Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 10:18 am  

Saints have to be recognised as the benchmark in superleague.
They have had a continuing will to win at all costs for many seasons . No matter who the coach is or what players come & go there is a need, a will, & an attitude throughout the club that carries them through most games. Bending the rules doesn't matter to Saints because the team are confident that the ref won't punish every infringement.
Incidentally, was the Sironen try off a forward pass ? It looked forward from the font of all knowledge ,the South stand.

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 10:23 am  

Wires71 wrote:

As odious as their fans are and as much as we may not like to admit it, Saints have by far the majority of the better players, the finer skills, the better composure, the better culture, the higher confidence, the better sporting organisation, the stronger recruitment and a much higher desire and will to win. This is evidenced by them being the most successful SL club. Not sure if they can win a 5th in a row as Wigan look strong but it will take an excellent performance to beat them.

W71 ,when you look at Saints though, they have this knack of getting players who are committed to the "cause". They don't even necessarily get the best players but they get the best out of them.

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 11:25 am  

Douglas Black wrote:

Based on last night... Ashton. Maybe Vaughan, Clarke and Philbin on the bench.

None is the answer to that

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 11:51 am  

thesaint71 wrote:

None is the answer to that

Have a day off. Are you saying Bettison is a better winger than Ashton? LMS better than Vaughan?

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:12 pm  

ninearches wrote:

W71 ,when you look at Saints though, they have this knack of getting players who are committed to the "cause". They don't even necessarily get the best players but they get the best out of them.

It's the environment and the constant pursuit of the highest standards. They attract ambitious players who want to win the title (rather than players who want to get the largest contract). Players are then absorbed into the existing winning culture. They also have very strong leaders on the pitch who lead by example.

Meanwhile we say things like "I’ve got to be happy with the shift they put in" whilst selecting Drinkwater, Dudson, Mata'utia at al week in week out, giving journeyman players long contracts and then be surprised why we don't win.

Soft underbelly? Pack "too nice"? Embarrassing comments. At Wilderspool we used to be a hard side. We are powder puffs now. Not a hint of menace in any forward.

Unless we change this we will never progress. Anyone inside the club who makes an excuse or accepts where we are in the league is part of the problem.

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:14 pm  

ninearches wrote:

Saints have to be recognised as the benchmark in superleague.
They have had a continuing will to win at all costs for many seasons . No matter who the coach is or what players come & go there is a need, a will, & an attitude throughout the club that carries them through most games. Bending the rules doesn't matter to Saints because the team are confident that the ref won't punish every infringement.
Incidentally, was the Sironen try off a forward pass ? It looked forward from the font of all knowledge ,the South stand.

True. Nothing in the world stopping us from trying to emulate what they do with respect to bending the rules. They are excellent at it. Better than throwing our arms theatrically up at the play the ball each tackle and blaming the ref.

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:23 pm  

Alffi_7 wrote:

As good as Clark is, I thought we looked much better when Walker came on, his distribution from dummy half is streets ahead of Clark.

Walker was also fresh legs against a team who'd played for 50 minutes against Clark by that point. I still agree that Walker and Philbin changed the momentum and intensity for us, but that too allowed Clark more leg room.

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:30 pm  

TF and the wire wrote:

I'm no expert on the technicalities of the game but I always notice the difference between the timing of the passes between us and Saints. They seem to pass a split second before they are tackled, meaning an opposition defender is committed and out of contention for the remainder of that play. Wire passes are usually far earlier meaning the defence has time to rearrange and track across.

This is all skills work leading to a very flat attack. Stripping defenders with ease.

They also have a lightening line speed when defending which limits the opponents attack.

They also found the ground when kicking for territory, we usually find a player.

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 1:22 pm  

That could have been a LOT worse. For all the errors in the first 20+ minutes the defence hung in there. I was surprised they only got 2 tries in that period given how long they were on our line for.
I’m always reluctant to point a finger at a referee, so I will make only 1 point. The Saints player who broke from the scrum so early that he was in our line before the ball was could (and probably should) have been sin binned for a professional foul.
It was a really intense game that felt like a play off match and Saints were hanging on like a drowning man by the end.
Yes we lost but given everything that has happened so far this season I was fearful of a massacre.
If Williams is fit next week I would play him and Hayes together makin our101st HB pairing this season. Drinkwater is done I’m afraid.

Re: Tonight’s game v Saints : Sat Sep 16, 2023 2:07 pm  

morrisseyisawire wrote:

Have a day off. Are you saying Bettison is a better winger than Ashton? LMS better than Vaughan?

Yes