Ultimately I think this year is proving to be a bit of a squad transition year, coupled with injuries (we've not had too much bad luck with them in the past couple of seasons) which have led to younger players getting more game time.
The loss of Ellis, Fonua and now Watts, plus an ageing Minichiello has had an impact, but in 12 months time we'll see the benefit of the game time that the likes of Fash, Matongo, Lane etc are having.
Agree that Bowden has been off his game this season, he seems to have changed his style a bit. Usually he hits contact and stays upright, facing his own line and driving backwards to make metres whilst being open for the offload. Now he seems to be more regular with his approach. Confidence maybe?
I don't think we're too far off, as long as we hit the Super 8's either in top 4 or within a couple of points, then I'd back Radford to get us to the semi's, whilst having another good cup run. The league structure as it is doesn't require a team to be perfect week in, week out, and as mentioned above, the intensity we play at sometimes means that we will get those off days.
Last night was more down to not having Sneyd (and later Kelly) on the pitch from a game management perspective and the final play calls were poor as a result. Abdull doesn't fit our style of play, and I think that was evident last night.
Could do with another mid season signing to help the forwards. Westerman can hopefully do a good job for us, but still think we need another quality prop to replace Watts. I have no concerns about us in the backs.
Joined: Jun 01 2007 Posts: 12664 Location: Leicestershire.
Cardiff_05 wrote: The league structure as it is doesn't require a team to be perfect week in, week out, and as mentioned above, the intensity we play at sometimes means that we will get those off days.
Aye, Phil Clarke used to waffle on about consistency of performance and narrowing the gap between best and worst, and that being the difference between the best teams and the rest. Even assuming he meant only cutting out the worst performances rather than simply being more even, it’s still pretty much nonsense. It’s about being good enough often enough and at the right times.
'Thus I am tormented by my curiosity and humbled by my ignorance.' from History of an Old Bramin, The New York Mirror (A Weekly Journal Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts), February 16th 1833.
Joined: Aug 01 2005 Posts: 5913 Location: Definately not in the Cuddle Crew
Cardiff_05 wrote: I don't think we're too far off, as long as we hit the Super 8's either in top 4 or within a couple of points, then I'd back Radford to get us to the semi's, whilst having another good cup run. The league structure as it is doesn't require a team to be perfect week in, week out, and as mentioned above, the intensity we play at sometimes means that we will get those off days.
You been smoking crack? Theres no feckin way we'll be anywhere near the top four, Saints, Wigan, Cas, Wire are all far better sides - Were now two points behind Cas and they have played two less games than us
Dave K. wrote:I agree with Jake, I think this year will be consolidation, too much quality gone and not replaced. Big recruitment/retention for next season required. With the standard of the league and Barba likely gone, if we could keep Kelly and add in two quality forwards to replace Watts and Ellis, get Westy fit and we won't be far off.
Got to cut out the basic errors that we commit every week
Cardiff_05 wrote:Ultimately I think this year is proving to be a bit of a squad transition year, coupled with injuries (we've not had too much bad luck with them in the past couple of seasons) which have led to younger players getting more game time.
The loss of Ellis, Fonua and now Watts, plus an ageing Minichiello has had an impact, but in 12 months time we'll see the benefit of the game time that the likes of Fash, Matongo, Lane etc are having.
Agree that Bowden has been off his game this season, he seems to have changed his style a bit. Usually he hits contact and stays upright, facing his own line and driving backwards to make metres whilst being open for the offload. Now he seems to be more regular with his approach. Confidence maybe?
I don't think we're too far off, as long as we hit the Super 8's either in top 4 or within a couple of points, then I'd back Radford to get us to the semi's, whilst having another good cup run. The league structure as it is doesn't require a team to be perfect week in, week out, and as mentioned above, the intensity we play at sometimes means that we will get those off days.
Last night was more down to not having Sneyd (and later Kelly) on the pitch from a game management perspective and the final play calls were poor as a result. Abdull doesn't fit our style of play, and I think that was evident last night.
I agree about Abdull but surely thats a coaching mistake when Connor could have played half back allowing Tuimavave to start. In my opinion Abdull,Turgut, and Downs are nothing more than Championship players and should be released end of the season allowing us to add possibly one better quality player.
You been smoking crack? Theres no feckin way we'll be anywhere near the top four, Saints, Wigan, Cas, Wire are all far better sides - Were now two points behind Cas and they have played two less games than us
Is that the Wire team that looked average against us and we beat quite effortlessly? I don't think they're all that. I'll give you the other four. Leeds will no doubt turn it back on when it matters also. Let's not go over the top. We've had worse results mid-season and still achieved. In fact, we got battered about 5 times last season and still nearly did the double.
We're comparing league form too much to 2016. Top of the table ain't gonna happen obviously, but you don't need that unstoppable Saints form (and Cas last year) to get into the top four... or even win the GF it seems. We're missing something at the moment, but I believe it will come.
Joined: Feb 09 2004 Posts: 7735 Location: Here there and everywhere
HFC Boy wrote:Nowhere near this year . Beat the Champions , lose to bottom of the league sums us up !
exacly what we did last year, beat the champs (wigan) and lost to the bottom club in Leigh.
There are some over reactions on this thread, but that’s not a new thing on this forum. We got beaten by a team desperate for a win. The annoying thing is we fell into their trap of it becoming a slow game.
We started without Out scrum half and our full back and lost both of the starting halves during the game.
To say many regard our pack as a massive unit, we rarely threaten the opposition line with these blokes when we have a play the ball close to the line.
Mild mannered Janitor wrote:exacly what we did last year, beat the champs (wigan) and lost to the bottom club in Leigh.
There are some over reactions on this thread, but that’s not a new thing on this forum. We got beaten by a team desperate for a win. The annoying thing is we fell into their trap of it becoming a slow game.
We started without Out scrum half and our full back and lost both of the starting halves during the game.
To say many regard our pack as a massive unit, we rarely threaten the opposition line with these blokes when we have a play the ball close to the line.
I know its old news but we certainly miss Watts.Our pack Taylor apart is weak and we are having to use Paea much more than envisaged as he was to be our regular impact prop off the bench. We will never know what happened internally re Watts but from a playing point of view a huge loss to the team. i just wonder whether Kelly got a get out of jail card because of Watts going. You can imagine the fans reaction if Kelly had been sacked meaning the club effectively dismissed their two best players.
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