Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 12:35 pm  

Maybe it was me, first game I've been able to get to last night and they play like that
Might be worth dropping me next week !

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 12:36 pm  

Wire blew three certain tries by fumbling the ball with the line begging. It should have been a walkover. Yet again we only start to play with twenty left and a mountain to climb (16-0) at the time.

Let’s just hope it was the trip that caused such a lacklustre performance, looking for significant improvement against Widnes.

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:00 pm  

Have zero idea how Sutton thinks he’s good enough for the NRL.

Zero impact from the Bench forwards Isa, Sutton and TT.

I’d give Hamlin, Naverrette and Field a run out next week for them 3

[DaveO]

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:05 pm  

jonh wrote:

From a selection point of view, for me you need your best players on the field for as long as possible and at the moment the Powell, Tomkins, Escaré shift isn’t working. Powell seems lost playing as a 7 and does not give us the spark or direction we need. I personally think it’s tome to revert to a traditional system of Sam at 7 Escaré, who looks very threatening when he is on to 1 and rotate TL and Powell at 9. My main concern then is our lack of height in our back 3 but it’s worth it for the speed that move generates.

The only person on planet earth who thought this moving the half backs/full back around when it became obvious this is what was on the cards pre-season was Wane. For this to change Wane has to admit he was wrong to give Powell the 7 shirt and wrong about this moving the half backs/full back around. I think he is too stubborn to do either and will stick with it for at least half a season.

Finally I’ve been pleased with our more expansive style (ok we didn’t see it last night) but it has generally been evidenced in the other games, I however would just like to see us sharpen up our passing and execution. Passes going behind and poorly timed runs are stifling our effectiveness so significant hours need to be put in, in training to correct that.

The expansive style has got to amount to more than shipping the ball sideways to static players, so yes this needs to be sharpened up and quickly but then it's been like this before. Maybe the fatigue of the Aussie trip and the flight was an issue. Lets see what happens v Widnes.

The issue I have is the right side of our attack. We don't have one. Everything of note happens on the left. It won't take long for teams to suss this out and deal with it.

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:41 pm  

MadDogg wrote:

Im not going to judge Wigan on last night - I just dont think its fair. Lets see what we look like against Widnes.

Agreed.

The only thing I will comment on is the tactic of bring SOL off for Isa??? I know we don't have anyone close to SOL's quality to replace him with but Isa can't even do a shift play, at least Sutton can at 13.

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:52 pm  

We have to give Hamlin and Navarette a crack next week or else players like Tautai, JT, Sutton will get comfier then they are already.

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 2:03 pm  

RichieS wrote:

Last night showed our defense is robust, the "energy saving" tactic of allowing the attack to advance whilst you stand firm worked well in the middle of the pitch and allowed for our energy levels to be high throughout the game. It won't be getting changed and will start to work much better in the coming games. Scientifically it looks to allow energy conservation throughout the team an extra 8/10 minutes before depletion. On the face of it, I think it worked last night, only Wires well drilled defense kept us from going over 2/3 times in the final quarter.

Thanks for the explanation although it concerns me - against the Rabbitohs they were making big inroads and I worry that against the biggest packs it will leave us vulnerable (Wakefield, Cas especially) as it is harder for a static defender to stop a big forward at full pace, as others have commented Warrington should have been further ahead by the second half and it would leave Wigan with too much to do late game - especially if the attack doesn't sharpen up.

With Wigan's lighter weight pack (and not too impressive bench options) it could leave us vulnerable particularly with forwards with good offloads - time will tell.

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 2:37 pm  

NSW wrote:

Have zero idea how Sutton thinks he’s good enough for the NRL.

Zero impact from the Bench forwards Isa, Sutton and TT.

I’d give Hamlin, Naverrette and Field a run out next week for them 3

Sutton will be released by his NRL club quicker than you can say Salford, Wakefield or Widnes. They’re his standard and where he’s destined for once he’s had a 12 month pay day in Aus.

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 2:45 pm  

I thought the team selection was spot on for last nights game which to be fair, was always going to be tough to get a win. The performance was as flat as I expected and we were lucky not to be on the end of a big defeat. That said, it’s not the end of the world and in the Salford and Hull games, I’d say we’ve seen enough to be confident of a good season.
Powell is really struggling as a starting scrum half and if he doesn’t buck up and quick, I’d drop him. Hamlin has to be given a chance and for me in place of Isa. Gildart is driving me mad! He had another clear opportunity to put Marshall away again last night and took the tackle. He doesn’t seem to be learning from his mistakes which is really frustrating me. The problem we have is that centre is a position where we have little cover. Forsyth went ok last season but seems to have fallen out of favour for some reason, Higginson was good midweek and will be pushing to cover for Sarginson.

Re: Changes : Sat Feb 24, 2018 3:08 pm  

RichieS wrote:

Last night showed our defense is robust, the "energy saving" tactic of allowing the attack to advance whilst you stand firm worked well in the middle of the pitch and allowed for our energy levels to be high throughout the game. It won't be getting changed and will start to work much better in the coming games. Scientifically it looks to allow energy conservation throughout the team an extra 8/10 minutes before depletion. On the face of it, I think it worked last night, only Wires well drilled defense kept us from going over 2/3 times in the final quarter.

It’s probably a great tactic if you’ve got a good long kicking game but we were ending sets on our own 30/40 (at best) and putting in dreadful kicks that started Wire on half way. If you’re then tactically allowing them 10m on every tackle they end their sets on our line every time which is pretty much what happened. A better and more clinical team would’ve put up more points and taken us to the cleaners last night. An extra 10 minutes of energy would’ve been irrelevant.