fixem wrote:One thing which has not been mentioned on the forum about last night's game is the kicking by both sides. In this aspect Hull were clearly second best. Gale was able to direct his up and unders high and accurate. Apart from Talanoa's unfortunate lapse Hull defended this bombardment well. Invariably, however, the player defending the kick, usually Shaul, was dumped to the ground where he caught the ball, immediately putting the team under pressure and on the backfoot. Hull's up and unders, on the other hand, were not so well directed or accurate. The team was not able to get up quick enough to attack the defending player, who was mostly able to return the ball 10 metres or so before being tackled.

In recent games Connor has been putting in the up and unders with no little skill. The Hull attackers were able to get up on the defender and put him under pressure. Why did Connor not do some of the kicking last night?

The same problem when attacking the line. Gales kicks were varied, accurate and mostly along the ground. Again Hull did well to defend these, but you always felt that they were under pressure and a try would come at any moment. Hull's kicking strategy on the sixth tackle was woeful. I cannot remember one occasion when Cas appeared to be pressurised from the type of kicks to which Gale was subjecting Hull.

Radford wants Hull to be more savvy when attacking. An improved kicking game would help.

In my opinion Hull were the better team last night, but they do constantly shoot themselves in the foot. Gifting sides like Cas easy tries (they did it in the cup tie as well) is not clever, especially when Hull seem to have to work for their tries. The more Hull concede easy tries the more opponents will turn up expecting Christmas to arrive at some time in the game.

PCollinson1990 wrote:If you say so, I suggest you watch the game again.

Dave K. wrote:I've never seen so many Cas fans on RLFANS, not sure there was this many commenting on theads when we won the other two games.

Davc1h wrote:As you will see, I have only just started posting on RL fans.

I come on other fans boards as I am genuinely interested what you have to say and I do have a bit of a soft spot for Hull and like to see them do well.

I gave Hull the respect they deserved for beating us twice as they were the better team by far.
It just seems some of the posters on here cannot give Cas the same respect. But, each to their own.

FWIW I think Hull should win the GF and if it cannot be us, I am more than happy for Hull to win it.

Dave K. wrote:Aimed more and the more established posters, I think Cas deserve lots of credit for the season so far and digging in to get a result on Friday, I think some Hull fans are just a bit frustrated with the result as we didn't make you work for any of your try's and if we had been smarter we would have won the game.

I don't get fans writing Cas off, think they will be on the GF, as will get a home tie and will be able to rest people last few games.

Davc1h wrote:As you will see, I have only just started posting on RL fans.

I come on other fans boards as I am genuinely interested what you have to say and I do have a bit of a soft spot for Hull and like to see them do well.

I gave Hull the respect they deserved for beating us twice as they were the better team by far.
It just seems some of the posters on here cannot give Cas the same respect. But, each to their own.

FWIW I think Hull should win the GF and if it cannot be us, I am more than happy for Hull to win it.

Mild mannered Janitor wrote:I think Cas are being given credit, and rightly so. Top of the league by some distance and attacking rugby which is easy on the eye.

Ideal GF would be Hull v Cas. New name on the trophy and would be a great advert for the game.

nottinghamtiger wrote:Not the ideal GF for Castleford though. We could still have a new name on the trophy with a Cas v Wakefield/Salford final!
I'd much rather play Leeds, Salford or Wakefield. Or anyone else for that matter.
The battle for 2nd to 4th is certainly going to be interesting. I think Saints will be out of the running if Hull beat them next week, but if Saints win they will be back in the mix too.
Games between these teams in the super 8s will be decisive.
Interestingly I think Hull have highlighted that Cas have some improving to do in terms of brute strength and power. Our squad is built around ball-playing, mobile forwards but, at times, we need to be more direct and put teams on the back foot through the middle.
My understanding is that Powell has identified two props he believes will add this to the team for 2018.'