: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:16 pm  

Thought the ref was pretty fair in his decision making. Saints were lying on but we were offside a fair bit so it evened itself out.On another day we could have won but i have got to say Saints goal line defence was awsome and thats why they won ,not because of the ref's performance

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:16 pm  

FLYINGPROP wrote:

Which isn't a problem with a level playing field, Saints spoiling all game with offsides and holding down, penalties given to Hudds when in OUR OWN 20, Penalties given to Saints when IN HUDDS 20 not their own?

3 Tries Dissallowed, need to see these again before make comment.

The RFL have introduced the salary cap to try get the competition on a more level playing field like Australia now, much more interesting to watch.

Then they have refs that lean towards the so called Bigger teams "Saints today, Leeds at HKR ect.

You wanna try putting up with it every week then you might understand all we ask for is a neutral ref, but you wouldn't want this would you due to the risk you may lose a few!!

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:40 pm  

The ref made a few mistakes, but on the whole he did pretty well. Our defeat had nothing to do with him and more to do with our playmakers not making enough play IMO. I thought, to a man we tackled well and ran the ball up well, our field kicking was also very good, we just lacked that bit of creativity, hopefully this will come as the team gels.

[Durham Giant]

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:42 pm  

thought the ref was poor today for both teams a lot of things missed some blatant. Also a couple otf times Tj flagged and he did not follow their advice.

However saints were the better team today and that little bit of extra class told. they scored their chances and we did not. to be fair i was pretty impressed with saints they look better defensively than they normally do and they worked overtime to keep us out.

the only thing that concerns me is the slower PTB which seems to be an RFL directive. in the pre season our PTB was quick and we took teams apart. If it is going to be slower then we have to adapt. If the game is going to be more like the Australian game then it will not be half as exciting as it was.

we need to think more about plays to break down the better defences

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:44 pm  

We weren't quick enough with our distribution today IMO and coupled with Saints' excellent defence it meant we only scored the one try.

To be fair though we were much better second half compared to the first.

Saints defended really well though.

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:21 pm  

FLYINGPROP wrote:

Then they have refs that lean towards the so called Bigger teams "Saints today, Leeds at HKR ect.

I thought you were just a whinger with little club syndrome. Then I read this bit and you confirmed it.

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:25 pm  

Overall I feel proud of our efforts today. We made mistakes but I thought we showed a lot of promise. I am not disheartened by the loss. We kept Saints from scoring for 35 minutes in the second half which takes some doing. If we can build on that today and correct the errors things will get better. I am looking forward to the next game already.

I was also very pleased with the size of the crowd, it was more than I expected, lovely to see masses of people walking down an hour before kick off, and even more so to see the pathways jammed with fans on the way out. Lets hope plenty of them come back.

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:49 pm  

11k+ crowd today i heard.

Fantastic crowd, hope that the game keeps them coming down. Couldnt get to the game today but it sounded like a corker.

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:35 pm  

FLYINGPROP wrote:

Which isn't a problem with a level playing field, Saints spoiling all game with offsides and holding down, penalties given to Hudds when in OUR OWN 20, Penalties given to Saints when IN HUDDS 20 not their own?

Surely it is better to get a penalty when you are under the cosh in your own twenty than in the opposition twenty?

The referee was poor for two teams, both teams held a lot, both teams were never square at marker and both teams were constantly offside. The better team won.

: Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:00 pm  

Funny how there isnt a thread on the VT about how many tickets were given away before this game to inflate our crowd.