Re: On paper : Mon Jul 25, 2016 8:53 pm  

40 year old giant wrote:

gazzagiant after our first win against kr we started to get players back for me the turning point was HT when we had Catalan on toast and made a balls of it. than a very bad Easter then a win over wire then back to normal for me Anderson as coach was more of the problem

Yeah I felt the injury thing was a bit of a smokescreen, especially second half of the season and the main issue was elsewhere. My fear is that the situation was left to fester far too long and it's going to be a tough 7 games to get through successfully

Re: On paper : Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:21 pm  

spot on gazz

Re: On paper : Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:39 pm  

There was an interesting interview with Anderson on his holidays in Oz where he referenced things behind the scenes out of his control that have affected us this season. We will probably never find the truth, but in my opinion our small squad depth has been the fundamental reason. Injuries are a given, we should have had the players to cover that. We have reduced the squad and the cap every year, and it's bitten us hard this year.

Re: On paper : Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:20 am  

gazzagiant wrote:

Seems to me the whole injuries thing gets blown up to be more than it was......there is no denying we had a big injury list up to Easter, but after that we started getting players back and over the last few months I don't think we have suffered any more than other clubs. ON PAPER we have been able to put out teams good enough to pick up points.....as we've seen, games are not played on paper!

We started getting SOME players back and lost others.
By my reckoning we have played this season with at least 7 different 1/2 back combinations/pairings could be more! - and 4 fullbacks- 5 if Murphy played FB but I can't remember if he has started there this season- did he play there at the home game against KR? . Massive inconsistencies in our performances could well in part be attributed to massive inconsistencies in our playing squad- especially in those pivotal roles.

Re: On paper : Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:03 am  

jools wrote:

We started getting SOME players back and lost others.
By my reckoning we have played this season with at least 7 different 1/2 back combinations/pairings could be more! - and 4 fullbacks- 5 if Murphy played FB but I can't remember if he has started there this season- did he play there at the home game against KR? . Massive inconsistencies in our performances could well in part be attributed to massive inconsistencies in our playing squad- especially in those pivotal roles.

Needn't be a handicap though jools. At Leigh we have used nine different half back combinations this season and have still managed (finally) to arrive at a settled pairing! (Ridyard/Brierley; Ridyard/Chase; Chase/Brierley; Patterson/Brierley; Ridyard/Reynolds; Reynolds/Drinkwater; Drinkwater/Burns; Ridyard/Drinkwater; Ridyard/Burns)

Maybe that's why it has taken our backs so long to settle down, but it should be an advantage to go into the play offs able to switch half backs, should the need arise.

Re: On paper : Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:41 am  

HuddsRL5 wrote:

There was an interesting interview with Anderson on his holidays in Oz where he referenced things behind the scenes out of his control that have affected us this season. We will probably never find the truth, but in my opinion our small squad depth has been the fundamental reason. Injuries are a given, we should have had the players to cover that. We have reduced the squad and the cap every year, and it's bitten us hard this year.

That's an interesting post RL5, and I dare say there will be some truth in it, There will be some truth in all the reasons people have put forward for our situation, and all of them apply to all the other teams as well, only it's not been as bad for them as it has for us, It never is, there are always mitigating circumstances we can quote to excuse the teams failures.
We see endless posts about what we as fans need to do, we need to turn up in numbers, especially away games , we need to sing, Let them know we are behind them, our support is a disgrace , we have given up, no wonder they don't play well, On and on and on. What about what they need to do for us ( the people helping to pay their wages ) If we are poor or a disgrace , what are they ? They are highly paid professional players is what they are and they have looked like it about 4 times all season.
Granted Mr Davy got rid of PA "about 18 months too late" Anybody could see what was happening with the majority of the squad and the crowds reflected what they thought of it, But to be honest I think the crowds have stood up remarkably well, considering the dross that's been served up

Now with this 1.8 million squad we are contemplating whether we can actually beat enough Championship sides to survive, I don't care how good Leigh have looked, we should Tonk them, along with the rest. I mean no disrespect to any of the other sides but in reality we should Tonk them, No amount of excuses will suffice for failure, Play and the fans will get behind them, Fail and they will go down the pan, which is what they will deserve.

Re: On paper : Tue Jul 26, 2016 1:17 pm  

jools wrote:

We started getting SOME players back and lost others.
By my reckoning we have played this season with at least 7 different 1/2 back combinations/pairings could be more! - and 4 fullbacks- 5 if Murphy played FB but I can't remember if he has started there this season- did he play there at the home game against KR? . Massive inconsistencies in our performances could well in part be attributed to massive inconsistencies in our playing squad- especially in those pivotal roles.

yep

not forgetting playing most the season with 2 young inexperienced props, how can your halfbacks play well when you get beat in the forwards

Re: On paper : Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:55 pm  

Alan wrote:

Needn't be a handicap though jools. At Leigh we have used nine different half back combinations this season and have still managed (finally) to arrive at a settled pairing! (Ridyard/Brierley; Ridyard/Chase; Chase/Brierley; Patterson/Brierley; Ridyard/Reynolds; Reynolds/Drinkwater; Drinkwater/Burns; Ridyard/Drinkwater; Ridyard/Burns)

Maybe that's why it has taken our backs so long to settle down, but it should be an advantage to go into the play offs able to switch half backs, should the need arise.

It wouldn't have been a handicap if we were playing Whitehaven /Workington and not Wigan saints.... We will see how far Leigh have come in the ne t few weeks.

Re: On paper : Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:17 pm  

jools wrote:

It wouldn't have been a handicap if we were playing Whitehaven /Workington and not Wigan saints.... We will see how far Leigh have come in the ne t few weeks.

I would suggest it's a handicap, playing different half back pairings each week, whoever you are playing. I would expect Ligh to improve on last year's Qualifiers showing (ok, not difficult, I know) but that would be progress.

Re: On paper : Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:35 pm  

Alan wrote:

I would suggest it's a handicap, playing different half back pairings each week, whoever you are playing. I would expect Ligh to improve on last year's Qualifiers showing (ok, not difficult, I know) but that would be progress.

You would suggest it's a handicap in one post it shouldn't be in another? Am I missing something?