[Bulliac]

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:28 am  

Bulls Boy 2011 wrote:

Next six games for me are crucial:

HOME - Toulouse
AWAY - London
HOME - Batley
HOME - Dewsbury
AWAY - Oldham
HOME - Sheffield

I think we will lose this weekend. But the following five will be determined on a number of factors.

Conditions
How Phoenix and Smith integrate into the team.
Moore's Trail.

And finally the big one - the result of Toovey's visa. Hopefully will be sorted for Sun.

That's great news - the Sun is involved, the government always listen to the Sun. Here tomorrow, at a guess!

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:34 am  

Bulls Boy 2011 wrote:

Next six games for me are crucial:

HOME - Toulouse
AWAY - London
HOME - Batley
HOME - Dewsbury
AWAY - Oldham
HOME - Sheffield

You know, when you look at those fixtures, it isn't entirely inconceivable that we could get five wins from those six games - which would wipe out the minus points.

I'm not saying we will, but I don't see a lot to frighten us. Even London haven't exactly set the world on fire so far - two squeaky wins against Swinton and Oldham shouldn't leave us thinking we have no chance.

[Bullseye]

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:50 am  

We could quite easily lose 5 of them too Paul!

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:56 am  

Bullseye wrote:

We could quite easily lose 5 of them too Paul!

Indeed

More likely to a be a mix of heroic wins and devastating losses though

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:09 am  

paulwalker71 wrote:

You know, when you look at those fixtures, it isn't entirely inconceivable that we could get five wins from those six games - which would wipe out the minus points.

I'm not saying we will, but I don't see a lot to frighten us. Even London haven't exactly set the world on fire so far - two squeaky wins against Swinton and Oldham shouldn't leave us thinking we have no chance.

For what it's worth I think we will lose to London away as I think they are a good side this season and will be top 2.

Toulouse at home is the key one, as I don't think we will beat them away so we need a win at home, plus it will give the lads confidence to beat a good side like them who I think will be top 4 at the end of play.

Ideally we need to target the 4 home fixtures in that run whilst we are still improving fitness wise and in terms of personnel. I think Toulouse will be a struggle. Should beat Dewsbury but Sheffield and Batley will be tough asks. After these Oldham away will be tough too but 3 home wins leading up to that will give us enough to beat them.

As I said. Next 6 games are crucial for me. It could wipe out the deficit, half it or only take a little piece of it leading into the final 14 games before the split. Either way an interesting month or so is ahead of us.

Oh and don't forget to throw in a Challenge Cup game there. Hopefully we get the winners of Wests Warriors vs Haydock ARLFC!! Or a League 1 side like York. Can't be doing with drawing Toronto haha! (If they beat Siddal ).

[Bulliac]

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:15 am  

The odds are still firmly on going down.

Looking at fixtures changes nothing really [though, I admit, it does give us something to do...], so much depends on who is brought in and probably on when they are brought in. Ever changing loanees are just sticking plaster though and hopefully that is not the long-term plan. We need some permanent blokes in the forwards but also probably someone to cover the backs, as we can't just flog the lads from the academy. It isn't an easy process though, starting when we did and on an apparently limited budget, but it is important if we're really interested in trying to avoid leaving 2017 as a wasted year.

[Bullseye]

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:18 am  

Smith's a permanent signing and should put pressure on Mendeika and Oakes. Having now watched Sunday's game I'd say Mendeika's side is the one that needs a bit of attention defensively. Oakes and Ryan played well.

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:27 am  

Bulliac wrote:

The odds are still firmly on going down.

Looking at fixtures changes nothing really [though, I admit, it does give us something to do...], so much depends on who is brought in and probably on when they are brought in. Ever changing loanees are just sticking plaster though and hopefully that is not the long-term plan. We need some permanent blokes in the forwards but also probably someone to cover the backs, as we can't just flog the lads from the academy. It isn't an easy process though, starting when we did and on an apparently limited budget, but it is important if we're really interested in trying to avoid leaving 2017 as a wasted year.

Oh it sure is. I do think we will survive but it will be a long tough slog to get there. Rightly so that the odds are still us going down. But as I say these next 6 games will give us an indication as to where we are as a team and the league. First 3-4 weeks of a season are always up and down as you can't really gain much from it results wise. We can assume that Toulouse will be terrible away but we won't know for sure until they have played a couple of games away. And we can assume that Dewsbury will be awful but we won't really know until after 5-6 games.

Aye we need some permanent signings. Larroyer is supposed to be here for a year but that recall option after a month will always be a factor. Hopefully we are signing two more forwards who will be permanent, added to that the Smith and Phoenix signing in the backs then we are looking alright. A lot will depend on the outcome of Moore's trial? on the 10th March. He could well be a permanent addition too.

[Bulliac]

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:38 am  

According to the report I read, Cas have only signed Larroyer for a year so [if true] I can't imagine him being here for long.

In the final analysis, all games are winnable, particularly when you look at all the games we, 'should never have lost', but did, over the last two seasons. It's easier when you have a settled squad though. It's OK bringing loanees in, but it's much better when you don't have to - it's easier to engender team spirit, to have understanding between the players, not just of the plays but of the players themselves, so they all know what each other is capable of, how they like to receive the ball, who is likely to pop one 'out of the back', etc.

Re: Things keep getting better : Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:44 am  

You would have to think that as the season goes on we will get a bit more conditioning (although we can't make up for the lost pre-season). This lot will definitely respond better to being full time than the crew we have had the last two years. Those young legs should be chasing everybody around the park come mid point of the season. The backs look devastating going forward and we have beefed up the pack. The two main things to improve are: cutting out silly penalties and stopping the opposition making easy yards when we defend. And third of the two is completion rate, stop dropping the ball especially early in the tackle count.