Well tonight I saw a young lad do far more to try and win a game than Josh Drinkwater has in a wire shirt. Promising showing from Hayes.

Really struggled to create opportunities without Williams. Dufty looked decent on the ball but just needed someone to create a bit of space for him.



Concerning start. Couldn’t compete with the intensity and by the time we’d settled in, we were left with too much to do.



Difficult to see but the Drinkwater intercept decision looked a real close one. For them to go on and score after we had scrambled really well up to that point is a kick in the teeth. There were a number of frustrating decisions, but we had chances to go level and didn’t take them.

Based on last night... Ashton. Maybe Vaughan, Clarke and Philbin on the bench.

Hayes had an excellent second half - you could see the confidence starting to flow, and his pass selection, kicking and willingness to take on the line were top notch.



No reason at all he can't be Williams partner next year if we look after him.

I think it would be unfair not to mention Hayes' defence as well. He was all over it.

Saints did a good job on Vaughan. Restricted him to 55 meters.

Drinkwater, Currie and Ratchford all stealing a wage. That Crowther is garbage as well. 36 metres and 9 missed tackles. There’s a reason why Wakey and Cas aren’t bothered about him.

I'm no expert on the technicalities of the game but I always notice the difference between the timing of the passes between us and Saints. They seem to pass a split second before they are tackled, meaning an opposition defender is committed and out of contention for the remainder of that play. Wire passes are usually far earlier meaning the defence has time to rearrange and track across.

As good as Clark is, I thought we looked much better when Walker came on, his distribution from dummy half is streets ahead of Clark.

Dufty looked revitalised, keen in attack & defence, He's, Philbin, Russell, Wrench, Harrison, Ashton all worked really hard.....nice to see a few positive pointers for next season, coz this one is a write off

Saints have to be recognised as the benchmark in superleague.

They have had a continuing will to win at all costs for many seasons . No matter who the coach is or what players come & go there is a need, a will, & an attitude throughout the club that carries them through most games. Bending the rules doesn't matter to Saints because the team are confident that the ref won't punish every infringement.

Incidentally, was the Sironen try off a forward pass ? It looked forward from the font of all knowledge ,the South stand.

W71 ,when you look at Saints though, they have this knack of getting players who are committed to the "cause". They don't even necessarily get the best players but they get the best out of them.

None is the answer to that

Have a day off. Are you saying Bettison is a better winger than Ashton? LMS better than Vaughan?

It's the environment and the constant pursuit of the highest standards. They attract ambitious players who want to win the title (rather than players who want to get the largest contract). Players are then absorbed into the existing winning culture. They also have very strong leaders on the pitch who lead by example.



Meanwhile we say things like "I’ve got to be happy with the shift they put in" whilst selecting Drinkwater, Dudson, Mata'utia at al week in week out, giving journeyman players long contracts and then be surprised why we don't win.



Soft underbelly? Pack "too nice"? Embarrassing comments. At Wilderspool we used to be a hard side. We are powder puffs now. Not a hint of menace in any forward.



Unless we change this we will never progress. Anyone inside the club who makes an excuse or accepts where we are in the league is part of the problem.

True. Nothing in the world stopping us from trying to emulate what they do with respect to bending the rules. They are excellent at it. Better than throwing our arms theatrically up at the play the ball each tackle and blaming the ref.

Walker was also fresh legs against a team who'd played for 50 minutes against Clark by that point. I still agree that Walker and Philbin changed the momentum and intensity for us, but that too allowed Clark more leg room.

This is all skills work leading to a very flat attack. Stripping defenders with ease.



They also have a lightening line speed when defending which limits the opponents attack.



They also found the ground when kicking for territory, we usually find a player.

That could have been a LOT worse. For all the errors in the first 20+ minutes the defence hung in there. I was surprised they only got 2 tries in that period given how long they were on our line for.

I’m always reluctant to point a finger at a referee, so I will make only 1 point. The Saints player who broke from the scrum so early that he was in our line before the ball was could (and probably should) have been sin binned for a professional foul.

It was a really intense game that felt like a play off match and Saints were hanging on like a drowning man by the end.

Yes we lost but given everything that has happened so far this season I was fearful of a massacre.

If Williams is fit next week I would play him and Hayes together makin our101st HB pairing this season. Drinkwater is done I’m afraid.

Yes

Good to see not all Saints fans are one-eyed.

Am joking lol

At the end of the day, they are the best and we had the chance to take them to GP, with the Wrench break. Taking out the Russell, Ashton, Walker chances, which good teams convert, that chance we were in the backfield and should convert, shirt pull or not.



Neither team were near their best, but there are green shoots.



The problem is, if we do sneak into the 6, we have the daunting task of going to either Wigan, Saints or Catalan. So I don’t expect to make an impact on the playoffs, but we need to make it and give ourselves a crack at the big boys

Cats will finish 2nd so we will (should) finish 6th.

We will have Saints away and then away at Wigan or KR.

We will face Catalan or Saints in the final.

I think.

Yes we will beat Wigan/KR.

I`ll have a pint of whatever you are drinking Duckie.



Cheers.