Struggling to understand some of the negativity on here and on Facebook. Grix has got them playing good rugby, but Leigh had bigger, stronger, faster players, and that takes a toll the longer the game goes on. They didn't let their heads drop - the majority of the teams in our league would have been completely steamrollered by that Leigh team. Really good to see JWH back and he showed glimpses of what he can add to the team. Gwaze did what he's done every game, run and tackle hard, and thought Calcott stood up well, including a couple of good offloads. We went into this season hoping to be the 3rd best team after Fev and Leigh - I've seen enough in the last 3 games to believe that's still feasible - I'd be more worried if I was Fev - they invested / gambled massively on getting promoted this year - purely on the evidence of our last games I'd rate leigh the stronger team - especially if they keep Mcdonald fit as he's unplayable at this level.

Totally agree , it’s not all doom and gloom for Fax , they didn’t drop their heads , played till the end , and were beaten by a bigger faster side , who are full time .
Some Fax players did well , and if Fax can win a few in the coming months you can make a play for 3rd or 4th spot , it seems a few teams can beat each other and is only a quarter of the season gone .
I’m not worried about Fev , we have another big name due to be announced as a signing soon ,and our subs bench was very good tonight , Bell was good as was Ioane , but Nene is a monster , hopefully we can keep him all season , with Inu outside him they will be very good .
For Fax you will be ok , keep playing .ike that and the wins will come .

Good post, Ilkley Fax. The blue and white played well tonight and to score the last try against an FT team speaks volumes about your stamina and grit. Well done. Dangerous whenever you were fizzing the pill about.

Credit were credits due and well done Leigh that’s how to play the game.
Classic example of a quality side getting the job done and looking strong in all areas of the park.
Player after player constantly driving the ball in making big yards going forward and moving the ball around with skill and pace.
Fax tried and no one had a bad game just not good enough on the night simple as that.
Good to see Woody get his first run out for a few months and especially good to see Brad Knowles up and walking again.

Watched the game with an interrupted stream; The errors and penalties ultimately play a role but I'd say many the result of the inability to contain Leigh. For us, we need to be winning at least 8 of the next 10. The DRs offered not much in fairness but I imagine Kavanagh, Fairbank and Larroyer will be back in for Worky. Tangata is not the same player as a few seasons ago. Forwards normally mature but I cannot recall the last time he broke the line.

I do wonder about the long- term feasibility of the current model. If Leigh get promoted, with Degsy at the helm, they will fall into another boom bust cycle and I agree that Leigh will have the better of Fev down the stretch. Its hard to compete with that wage roster; NRL squad players like Aekins and Amone would have been on a minimum 75k. Asiata was playing regularly at the Cowboys and Broncos and would have been playing regular for the Bulldogs if he wasnt anti- vax. McDonald is an NRL player, and quite frankly it speaks of either his lack of ambition to be playing championship or he is being compensated handsomely for this sojourn. I like the way we are building on and off the field but we probably need a significant income stream (some form of asset ownership) to really credibly think about dooper league. If we can we get into that semi- final game, our stock will still be high to attract a calibre of player and with one of Leigh and Fev out of the picture and depending whose for the drop, Toulouse if they manage to stay injury free are still in with a shout. Next 10 fixtures

Worky
Haven
Dulls
Barrow
Newcastle
Sheffield
York
Dewsbury
Leigh
Whitehaven

I think a lot of the negativitity is probably down to the realisation that we are further away this season than we were last season despite bringing a load of players in. Im still very confident that we will get 3rd or 4th but does it matter? Grix's interview had me thinking that it probably would not even be worth turning up last night, surely fans need to hear that going in to a game like last night you expect the players to be up for it and to raise their game playing one of the best in the division. He really did not give off that impression.

With regards the promotion race I had Fev as favs but the last games we have played I might just have Leigh edging it which I actually think would be a shame as Leigh will go up and have a complete rebuild and likely come back down where as I think Fev have the better chance of actually staying up. The thing that will worry Leigh though and was very much the case in the Bradford game as well and I think PH mentions it, Leigh totally dominated the game last night but only managed to win by 12 points, if Mcdonald picked up an injury or their pack has an off day they are really going to struggle to score points as they have very little flair and its all brute force at the moment. It is working though and they will have time to address those issues before they play in the final.

On last nights showing, Leigh looked stronger, quicker and more powerful than Fev. With the gulf in budget its difficult for us to compete on attracting the same quality of player. The downside for Leigh from what I saw is more reliance on the brute force and if anything I thought we moved the ball about a bit more when we had the opportunity. Reynolds offers little for them at HB, and so they rely on Mellor to direct things plus have a real quality full back in Aekins,

Giz, Lammy had already said he picked last nights squad expecting a very hard physical game , we did tough it up the middle , we can play the stylish stuff as well , it’s horses for courses .
Reynolds has taken a bit of stick for a while now from fans , but when he runs at the line he is very effective , and loves to probe down Nenes left wing .
We also have 3 very good and very different hookers , Ipape didn’t play last night but is more of a runner , and Hitchcox is a very fast winger .
We are due to announce a couple of signings soon , I think you will then see a more stylish Leigh , when Fax visit the LSV .
Yeah Fax lost but it’s not that bad for you , I wasn’t far off in my prediction .

A running hooker relies on a big pack to give him space, it doesn't mean you will play more expansive. With Lam as coach I wouldn't bank on being too stylish...will still be structured sets using the extra power in the pack to get the opposition back pedalling. But that's the modern RL game for you!

Yeah agree with this. I don't expect Leigh to play any better rugby through the season and the main reason for that is probably down to the fact that they won't have to and they have not got the half backs to do that.