Very solid performance. Before the game I thought it could be a total war of attrition, the hailstorm that blew down the hill during the “warm-up” had the Bulls players shielding their eyes. The pitch looked heavy and it would’ve been another slogfest.
As it was we had the slope in the first half and the weather cleared up as the game went on. I thought the forwards were strong again with Crossley really playing himself into form. Green looked well up for it when he came on and Kirk put in a useful stint. Bustin didn’t do long minutes but was effective. Ryan took his try well and the Oakes and Kirk tries were well worked. Having a pair of halfbacks that worked well together was a contrast with last week when we had nobody. The 16 nil halftime lead was well deserved as our defence answered everything Batley threw at it.
Second half was another good defensive effort. Coming up the hill was always going to be tougher. We seemed more disciplined despite conceding a few penalties for technical offences. Not sure why we got a team warning at one point. We didn’t seem to be particularly bad. Although we conceded one try we didn’t really look like conceding another. In attack we seemed to come down the right a bit too much. We’d had some joy down the left in the first half but seemed to ignore that in the second for some reason. As a result we didn’t quite look as effective. Much as I like Rhys Evans he’s not a great passer of the ball and seems too keen to tuck the ball under his arm. Twice he could’ve passed to DFJ who was in the clear but didn’t. Lilley kicked well in the 2nd half and was only caught on the last tackle one. We seemed to be sticking to a plan of pinning them in their 20m and it pretty much worked.
It was a case of solid performances all round. Crossley looked much more like his old self and made a lot of ground. Lilley kicked well and was resolute in defence. Wood had a great first spell – he’s definitely my pick for loose forward. DFJ had a solid debut on the wing and dealt with all the kicks. Flanagan had a much more disciplined game too.
We’ve still got a long way to go to get the attack flowing like it can. The issues with the halfbacks are well known. In truth I think we’ve tried too many combinations and that hasn’t helped. Keyes’ injury doesn’t look like it’s clearing up soon which is a shame as he could offer a bit more of a running threat. I’ve seen the rumours about Chisholm on TRL. It would seem odd if we were offering him around other clubs given that we just gave him a new 1 year contract and he’s just had a kid. Then again stranger things have happened. I would say we didn’t seem to miss him yesterday. Long term I think Rowan Milnes is the man to partner Lilley.
