Im not sure it was the front row why we lost that game. Their trys and field position came from outstripping us on the edges, and the reason we didn’t capitalise on the one man advantage was our attacking shape, we had the field position

That's how we let in tries. Batley is saying we fundamentally don't have enough oomph in our pack. I know Oledzki's stats will no doubt look nice again, but he just doesn't have a big impact with or without the ball. Palasia is a worker not a dynamo, as are both our starting second rows. Its all a bit blah. And don't get me started on Cam Smith.....

Our edge defense on both sides needs serious attention. Time to earn your money Langley and sort it.

Yep correct. We were better in the second half because we ran harder with more intensity, you could see they got a rollocking! As I said earlier on this thread the pack looked average today. Now it’s too early to overreact but it’s very very concerning

Lost count how many times Smith killed an attack. I really don’t rate him. Needs to improve a lot.

Obviously a really disappointing performance and one we’ve seen all too much over the last few years.

The fast line speed defence got worked very early on the edges. Unfortunately, Handley and Newman are not defensively strong enough to make that style work in my opinion. They misread the jam in consistently throughout. Hopefully we will work it out but It’s a worry.

Jake Connor turned out a display that he has for the last few years as well. Slow and lethargic. He cannot be our full back going forward. If he plays it must be in the halves.

I said it early in preseason - I don’t see where our line breaks are going to come from. Gannon looked like the main threat and he hasn’t played for the best part of two years.

In better news I though Mik looked quality until the head knock

Maybe they need JJB in the dressing giving them an inspirational talk about adversity, fortitude and verisimilitude... Or alternative pathways out of the sport.

After watching that $h!t3 today, I think BA will be going back to Oz sooner rather than later,

Looks like Peter Smith is a bit peed off as well given his player ratings for the game, only Hall in the backs scoring more than 5 out of 10, and Gannon, Holroyd and Cam Smith on 6 in the forwards. Not sure how Smith got 6 though.

This is so frustrating because it feels that despite a change of coach and another round of ins and outs, we've got almost exactly the same problems as last year, with some new ones in terms of edge defence added. The forwards are physically way too easy to dominate, without a single player in our starting lineup that opponents would be worried about tackling, our spine (partly because of the forwards) looks clueless and we generally lack speed.

I know its very early, but I'd already look at Sinfield for Frawley for at least five games as soon as he's fit. The utter nothingness that Frawley offers is a marvel to behold, and he will not be part of any long term future. We desperately need one of our spine to take charge and move the team around, give the forwards a spray etc, and not wait for the coach to have a dig at half time. I'm more disappointed in Croft than Frawley for that though. You can see why Croft failed utterly as lead halfback in the NRL.

I should add that had Miller and Sivo been available things might have looked very different. Both of them would be expected to make big yards on kick returns, which would take some pressure off the forwards. Maye Clark-Wood will help there and Miller will be back at some stage. But there has to be a Plan B. Doesn't there?