Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 9:19 pm  

Agree re. Smithies, x couple of occasions tonight where two seasons ago he'd definitely have lost his cool and ended up in bother, good professional performance, two points in the bag and a good turnaround till next week

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 9:26 pm  

I don’t know what Ellis’ stats were but from where I was sitting every carry he made was exactly what was needed for the following play. He doesn’t do anything flash but we struggle without him.

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 9:36 pm  

DannyT wrote:

I don’t know what Ellis’ stats were but from where I was sitting every carry he made was exactly what was needed for the following play. He doesn’t do anything flash but we struggle without him.

Some great candidates for most improved player - Miski and O'Neill being the other two big ones but Ellis tops the list for me. Rock solid front rower who is now making a massive impact on the game.

Field was MOM by a distance though tonight.

Thought we did well to stay patient and keep it simple for the first quarter of the game before breaking clear. Salford are a team I think we match up well against - we have a team of very mobile and durable players and their expansive plays won't hurt us as much as some other teams. Only slight disappointment was dropping off a little around the 55 minute mark when I thought we could push forward and score another couple but that is nit picking. Great effort to back up last week.

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 9:37 pm  

DannyT wrote:

I don’t know what Ellis’ stats were but from where I was sitting every carry he made was exactly what was needed for the following play. He doesn’t do anything flash but we struggle without him.

I’ve been waiting for a ‘most underrated player in Superleague’ topic for a while now. It has to be Ellis! He’s had some brain farts from a disciplinary pov but in between the guy has had a marvellous season. I’m still reeling from a conversation I had with a couple of Wigan fans on Total RL, who said he is a bog average player and should be released!! Thankfully the club went the opposite way and gave him 3 more years. I think he has it in him to become one of, if not the best prop in the league in that time.

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 9:45 pm  

MadDogg wrote:

Some great candidates for most improved player - Miski and O'Neill being the other two big ones but Ellis tops the list for me. Rock solid front rower who is now making a massive impact on the game.

Field was MOM by a distance though tonight.

Thought we did well to stay patient and keep it simple for the first quarter of the game before breaking clear. Salford are a team I think we match up well against - we have a team of very mobile and durable players and their expansive plays won't hurt us as much as some other teams. Only slight disappointment was dropping off a little around the 55 minute mark when I thought we could push forward and score another couple but that is nit picking. Great effort to back up last week.

Field was sensational. The performance levels he’ll need to reach to get a MOM award on Sky are almost unattainable. If a British fullback put in that display, it would reduce them to quivering wrecks! If that British fullback had a surname that began with W, well, it doesn’t bare thinking about.

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 9:45 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

I’ve been waiting for a ‘most underrated player in Superleague’ topic for a while now. It has to be Ellis! He’s had some brain farts from a disciplinary pov but in between the guy has had a marvellous season. I’m still reeling from a conversation I had with a couple of Wigan fans on Total RL, who said he is a bog average player and should be released!! Thankfully the club went the opposite way and gave him 3 more years. I think he has it in him to become one of, if not the best prop in the league in that time.

Ellis was MOTM for me.

Thought he was outstanding.

Not many props I’d swap him for.

Last year he was more of a middle than an out and out prop. I thought he was still pretty good in that role but this year he seems to have cultivated some mass and in now playing more as a specialist Prop. Everything he did tonight was quality.

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 10:09 pm  

Pie_Eyter wrote:

Another superb performance to the detriment of some very iffy ref calls in the first half. Byrne was immense again. Since he got dropped, he has turned into an absolute machine.

At the beginning of the season we had Byrne, Nsemba, Hill, O'neill and to a lesser extent Havard who were a bit undercooked for first grade along with being very weak in the centres. Going into 2024 these lot will be like new signings added to the actual new signings with more experience behind them. Such a shame it looks like King is going back. He suits this side so well.

I have to say, discipline recently has been outstanding and this all stems from Smithies. He seems to have lost his childish niggle and when provoked, reacts in a positive way and just runs harder next time. He really is maturing into a top class loose forward. International honours next year is a certainty. When Smithies keeps a cool head, the whole squad seems to respond in the same way.

Fully agree. Smithies has come on leaps and bounds. I thought Nsemba went well. Although when he first came on in the first half, it seemed to me like he hardly got a touch! No-one seemed to give him the ball. But better again in the second half. Miski impressed again, works so well in defence. I'm reminded of Marshall, who at one time went from talented, but is he reliable enough, to first name on the team sheet, and that was
achieved through hard work. Miski seems to be following the same trajectory.

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 10:22 pm  

jonh wrote:

Not a great performance. Quite flat but didn’t have to get out of 3rd gear.

Probably a very good type of performance after putting in so much effort last week.

My main concern tonight was a lack of push around the ball but easy to resolve.

Defence ok, few errors but scramble got us out of bother.

6 out of 10, but that’s all it needed to be.

Top of the league no injuries, didn’t take much out of the tank. Professional performance. Job done.

Good post, solid professional win. Took the foot off the gas last 20.

Nsemba very good defensively. Was aggressive and looking for work, something he wasn’t doing as much a few months back.

We are hard to score from deep on due to the our pace.

Finishing top is in our hands.

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 10:27 pm  

NSW wrote:

Good post, solid professional win. Took the foot off the gas last 20.

Nsemba very good defensively. Was aggressive and looking for work, something he wasn’t doing as much a few months back.

We are hard to score from deep on due to the our pace.

Finishing top is in our hands.

It’s a great point about our defensive prowess when teams break from deep. It happened 2 or 3 times tonight and each time, I just thought ‘we’ll get them’ and we obliged. It wasn’t even a case of just French and Field getting back. Guys like Wardle, King and Smith were flying back as well. That is all on their desire to work hard because they’re not flying machines.

Re: Squad for Salford : Fri Sep 01, 2023 10:48 pm  

Yeah, I thought that too. We weren't just reliant on Field making a brilliant cover tackle (although he can), others were chasing back hard and hauling them down.