SL Debut mk (ii) reflections : Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:18 pm
Watched the game last night in work. Now the dust has settled, here's a few observations: Absolutely thrilled to hear the attendance of 8k, it'd be brilliant if we can make that an average over the year with some big away followings to come. Looked like a good 800 or so from Wakey too so good on them. I assume the West stand was used with the offers handed to schools? Brilliant take-up. The fans were a credit, even the atmosphere didn't get going as it should have, as I've read on the boards since the match.
Couldn't knock Widnes' enthusiasm throughout the match. But as John Kear said in the first half, I could only see one winner over 80 mins. We weren't as sharp as them. We looked disjointed and really shallow in attack in the opposition's 20 while Wakey were clinical and composed in defence. Our passing was a bit off, not quick enough and not always going in front of the chest / breadbasket, stopping our flow.
Scott Moore and Ben Cross need to clean their acts up. They're two of our most influential players but they let down their teammates by conceding cheap penalties. Likewise, the discipline needs to get better. I think it will with a couple of games.
I thought the contributions of Dave Allen and Frank Winterstein were promising. I wasn't convinced with the signing of Winterstein but he's put some size on in the off-season and looked dangerous in attack. And Allen ran his blood to water. Likewise Ben Kavanagh, who will go on to become a good player in SL. I still think we need to utilise him in the back row, at least once we get Kite in.
Jon Clarke looked tired and slow, I hear he was carrying an injury. We need to keep him away from the halves, White should have been in there from the beginning instead of interchanging at hooker.
Wasn't convinced that Pickersgill is worthy of a SL contract, but I don't want to fall into the trap that most chemics do on TIW by calling for heads so early. I think we need to be careful with Mullally too, don't expect too much from him too soon.
It's obvious we're not blessed with the best squad in the league so a clean bill of health is vital. We were unlucky to be missing the likes of Flynn, Watts and Briscoe so early and I think with these guys back, and the two new signings in, we'll be a great deal better. Don't understimate how important it was to be missing five of our top guys.
Keep the faith!
