Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:24 am  

I'd love to carry on picking the bones of Saturday's embarrassing defeat but there are other things to think about.

Tough tough game this week and each game now becomes more important than the last.

I'm not sure we are out of it if we lose but I definitely need to see an improved performance. Especially in defence.

I think with the right tactics and selection we can get a result but we have to be at 100% and have learned from the first half on Saturday.

I've noticed the Rugby League Banter page on Facebook seem desparate to get Rangi Chase banned for making contact with an official. Personally i don't think there is anything in it and purely accidental. The in goal judge looked to laugh about it so a ban seems unlikely and totally unfair. That said I'll take anything that helps us out so a 1 match ban would be a great boost.

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:50 am  

I expect Salford to be slightly better than Wakefield. Should Gaskell Neilson and Mullaney be fit then I expect us to lose but the margin be less. The players, hopefully, will want to show they can improve.

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:02 am  

As long as Leigh lose to the 4 SL teams like we will probably do all we have to do is beat Leigh at their place and everything else is irrelevant. We should beat Fax and Leigh will also beat Fax and Sheff - so all square between us there.
The problem comes if Leigh beat one SL team but I expect Widnes to win.
My concern is they still have Wakey to play and I think they could just beat them. That would mean if we beat Leigh it all comes down to points difference who gets into the £1m game. So out of a bunch of 30 games (23 + 7) there is probably only the next Leigh Vs Bulls game that really matters if we are aiming for that one off game at the end.
As Jimmy says. It isn't the end of the world when we lose because either Leigh or us were always going to be in that £1m game and the rest of the season was just a filler between February and September.
Now, it doesn't seem all that bad now - does it?

[Bulliac]

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:05 am  

We may, says he, ever the optimist, .....now get the SL sides treating these games a little less like 'cup finals' and a bit more like easy games against second tier opposition, which naturally they'll feel they will win in a canter.......

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:15 am  

We have - generally - performed better at home this season....

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:27 am  

Damage limitation is all we can really hope for I feel.

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:53 am  

woolly07 wrote:

As long as Leigh lose to the 4 SL teams like we will probably do all we have to do is beat Leigh at their place and everything else is irrelevant. We should beat Fax and Leigh will also beat Fax and Sheff - so all square between us there.
The problem comes if Leigh beat one SL team but I expect Widnes to win.
My concern is they still have Wakey to play and I think they could just beat them. That would mean if we beat Leigh it all comes down to points difference who gets into the £1m game. So out of a bunch of 30 games (23 + 7) there is probably only the next Leigh Vs Bulls game that really matters if we are aiming for that one off game at the end.
As Jimmy says. It isn't the end of the world when we lose because either Leigh or us were always going to be in that £1m game and the rest of the season was just a filler between February and September.
Now, it doesn't seem all that bad now - does it?

The danger is the coach and players start thinking that way too. Don't take the next two games seriously and we end up going into the Leigh game undercooked. And even if we beat Leigh to 5th spot, what chance would we have in the final game if we had been repeatedly hammered by SL teams?

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:45 pm  

Realistically, I'm struggling to see how we can win this game. The Salford team on paper is much stronger than ours and if we start like we did against Wakefield the score-line will be even worse. If Nielsen and Mullaney are in then it might give the team a lift, but I don't think it will be enough. That said, I still expect a better performance from us this weekend. We underperformed massively against Wakey but we are better than what we showed in that game.

I think the realistic aim now has to be fifth place. If we beat Leigh and Halifax, having already beaten Sheffield, it should enough for fifth, assuming none of Halifax, Sheffield or Leigh take a SL scalp. With this in mind, if Gaskell isn't 100% this weekend, I wouldn't risk him.

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 2:12 pm  

If this game was against Wakefield then I could see a way to win it: just come out pumped up and take it to them, get the pack on top and never give them an inch. A bit like they did against our powder-puff pathetic capitulation at the weekend.

Against Salford, it is much harder. I suppose the thing in our favour is that, like us, you never quite know which Salford will be turning up, whereas Wakefield have been given a big injection of structure, confidence and desire by our old boy Brian Smith. If bad Salford turn up then we have a chance to beat them IF it's a week where we turn up, but that is some "if". But if good Salford turn up, then they are considerably better than Wakey and will beat us, and if we play bad Bradford versus good Salford then it would be a cricket score.

I presume that our performance will be better, (it can't be as bad again and there isn't a "worse") so if Salford aren't at the top of their game, I expect we will lose by around 18. A win would be an astonishing turnaround, but I don't see it. And without Gaskell it is truly Mission Impossible. We had zero belief against Wakey, and getting mullered that way and looking a shambolic bunch of headless chickens on national TV won't have helped the confidence any.

Re: Super 8 Qualifiers Game 3: Salford at Home : Mon Aug 17, 2015 8:17 pm  

Don't worry it is just another day at the office for Jimmy. But will it be a good day or a bad day?