical improvements etc because everything is so much slower and less physical against jokers like Cas. Energy is drained, line speed becomes slower and errors occur against better quality opposition, and that’s when I’ll be judging any perceived improvement. I’m enjoying the win and feeling less stressed after yesterday, but not kidding myself one bit that it’s an indication of how we are going to perform when the going gets tough.

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 10:37 am  

Just watched it and all has been said really.
Cas are really poor - game, but poor.
Should have been 50 if we'd been more clinical.

Smith was awful. He's out of form right now and just needs to focus on the basics.
Newman was poor. He really needs to stop screaming at his team mates. It's a terrible, spoilt child look. Could see us moving him on tbh.

Other than that, all reasonably positive.
Croft was excellent. A constant threat.
Martin excellent. Need to get him tied down to another deal if we can.
Loved Lisone's cameo again.
And fair play to Frawley. Had his best game for us. Some decent kicks and short passes to players hitting gaps. And his D is very strong.

Has kept the knives tucked away for at least another week....

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 12:04 pm  

ArthurClues wrote:

[imgur][/imgur]Like just about everybody else I agree on Smith. I was hopeful before the season began that he would play much more direct thereby creating room for our new spine and helping out our undersized props, but his ambles across the line do the exact opposite. Disagree on Momorosvki. I never expected him to be as good in the yardage carries as McDonald but I did expect him to be a wingers centre and I think he is. He really looked after Edgell well and the way he straightens his line will always provide chances for overlaps if he gets a supply of decent ball. Really don't know what to say about Newman other than that he'd do well to focus on the basics. He was making the same mistakes in the warm up that he made during the game.Enjoyed the game because my expectations were so low, pretty much anything positive was a pleasant surprise.

I get what your saying regarding his basics, they are pretty solid, and compared to Newman on the other side, he looks like Matt Gidley in that regard, but im not seeing any kind of run threat from him, he dosnt break tackles, he dosnt beat players with footwork, iv yet to see him stand up his opposite man and go round him, very few clean breaks...Just all very average for me

To his credit, he does seem a fairly intelligent player, and god knows we need some of them

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 12:14 pm  

It was the sort of game that shows the gulfs in ability within Super League. No real conclusions can be drawn from that win. Perhaps Newman’s petulance was because he could see the glaring opportunity to get his try scoring confidence back. He was right that Smith could/should have passed to him early on.
The forwards in particular cannot be judged from that game because the opposition seemed so lightweight.
Thought Miller had one of his best games, demonstrating some solidity and less liability to do daft things, but also showed up for some creative efforts.

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 12:19 pm  

mattsrhinos1978 wrote:

I get what your saying regarding his basics, they are pretty solid, and compared to Newman on the other side, he looks like Matt Gidley in that regard, but im not seeing any kind of run threat from him, he dosnt break tackles, he dosnt beat players with footwork, iv yet to see him stand up his opposite man and go round him, very few clean breaks...Just all very average for me

To his credit, he does seem a fairly intelligent player, and god knows we need some of them

Give him more time, Matt. He was a good player in the NRL and he's had a few false starts at Leeds thus far. If memory serves he's played both left and right centre and wing positions for us at various times this season. I've always thought he was a right centre and I hope he gets a run there. That said, I'd always thought Newman would be better down the left but he looked a fish out if water yesterday.

Re: RD 13 | vs Castleford Tigers (H) : Sun Jun 02, 2024 12:35 pm  

ArthurClues wrote:

Give him more time, Matt. He was a good player in the NRL and he's had a few false starts at Leeds thus far. If memory serves he's played both left and right centre and wing positions for us at various times this season. I've always thought he was a right centre and I hope he gets a run there. That said, I'd always thought Newman would be better down the left but he looked a fish out if water yesterday.

Think Newman would be atrocious on either side with the attitude he had on him yesterday, but he probably does lack in certain areas skill wise, even on his good days.

I will certainly be open and hopeful in Momerovski proving my opinion wrong, he's got the size for it, just think he needs to offer more punch in his running game to become more of a threat.