One thing that baffles me is Lam's belief that Hankinson is somehow an acceptable option at second row. When I saw his name on the bench it worried me that he might end up on the pitch. Then Greenwood gets injured and we end up with Isa and Hankinson as our 2 back rowers. It's not like we don't have people to play there. Smithies had some cracking games there and Paisley, while hit or miss, did have a good game the last time he played Catalans and has the advantage of being a back row forward. Any possible threat we might possible have in that position completely disappears.
And it's no surprise that yet again when Greenwood goes off we don't have a clue what to do. He's pretty much our go to forward which probably puts a bit too much pressure on him as he can be managed out of the game if he doesn't get good enough service.
Williams was shocking. Even when we were being relatively competitive against the Catalans pack his decision making was utterly awful. Powell too was poor and completely outplayed by McIlorum. I hope Lam is giving some consideration to moving Leuluai back to 9 (it worked well last time) with Shorrocks on the bench once Sammut returns because there's not an ounce of creativity from Powell.
The only forward who had a good game was Flower, who seemed to be tasked with keeping Sam Moa quiet and he did that brilliantly. Everyone else though looked well below par, particularly O'Loughlin who had one of his worst games.
I really don't see how we can fix our problems without making signings. It's obvious our pack is weak right now and they are showing little signs of improvement. It was an obvious weakness at the start of the season. I think Lam even said he wanted to strengthen that area but the club weren't forthcoming with any signings. In that respect I do have some sympathy for Lam but I won't if he keeps picking Hankinson as a bloody second rower!
