It would seem Mr Grix has become like that despised/loveable spread. For me his performance last night sums him up in a nutshell, he goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, but hasn't he been like that most of his career? Capable of off the cuff brilliance and howlers all in the same game, we knew what we were getting when he was signed. Max Jowitt is a promising young player, but that's all right now, obviously at his age he isn't the finished article, and he probably will improve, but is he the answer next season for a full season? With Grix another year older, maybe our next 'big' signing should be a full back? Look at how Hardaker has help to take Cas to the next level.

I also was very disappointed with the gameplan against Saints, it was too negative particularly in the 2nd half, the way we played when Hadley was in the bin was perfect, but then we continued to play that way for the rest of the half, against a team who's defence is the best in the league bar Cas. I'm not sure whether the players were feeling the pressure last night and it was a mental thing. This team has come such a long way and we should all be proud of them, but we are so close maybe to something remarkable, it hurt bad to lose in such a manner. Still all to play for, let's just hope CC can lift them because that is going to take some getting over.

There's nothing wrong with Grix at all, I love watching him play in attack. But I agree, to make that next step, I think we need to see either his defence improve or a different FB. I suppose it comes down to cost though and he's certainly worth every penny he's paid. He runs his blood to water each week and leaves nothing on the pitch

I like him too, and most of the stick he gets is ott, but sometimes he makes you tear your hair out because he makes the difficult skills look easy, and then the simple (ish) stuff look hard!! I just think over the last 10 or 12 games he has become inconsistent. I would back him though to have a blinder next week.......hopefully.

They've all been a bit inconsistent but i suppose that's the nature of it. We have the lowest value squad and one of the smaller squads in the top 8, if we could afford consistent players then I'm sure we'd have them and we'd be top of the league. It looks like we're going to finish higher than last year and hopefully that means we get a bit more central funding which could be used for marketing the game a bit more to get the city interested in the sport and the club, which in turn will raise the gate revenue meaning we can get more consistent players!

You've just said it yourself we were playing against the best defensive team bar Cas, so maybe the tactics were not as negative as some people would have you believe, isn't it just possible that on the night we were not allowed to play the positive rugby everybody wanted, just a thought really.

But on the flip side of that, Saints are one of the worst offensive sides in the 8 and we are/were the second best behind Cas this season.

For me, we're exactly where I'd expect us to be, and we're exactly where Cas were just last year. Cas had the second best attack and one of the worst defences which is pretty much what we've got. They finished 5th last year and with a bit of tidying up in defence have finished top this year

Maybe yes, sometimes obviously the opposition and how they play etc can dictate the way you want to play, but getting to last tackle plays and Miller just doing short little kicks into touch I just didn't get?! At least the 1st half the high kicks were challenged and put Barba under pressure which led to the first try. Obviously they have a good defence for a reason, maybe it was just one of those arm wrestle type games and both teams seemed to constrict each other.

All of which proves what exactly in the context of last night's game.

A while ago there was a thread on this forum, and I think it was titled Improving This Squad.

I said at the time, both Grix and Finn getting no younger, and that maybe come the end of the 2018 season. I also mentioned that there are quite a few players that can play at full back and half back, equally as effective, like a Ratchford or O Brien.

Maybe that could be an option for us. It could even kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak.

Personally I would say it's exactly that, and had it not been for Grix's misfortune we would be celebrating a win and there wouldn't be any talk of negative tactics.