Holroyd seems injury prone,Oledski is struggling, lisone has poor impact vs big teams and Goudemand is just a backrower. Sangare is too much like Chris Feather atm. Hudson hasn't played yet.
I don't mind Eseh as a project 5/6th prop.
But we need a minimum of one big nasty prop, bonus if we get another in the pack leader mold.
We lack a quality leader in the pack, in fact you need more than one in that area. We’re soft as hell in the pack. Halves have nothing to play off and we have two poor centres. Newman looks a ghost of his former self
Joined: Feb 26 2002 Posts: 9581 Location: anywhere, literally...
The halves and the backs look poor because they are trying to work off scraps. Until we fix the pack, we’re going nowhere. We need at least two big aggressive nasty rough arsed props, at least one hard hitting strong running back rower, probably a new fullback and a scrum half.
It's not how much talent you've got, it's what you do with it that counts.
Sadly that sounds about right. If Miller can cut the rubbish he'd be a good player, but maybe he never will. Lack of punch up front cannot be fixed by effort alone though.
For all the bashing of the pack which is light and makes very little yardage. The overpriced antipodeans lost the game, Fuzzi ball dropped over the line when scoring and then the bomb. Miller dropped a high ball and then twice when we had good position failed in execution, and for me the worst is Momoro push of a tackle by a scrum half ! I would keep Miller for a year to see if he improves , the other two can go when we fail to meet the playoffs again !
Joined: May 28 2002 Posts: 7403 Location: Isca Dumnoniorum
One error (admittedly critical) from Momirovski and he's already being rounded on by the fans. I don't see any of the other backs doing better. I'd sooner relieve Newman of his marquee status than sack Momirovski, to be honest.
IMO Mom did okay in the rest of the game and was unlucky not to score (if only for Fusitua's leg getting in the way). He should be given the benefit of the doubt for his second year, especially as he didn't have a full pre-season and has had injury issues as well. I noted that he was bringing the ball out of our 20 a bit more against HKR and looked comfortable in this role.
Miller and Fusitua were obviously disappointing in their execution. Both are potentially match winners on their day. I think all the players 1-7 would benefit from a more dominant pack... Roll on 2025, 2026 then.
Frawley was singled out multiple times by the Sky commentary for his contributions, and Arthur also mentioned that he played and kicked well in his post-match comments. So he at least is benefiting from the new style, and I doubt he will be dropped for Sinfield any time soon.
Overall Leeds started well but withered (predictably) as the game wore on. The heat plus several forwards going down injured didn't help. I'm not sure the team we have is capable of playing either Smith's or Arthur's game plan to be honest. A better team would have held on to that lead with 7 minutes to go. Ultimately the score is pretty similar to when we played HKR earlier in the season.
Joined: May 28 2002 Posts: 7403 Location: Isca Dumnoniorum
And yes, WTF was Croft doing when he turned off at the play the ball towards the end of the game? Almost as bad as Momirovski's miss on Lewis, but no-one is calling for Croft to go.
I too have doubts about Momo and Miller but will give them until the end of the season to judge. Miller seems to play like a 7's player and the high risk plays he might get away with in 7's, he can't in 13 a side. Momo so far has looked bang average at best (probably being generous).
Miller can be a match winner, but I think he will always have brainfarts.
I was really disappointed in the result and our second half performance. It was very hot out there, but that's where our lighter/fitter pack should work better - actually we looked knackered after 25 mins, players bent over, slow to get back into the line etc.
Don't think it helped us when McDonnell went off, he is a machine in D most games.
There were some good signs in that first half, it's the first time I feel we have gone toe-to-toe with one of the better sides effectively for a while.
This is why I think we need BA for next year too. He would have 10 games and training to assess the squad we have. Hopefully help to bring in a couple of better players. Then get stuck into them for a whole pre-season, which clearly some of the boys need. Then we might be top 4 material. Maybe.
I actually think our top-6 ambition is just about done for this year with the last 2 losses and our PD is rubbish. Said it before but I don't think RS was as dire a coach as most on here do; however the signings and re-signings we've made under him have hardly been inspiring. Even Croft has been patchy this year.
Again said it before but I'd much rather we brought in 2-3 real high quality signings this year, we absolutely don't need squad players now we need players who can break games, inspire their team mates and make something happen.
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