Re: RD 7 | Warrington Wolves (H) : Mon Apr 08, 2024 11:14 am
Exeter Rhino wrote:
I went to the Wire game with my 9 year old son - it was my first experience of the new Southstand, and my son's first time watching Leeds/RL live. Miraculously we enjoyed the experience despite the Leeds performance. Only just got my voice back - not used to shouting that much anymore! The new stand/ground is great (view, comfort, facilities etc), but the Southstand seemed a lot quieter than I remember...
Anyway, the game. My first reaction was that it was clearly our worst performance of the season, and we're slipping further into the inconsistency of last season. It was the first time that our defence looked shot, and that's a major concern IMO. Williams played too fast and quite a few of our players couldn't live with it.
Then I watched the game back on Sky, and I agree with Jim that we need to put the game into some perspective. I don't think we were out of it at all until the last 15 minutes. Quite a few calls from the referee that looked dodgy in the Southstand were probably right or just bad luck (Newman's 'high' shot aside). We can't blame it on losing Holroyd and Handley, but these things didn't help, of course.
The good
Was there any? Frawley's kicking is getting better (two kicks directly resulting in the first try). Momirovski is slowly playing himself into form, and he'll get a few tries this season. The double movement decision was probably right but it was still close - he scores that and we're in a different game. Generally we look better with kick options when we do get close to the opposition line. We actually retrieved the ball from two short kick-offs - not that I like this tactic.
The bad
It may not be panic stations yet, but tactically we need to adjust a lot more. It seemed like the referee was making Leeds stand a very long 10m from Warrington at times, while allowing them a very skinny 10m defending us. We need an experienced forward leading the defensive line - maybe this is something Bentley can add that McDonnell doesn't do. Oledski had a couple of nice charges but he's not the pack leader we need. We need to show more intent in defence and taking the ball forward. My patience with the passive defence is wearing thin now, but I don't think it was the main reason we lost.
The ugly
IMO we lost because of the high number of unforced errors we are making with ball in hand, and soft defensive reads, especially close to the ruck defending our line. In this regard, the coach can help by instilling more practise drills but ultimately the players are to blame here for not executing. Lisone was particularly poor in both departments on Friday. I take the point that if we front load energy into being less passive, then we put Wire under pressure and not ourselves (there were moments in the game we did this, but not enough). We have to stop trying to score off every set - again, having a few more experienced heads out there would help. I'm still not sure Cam Smith has the gravitas/respect of a Sinfield or Peacock to inspire the players around him... He'll get there though.
I notice some posters have pointed out that the Golden Generation rarely made so many mistakes. We have to be wary of nostalgia muddying our memories. Let's not forget the GFs won from 5th and 6th place were on the back of some very mediocre league performances, and even the likes of McGuire (flat track bully), Burrow (not a 9), Sinfield (too slow, not big enough), JJB (penalty machine), Webb (forward passes) etc were routinely criticised on these boards for being past it.
Anyway, the game. My first reaction was that it was clearly our worst performance of the season, and we're slipping further into the inconsistency of last season. It was the first time that our defence looked shot, and that's a major concern IMO. Williams played too fast and quite a few of our players couldn't live with it.
Then I watched the game back on Sky, and I agree with Jim that we need to put the game into some perspective. I don't think we were out of it at all until the last 15 minutes. Quite a few calls from the referee that looked dodgy in the Southstand were probably right or just bad luck (Newman's 'high' shot aside). We can't blame it on losing Holroyd and Handley, but these things didn't help, of course.
The good
Was there any? Frawley's kicking is getting better (two kicks directly resulting in the first try). Momirovski is slowly playing himself into form, and he'll get a few tries this season. The double movement decision was probably right but it was still close - he scores that and we're in a different game. Generally we look better with kick options when we do get close to the opposition line. We actually retrieved the ball from two short kick-offs - not that I like this tactic.
The bad
It may not be panic stations yet, but tactically we need to adjust a lot more. It seemed like the referee was making Leeds stand a very long 10m from Warrington at times, while allowing them a very skinny 10m defending us. We need an experienced forward leading the defensive line - maybe this is something Bentley can add that McDonnell doesn't do. Oledski had a couple of nice charges but he's not the pack leader we need. We need to show more intent in defence and taking the ball forward. My patience with the passive defence is wearing thin now, but I don't think it was the main reason we lost.
The ugly
IMO we lost because of the high number of unforced errors we are making with ball in hand, and soft defensive reads, especially close to the ruck defending our line. In this regard, the coach can help by instilling more practise drills but ultimately the players are to blame here for not executing. Lisone was particularly poor in both departments on Friday. I take the point that if we front load energy into being less passive, then we put Wire under pressure and not ourselves (there were moments in the game we did this, but not enough). We have to stop trying to score off every set - again, having a few more experienced heads out there would help. I'm still not sure Cam Smith has the gravitas/respect of a Sinfield or Peacock to inspire the players around him... He'll get there though.
I notice some posters have pointed out that the Golden Generation rarely made so many mistakes. We have to be wary of nostalgia muddying our memories. Let's not forget the GFs won from 5th and 6th place were on the back of some very mediocre league performances, and even the likes of McGuire (flat track bully), Burrow (not a 9), Sinfield (too slow, not big enough), JJB (penalty machine), Webb (forward passes) etc were routinely criticised on these boards for being past it.
Great post - the only thing I'd quiz is comments re. Bentley v McDonnell. McDonnell was doing a ton of work in D, including on their big men. Bentley is great at filling gaps and getting up and at people, but he doesn't dominate physically like McDonnell can. He also regularly gives penalties and errors away. I know McDonnell dropped the ball once in contact too (Wire were stripping at the ball quite a bit with some success).
Phenomenal tackle to deny Handley another worldy try I thought, and Williams was great. They are a decent side Wire on that evidence.
