I thought we lacked any sort of control and direction throughout the game. Our first half kicking game was probably the worst so far this season. Too many times, we were going sideways and seemed to lose our direction and our set up play on the 5th was a bit erratic, with the ball ended up being forced to Kelly or Campese under pressure. End result nothing kicks caught on the full, too easy for Widnes backs and who made easy yards. That seemed to be the trend all half. A lot has been made about lack of go forward down the middle so far, but it has been the norm in every game imo esp away. At Wire we found away around them, Wakey we just never clicked and at Widnes a lot of sideways play that Widnes by in large nullified. I know and appreciate our resources were stretched on Sunday, but having the normal 3 and sometimes 4 tackles taken up by the backs isn't going to get us on the front foot from our own half. I know it's the norm for the backs to do the early clearing work, but it did seem to me, that they were doing more than normal in the first half.
I did think we were on the end of some consecutive harsh calls at times and Widnes profited on the back of these, but this was more than 'evened up' (if you like) in the second half so can't really complain. When we were forcing the game and running our plays towards the end. I think we may have been better served looking to go towards Sio instead of Mantellato. We worked a few opportunities/space for Josh, who maybe 100%'ter - but he doesn't have raw pace or the same finishing ability of Sio.