First 15 mins - workmanlike, not grEat, but looked well in control, and scored the two tries ominously comfortably.
Then, Purtell gifts them a try with a complete brainfart, and it was like he'd lobbed a grenade into all their brains. That was it. From then on, we started off at the bottom of Shambles Hill, and did our best to climb all the way to the summit.
What's the problem?
1. We aren't good enough to play in this league. The players we have are, individually, but the combination of selections, tactics and on-field leadership is so bad that it consistently makes them look like clowns.
2. We have spells where we just lose every collision, and even opposition as poor as the Sheffields, Batleys, Dewsburys and Halifaxes of this world are made to look like attacking juggernauts, making 70 or 80 meters easily every set. EVERY set.
3. When in the opposition 30 (as we were for our fair share of the game) we look almost totally devoid of ideas. Any of the SL teams we saw on TV this weekend would have from that position score hatfuls against Sheffield, yet we never challenge the defence. We just stole up several one man plunges, and either mess up along the way, or else have some sort of last-play panic attack that invariably ends in tears. What do we practice? HAVE we got ANY moves? We could have been in Sheffield's 10 for several hours and not scored. WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT? Did we force a single second set of six or a dropout? Against SHEFFIELD?
4. If we make a mistake, that's it. We are supposed to have some pace, but actually haven't. Every time we gifted yet another length-of-the -field attack to Sheffield, we looked woefully slow. In fact, we were made to look like fools, like second-rate mugs.
I didn't boo, but if the players think that was good enough then they are mad. It was a total and utter shambles.
Unfortunately, for me that was Lowes's last chance. I believe he'll be gone by Monday. If he's not, then we are royally fscked. He clearly has to take the responsibility for the abject level of our performances in the last several hours of rugby, and despite the criminal failure to play with a scrum-half, a decent coach should not have his team serving up dross after dross after dross like Lowes is doing.
The club is dying on its feet, and pis
.sing off the diehard support, and it can't go on. The trouble is, I think it is too late whatever they do now.
