Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 6:42 pm  

paulwalker71 wrote:

Got out of jail with that one

I suppose, trying to find something positive to say, we found a way to win when it looked for all money that we were staring down the barrel of defeat. And its not so long ago that you wouldn't have thought we would have the mental strength to that.

Having said that, there were some worrying aspects. Siejka was very poor today. He offered nothing, literally nothing, on attack and completely failed to dominate the game like you need from a scrum half. We need more of a plan than relying on a bit of magic from Gaskell, because when he gets shut down like he was for large parts of today, we don't look like creating anything.

Bringing back Siejka and putting Mullaney back to full back made us look a LOT less potent than last week.

And why, when we had three props on the bench, did Sidlow play for so long? Anyone notice that Fleming, who had only been on the field about five minutes, got taken off after he let Batley score a soft try. And Lauaki only did about 10 minutes again. We can't keep flogging Sidlow and Clough or they'll be knackered by the time it gets to the business end of the season.

Fair play to Batley, they played really well and will probably feel they've had their pocket picked today

Lowes said on the radio that he took off the players he believed were cuplable for their "soft tries".

I wonder how much we have paid Lauaki per minute played so far?

Shaw deserves huge credit for nailing that conversion. I very much doubt we would have got the subsequent try if that hadn't gone over.

You would have thought we had beaten Leeds at the end. Very entertaining, if not always high on quality, and a terrific effort by Batley.

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 6:44 pm  

Well, getting the win was a relief. I think that the better team lost today. It does show we can still get a result when we play badly. We will be better with Purtell and Baille in the centres and I think Davis will be huge for us when he's fit. I really think that the player we need back is Addy. At the moment everything goes through Gaskell, Addy can offer short passes and has a kicking game to add to Gaskell. As a previous poster mentione Siejka is a waste of a shirt. I was on the terrace end we were playing to in the first half and he was clueless with the ball. He either shipped it straight to Gaskell or drove it in. He adds nothing and it means Mullaney wasn't up there in the thick of it. Mullaney, Gaskell and Addy will offer real quality options I think. On a positive note I thought Jay Pitts played well and was one of our best forwards. He plays way above his weight. I would not like to be in the changing room with Lowes though.

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 6:57 pm  

Cokey wrote:

IMHO I think the signing of GH will be an excellent signing. I also don't think that nobody else wanted him. Time will surely tell. But i think Leigh have got him at the right time, and with the family culture at Leigh, it will do him a world of good and bring the best out of him, and he will prove what a world class player he his.

You sound just like a Wigan/Salford/Widnes fan

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:01 pm  

Maccbull_BigBullyBooaza wrote:

You sound just like a Wigan/Salford/Widnes fan

And Leigh.

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:10 pm  

Let's give Siejka a chance before we make him chief scapegoat when Walker is out. He's only just gone 23 so he's still fairly inexperienced and will still be finding his feet within our setup. If he going to be the key player who will lead us back into SL? Probably not but with time he might well strike up a complimentary partnership alongside Gaskell.

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:27 pm  

zapperbull wrote:

how many times is Ulugia going to get pushed into touch

While ever Henry is his Centre ran him out of room each time.

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:42 pm  

Henry and Ulugia looked they'd never met each other before

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:45 pm  

Did get out of jail, I think Batley were up for the job and on balance were the better side on the day as someone said earlier, a typical John Kear coached side. Played it simple, not many mistakes and defended as it their life depended on it. Their pack never took a backward step and the three quarters worked well inside to support them so we never managed to dominate up front.

We did look out of ideas for much of the second half but maybe that was credit to Batley.

Its still early doors though, no trophies handed out at this time of the year.

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:56 pm  

Bad day at office. Thought we were guilty of trying to score with every play in first half. Showed composure we would have lacked last year to grind out win. Hopefully a few players back over next couple of weeks plus Fleming and lauaki getting match fitness will settle things down. Bit early to judge sjelka IMO. Needs a few more games to gel with Gaskell.

Re: Batley (A) : Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:30 pm  

We more than matched the much lauded Bulls today, and as many Bulls supporters said, we lost the game rather than the Bulls winning it. We have to be proud of our Club, and the way we conduct ourselves on and off the field. Much hard work went into today, and raps to the Bulls supporters who turned out in numbers to play their part in creating a fully charged atmosphere for a gripping no - nonsense toe to toe game of rugby league.

Batley Bulldogs, we are proud of you!