[BOBBIE_IS_SUPERMAN]

Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 7:01 am  

And we still need a halfback . With bridge being injured and potentially out for the season we could end up with egg on our faces with the run in we have

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 8:15 am  

What has Bridgey done ,at least he managed to hobble off ? That's the problem with Bridge though ,i think he's great , but he is prone to long ,complicated injuries.

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 8:54 am  

Looked like Bridge has a repeat of the Achilles problem.

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:02 am  

Why will we have egg on our faces?

As you say its near the end of the season, we are fourth in the table, one point off Wigan in second. This is far better than I expected, seeing as we lost Briers, Hodgson, Morley and Carvell in the off season and a number of our key players eg Westwood, Grix have had seasons disrupted by injury.

There have been a lot of young players playing regularly in the first team this year and with so much disruption and experience I would have expected us at this point to be around where Catalans are battling for 7th place.

We might end up finishing anywhere from 1st to 6th and no doubt if we have a sticky run now there will be the usual "Smith has FAILED because he hasn't won us a trophy" rants on here, but the players have done pretty well this season and I'm pleased with the way we have reacted.

I don't think our squad is ready to compete for trophies again yet but we aren't as far off as I thought we were going to be and I can't fault the effort so fair play to them. Bridge has been outstanding this year, and Michael Monaghan who I thought was a player in decline has had a superb season again, and Joel has continued to be Super League's number one winger.

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:31 am  

If my maths is correct, last nights victory has guaranteed us at least 1 home play-off game. Each game is a further step towards the end of season. As Sally has said, expectation were low at the start of the season give the number of departures and the start we had. Given that, IIRC, Lee was planning on departing ahead of 2015, I'm sure the club have something up their sleeve as a replacement in the playmaker roles........................ but maybe Chris Bridge has thrown a spanner in those works with the way he has played this season.

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:55 am  

Putting aside our performances, hasn't this season gone quick?

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 10:33 am  

Flown over Fatbelly ,& closer finish than for ages.

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 10:59 am  

sally cinnamon wrote:

Why will we have egg on our faces?

As you say its near the end of the season, we are fourth in the table, one point off Wigan in second. This is far better than I expected, seeing as we lost Briers, Hodgson, Morley and Carvell in the off season and a number of our key players eg Westwood, Grix have had seasons disrupted by injury.

There have been a lot of young players playing regularly in the first team this year and with so much disruption and experience I would have expected us at this point to be around where Catalans are battling for 7th place.

We might end up finishing anywhere from 1st to 6th and no doubt if we have a sticky run now there will be the usual "Smith has FAILED because he hasn't won us a trophy" rants on here, but the players have done pretty well this season and I'm pleased with the way we have reacted.

I don't think our squad is ready to compete for trophies again yet but we aren't as far off as I thought we were going to be and I can't fault the effort so fair play to them. Bridge has been outstanding this year, and Michael Monaghan who I thought was a player in decline has had a superb season again, and Joel has continued to be Super League's number one winger.

Well said Sally. We need a few signings but not as many as I expected at the start of the season. I never expected us to be 4 points off top at this point of the season. We still have a chance of the big prize this season, if you look at all the teams above us and around us they have all dropped unexpected points recently, the trophy could be won by any of the top 6 in my opinion.

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:17 am  

A top 5 play-off system this season would provide a very interesting climax to the regular season as well as a highly competitive play-off series.

Re: Regular season nearly done : Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:26 am  

Smith said Bridgey has a grade one hamstring tear.