Re: London Skolars (H) : Mon May 14, 2018 8:04 am  

I thought London were better than expected. Their scrum half Thorman had an excellent passing game. The big no14 who came on was a real handful, if he got himself fit he could develop into a good prop. But yes we were flat and I think underestimated them, we thought we would just brush them aside like West Wales.

Re: London Skolars (H) : Mon May 14, 2018 8:44 am  

It must be really difficult to maintain a high level of intensity going into matches like this one where you are expected to win and win comfortably. It's almost a lose/lose situation for us.
Chisholm kicks more goals in this match and we pretty much hit 70 points. And yet almost every comment on here is voicing disappointment at our performance!

Go back and look at how slow the game was yesterday, nearly every ptb took an absolute eternity. I've no doubt that a faster game would suit our players more but it just isn't going to happen in this division.

We scored some nice tries yesterday, I'm not sure what our completion rate was like but it didn't seem too bad. On the whole I was relatively satisfied even though I'm still frustrated at the performances of our centres week on week. Lee Smith had an ok game and is only being let down by his age now I think. Gibson doesn't have that excuse and continues to starve his winger of any ball. I would like Oakes to have a run out in the first team but I'm not expecting it to happen.

[Bullseye]

Re: London Skolars (H) : Mon May 14, 2018 9:24 am  

I thought it was another inconsistent performance from us. Kear was apparently very unhappy with aspects of our play and I can see why. We started ok but the letting in of three soft tries was concerning. It was as if we fell into that habit of cruising and not giving the opposition enough respect. These games are challenging in some ways in that they can breed complacency and bad habits.

In attack I thought Ethan Ryan was very good indeed. With Lee Smith losing a few pounds he’s a bit more mobile which means we’re more of a threat down that side. Young Milnes did alright with some nice kicks for tries. There was some breakdowns in movement at times when both he and Chisholm decided to change direction and this threw out a lot of the structure and players seemed at a loss to read them. It’s clear we’re missing Keyes.

Newcastle will be a tougher prospect but it’s again a game we ought to win easily. I hope Kear can prevent this run of games from making us too “soft” for when the bigger games vs Whitehaven, Doncaster, Hunslet and York come along.

Re: London Skolars (H) : Mon May 14, 2018 10:11 am  

Oakes and Ryan were scoring tries for fun last year against better opposition.. now Oakes can't get a game?????

Re: London Skolars (H) : Mon May 14, 2018 10:44 am  

Molsk111 wrote:

Oakes and Ryan were scoring tries for fun last year against better opposition.. now Oakes can't get a game?????

It baffles me too. Some say it's because of Oakes' defence but I'm not sure it's any worse than Lee Smith's tbh.

On the topic of centres, we may well get a glimpse of another of our promising youngsters making their SL debuts for another club this weekend. Hull's injury/discipline woes have led to them recalling Cameron Scott back from Dewsbury so he might end up getting a game in the Hull derby!
It will be a sickener see him play for someone other than us but at the same time I hope he does well if he does end up playing.

[Bullseye]

Re: London Skolars (H) : Mon May 14, 2018 12:07 pm  

I think Oakes having a slow start to the season really held him back. He looked well below par in the friendlies.

His strength is he's a real "winger's centre" but I'm not sure he's actually that much quicker than Smith in a foot race.

I think Kear knows what he's doing.

On the subject of our former youngsters I hope Scott has a good game for Hull. I watched Trueman for Cas on the telly, he looks good but still has a lot to learn.

I also wonder if that move to Saints is working out for James Bentley. He wasn't playing this weekend for Sheffield but he's been on the end of some hidings this year. I wonder if he's still positive about that move?

Re: London Skolars (H) : Mon May 14, 2018 4:59 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

I think Oakes having a slow start to the season really held him back. He looked well below par in the friendlies.

His strength is he's a real "winger's centre" but I'm not sure he's actually that much quicker than Smith in a foot race.

I think Kear knows what he's doing.

On the subject of our former youngsters I hope Scott has a good game for Hull. I watched Trueman for Cas on the telly, he looks good but still has a lot to learn.

I also wonder if that move to Saints is working out for James Bentley. He wasn't playing this weekend for Sheffield but he's been on the end of some hidings this year. I wonder if he's still positive about that move?

Sorry got to disagree about Oakes and his lack of speed. Watch him in the reserves and you'll see he can keep up with Ricko and would certainly outpace Smith who tends to have a couple of burst during a game for twenty metres or so then tends to hide,I watched him come off at half time and the guy was really blowing, but the reason Oakes won't get a game there's no way Kear will drop his captain unless he picks up a knock.

Re: London Skolars (H) : Tue May 15, 2018 8:24 am  

Mobull wrote:

the reason Oakes won't get a game there's no way Kear will drop his captain unless he picks up a knock.

Except he has left out the captain a few times (Hitchcox, Butler-Fleming & Oakes have all played there ahead of him this year)

Re: London Skolars (H) : Tue May 15, 2018 9:16 am  

HamsterChops wrote:

Except he has left out the captain a few times (Hitchcox, Butler-Fleming & Oakes have all played there ahead of him this year)

Only when Smith was injured.

Re: London Skolars (H) : Tue May 15, 2018 9:29 am  

Mobull wrote:

Only when Smith was injured.

Maybe Smith has more influence on the players around him, something that's harder to see as a spectator. We need leaders, every top team has them, not just youthful enthusiasm. It's about getting the balance right.