Fev game thoughts : Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:29 pm  

We were beaten by a better team on the night . Only our 2nd game and in a mud bath. We will improve a lot yet. A few more players will be signed. Tactics in 1st half totally wrong. In those conditions and playing downhill you kick to the left hand corner and follow up with a good chase then try to keep them there. It isn't rocket science. For me, we need a better stand-off. Reynolds just isn't good enough. Also doubts about Smith. Not fast enough round the ruck or distributing the ball but we have the PNG hooker yet to join. Dixon also had a bad day at the office. I think the conditions were a shock to the system for our players from sunnier climes. I still believe we will do Fev at the end of the season when it matters most . Come on, Leigh!!!

Re: Fev game thoughts : Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:32 pm  

WYSIWYG2 wrote:

We were beaten by a better team on the night . Only our 2nd game and in a mud bath. We will improve a lot yet. A few more players will be signed. Tactics in 1st half totally wrong. In those conditions and playing downhill you kick to the left hand corner and follow up with a good chase then try to keep them there. It isn't rocket science. For me, we need a better stand-off. Reynolds just isn't good enough. Also doubts about Smith. Not fast enough round the ruck or distributing the ball but we have the PNG hooker yet to join. Dixon also had a bad day at the office. I think the conditions were a shock to the system for our players from sunnier climes. I still believe we will do Fev at the end of the season when it matters most . Come on, Leigh!!!

Graham I agree 100% , Reynolds is not the answer at 6 , he can’t work with Mellor , Dixon just had a bad game I bet he wished he hadn’t got off the Coach , but things will improve .

Re: Fev game thoughts : Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:44 pm  

WYSIWYG2 wrote:

We were beaten by a better team on the night . Only our 2nd game and in a mud bath. We will improve a lot yet. A few more players will be signed. Tactics in 1st half totally wrong. In those conditions and playing downhill you kick to the left hand corner and follow up with a good chase then try to keep them there. It isn't rocket science. For me, we need a better stand-off. Reynolds just isn't good enough. Also doubts about Smith. Not fast enough round the ruck or distributing the ball but we have the PNG hooker yet to join. Dixon also had a bad day at the office. I think the conditions were a shock to the system for our players from sunnier climes. I still believe we will do Fev at the end of the season when it matters most . Come on, Leigh!!!

No chance of making it tonight (first away game target for Bongser's gracing is 'Fax). Thanks for your thoughts WYS...

They crossed and correlated with Bongser's expectations as posted on the Fev Preview thread.

Leigh go bragh!

Re: Fev game thoughts : Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:52 pm  

Beaumont has been banging on about how we got it wrong in the past by giving more than 1 year contracts, and yet he's given Reynolds a 2 year contract from the off. WTF. I'm sure we'll improve but, we certainly haven't got it right atm. I sincerely hope we don't have a repeat of the 2018 season where we didn't make the playoffs when we spent the full cap. I'll say it again, it's alright spending plenty of money but, If you don't get the right players you're fooked.

Re: Fev game thoughts : Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:54 pm  

Fev are part time and yet the evidence is that they have assembled a squad good enough to beat us 28 - 6 with two of their biggest forwards missing. We have warned on this board for months that the squad lacks numbers. We have undoubted quality in our better players. Now we find that the depth of quality in the squad beyond those better players is insufficient, even though they are full time. If we are to take dual reg or loan players then they need to be of sufficient quality. I can’t understand how a part time team can win so comfortably against a carefully assembled (at great expense) full time squad.

Re: Fev game thoughts : Tue Feb 08, 2022 8:57 am  

Another issue we have is at hooker, and this was clear even from the Whitehaven match.
Aaron Smith in terms of all round ability is nowhere near the quality we have previously had with Bob Beswick, Sean Penkywicz, Micky Higham, or Liam Hood. Bringing in kids will not get us promotion.

Re: Fev game thoughts : Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:44 am  

Reynolds an easy target once again, my priorities would be a defensive coach and a tackling coach.
A player breaking six flimsy tackles to score is bloody awful.

Re: Fev game thoughts : Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:50 am  

Well in the light of a new day we all have our views on what went wrong. , I’m sure Derek ,Lammy , and Chester are not saying this morning , let’s read the RLFANS Forum , to see where we went wrong , they will know , and will address it .
I’m sure when players become available we will have a go at signing them , but if they are not out there we can’t sign them , Derek has stated he is talking with Gelling , so let’s give them time .
Back to last night , which will no doubt be the most difficult game of the season , remember we lost Sidlow before the game , then lost our prop Green very early , we had 11 men for a time , and Dixon had a nightmare game , though I’m not blaming him , these things happen , Aekins looked a bit nervous under the high ball , obviously the conditions , and Brand was invisible , again he’s young ,mi like the lad ,but Reynolds has to be more creative and work in tandem with Mellor , which he didn’t do .
All in all a poor result but one game , bring on Bradford next week it’s amazing what a decent pitch and dry weather can do .Hopefully get a few bodies back , things will improve .Charlie knows .

Re: Fev game thoughts : Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:18 am  

J7P1 wrote:

Fev are part time and yet the evidence is that they have assembled a squad good enough to beat us 28 - 6 with two of their biggest forwards missing. We have warned on this board for months that the squad lacks numbers. We have undoubted quality in our better players. Now we find that the depth of quality in the squad beyond those better players is insufficient, even though they are full time. If we are to take dual reg or loan players then they need to be of sufficient quality. I can’t understand how a part time team can win so comfortably against a carefully assembled (at great expense) full time squad.

You have to remember that Fev have been putting this side together for a number of seasons where as Leigh have been putting one together for a number of weeks. Agents must be rubbing their hands now knowing that after last night Leigh will be desparate to pick up any half decent player that becomes available. Awful planning from DB through last season may cost Leigh but Im sure they will be better as the season wears on but its going to take a lot for them to get to Fev's level.

Re: Fev game thoughts : Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:36 am  

Greg Florimos Boots wrote:

You have to remember that Fev have been putting this side together for a number of seasons where as Leigh have been putting one together for a number of weeks. Agents must be rubbing their hands now knowing that after last night Leigh will be desparate to pick up any half decent player that becomes available. Awful planning from DB through last season may cost Leigh but Im sure they will be better as the season wears on but its going to take a lot for them to get to Fev's level.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. It's going to take time to gel but still adding players now going into week 3 isn't going to help matters. We have a hooker that doesn't run from dummy half and has a slow looping pass. We have a stand off with the worst short kicking game I've ever seen at leigh. The passing along the line is slow and predictable and the half backs just don't work together. Mellor tried but on numerous occasions stepped back inside as the players outside him just weren't ready for the play. Poor poor attacking display and some of our defence out wide wasn't great.

So much to improve on but we must get players in and get this squad settled. There has been so much talk about us talking to players/agents since the home shirt revealing night but we have only signed Ibape and Dixon (was already on trial).