Quote ="Exeter Rhino"I thought Leeds played very well in the first half and were unlucky to go in at 10-10. High completion (94% according to Sky) and took their chances well.
In the second half we reverted to type. All it took against a good side was one error or penalty leading to pressure and more errors/penalties following shortly after. In this situation we lack the big dynamic forwards or individual brilliance to drag us out of our own half, and we just got worn down.
Please can we stop bagging the usual suspects and giving other players a free ride? Frawley played well IMO with ball in hand and served as a useful foil for Croft, who was exceptional when we were on top in the first half. It wasn't only Frawley's kicks that were going straight to hand, so did Croft's - and IMO the lack of platform from the rest of the team is a major factor here. Even the likes of Brough, Sneyd and Sinfield Snr wouldn't get great kicks off behind this pack. It's a shame we don't have a player who can kick 40-20s from dummy half in the team any more...
Edgell had a great game (one critical error aside). I have to admit he surprised me when he got over to score, and he made a decent break in the second half (?) too. Still not sure he is big or fast enough, but interesting to see what he'll be like after the pre-season. Lumb looks more of a natural athlete but he will be found out quickly if he cuts inside every time he receives the ball (Jim Fallon esque).
As for the moments of weakness, these were the lowlights for me:
Sangare was exposed in the first half for his poor lateral movement in defence. A pre-season under Arthur could be the making of him - or break him and he'll leave.
Roberts predictably dropped a high kick - IIRC he was the most error prone player in the first half of the season under Smith, so no surprises there.
Newman gave an appalling pass from DH on tackle 5 of one set that led to us conceding possession in our own half, and subsequently led to a HKR try. He actually looked okay ball in hand. We need to sort the Newman issue out sooner rather than later - whether the problems are mental, physical or both - it's gone on far too long.
Bentley coming up with two unforced errors bring the ball out in yardage... He didn't even bring his characteristic aggression. I appreciate he has his fans on here, but those errors were major factors in our loss. He's too small and inconsistent to be a regular starter on yesterday's form.
Ultimately this was the kind of game that separates the wheat from the chaff. Quite a few stood up well (Edgell, Croft, Lumb, Martin, Frawley), others were simply steady (O'Connor, Smith, Ackers, McDonnell, Oledski, Lisone, and the latest scapegoat, Momirovski), and some showed why we are likely to finish in 7th or 8th.'"
i will give you 4 out of 5 , Frawley offered nothing
