bonaire wrote:
Castleford was the only standout.Warrington ok
The matches against Catalan reserves,leigh and Widnes were all Uninspiring and the previous 2 games before this run we were thumped by both Leeds and Salford.
The only way we can have bench impact is when Ellis is fit and he and Mini come off the bench.
Whatever fans think of Pritchard we definately miss him off the bench this season
That we had backloaded contracts last year so we could squeeze the whole squad in is having an effect this, that and AP was clearly not going to spend full whack on a marquee player for this and probably next also. When you hear Radford making a particular point to mention that the club only just broke even last year despite the CC win and the Bulldogs paying much of Pritchard's salary I think that came/comes as no surprise.
As previously mentioned I think we have a better balanced squad this year however. Connor is certainly offering more than Yeaman (& Griffin at moment in time), young forwards are having a chance to shine/more responsibility on Green/Thompson/Washbrook (as would be Hadley if he were playing)
Pritchard whilst he did have impact at times put more pressure on other players because he simply wasn't doing long enough stints, he also was hugely behind others like Thompson in the tackling stats, again that put pressure on other players to take up his slack during a game.
Should have plenty enough to see off Leigh but the mental attitude/preparation has to be so much better than against Saints. This is were were are falling down the most as it's clear we have the talent.