Re: Smith out ASAP : Tue May 21, 2024 3:05 pm  

No result should be a foregone conclusion but hope really is hanging by a thread these days.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Tue May 21, 2024 4:42 pm  

Trebor1 wrote:

Those 3 (Wigan, Warrington, Saints) look well clear of the rest when they are on their game. That Wigan pack is huge. Very envious of it. We remain a long way off them imo.

Spot on, it’s not rocket science (hate that expression) you build a team around a big powerful and mobile pack. We have under Smith failed to do that.

[Ex-Swarcliffe Rhino]

Re: Smith out ASAP : Wed May 22, 2024 8:48 am  

If I hadnt been so daft with my Gig booking I'dve been on the terraces Friday at Saints.

Not that I think we'll win but just to show weve still got some fight left in us.

I'll have to find somewhere in Liverpool to watch on the telly.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Wed May 22, 2024 10:16 am  

What's annoying about seeing Wigan's pack is that we've needed to beef ours up since 2015 and EVERYBODY could see it.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Wed May 22, 2024 11:24 am  

We used to pretty much only have Oledski who was any good at all, Holroyd was starting to break through but we did add Sangare and Lisone who are much physically bigger than we'd had for a while.

Unfortunately we didn't get that one additional big thing. Holroyd then has been injured yet again/not fully fit and without much pre-season, and Hudson is a project (also re-injured). Our academy prospects seem a couple of years off to me still.

Beyond our big men we are straight into back rowers and we drop off significantly - made worse because our back rowers themselves aren't huge.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Wed May 22, 2024 3:29 pm  

KaeruJim wrote:

We used to pretty much only have Oledski who was any good at all, Holroyd was starting to break through but we did add Sangare and Lisone who are much physically bigger than we'd had for a while.

Unfortunately we didn't get that one additional big thing. Holroyd then has been injured yet again/not fully fit and without much pre-season, and Hudson is a project (also re-injured). Our academy prospects seem a couple of years off to me still.

Beyond our big men we are straight into back rowers and we drop off significantly - made worse because our back rowers themselves aren't huge.

You're right with the backrowers, as it's a double edged sword. And with the props, it again shows the madness of letting Walters go and replacing him with Goudemand.

Something for me that I think is a further error is trying to turn Sangare into a starting player, who plays decent minutes. I just don't think that's how to get the best out of him. I think he's best as an impact player of the bench for no more than 20 mins a game. He seemed to have a lot more potential doing that when he first started with us.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Wed May 22, 2024 11:11 pm  

Its not just size, although that's important. We have a rotation of props who don't bend the line with the ball and are not exactly aggressive in defence. Only Lisone shows any ability to barrel through the defence, and he is a bit of a flat track bully - looks awesome against a tiring defence going backwards but otherwise easily stopped. Compare our yardage to Wigan, Sts etc and its really poor, even when we had pretty much all of our props fit, and we don't even get quick PTBs to make up for it. A lot of our problems stem from our lack of threat right up the middle.

Re: Smith out ASAP : Thu May 23, 2024 7:11 am  

KaeruJim wrote:

We used to pretty much only have Oledski who was any good at all, Holroyd was starting to break through but we did add Sangare and Lisone who are much physically bigger than we'd had for a while.

Unfortunately we didn't get that one additional big thing. Holroyd then has been injured yet again/not fully fit and without much pre-season, and Hudson is a project (also re-injured). Our academy prospects seem a couple of years off to me still.

Beyond our big men we are straight into back rowers and we drop off significantly - made worse because our back rowers themselves aren't huge.

In other words we are in a complete shambles. Two years waiting for academy players? It’s a big step up from academy to first grade football . Majority don’t make the grade.

[Bullseye]

Re: Smith out ASAP : Thu May 23, 2024 10:18 am  

https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... y-the-ball Some interesting analysis here, particularly the clip at the bottom where they discuss the Leeds defence.

https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... y-the-ball Some interesting analysis here, particularly the clip at the bottom where they discuss the Leeds defence.

[Ex-Swarcliffe Rhino]

Re: Smith out ASAP : Thu May 23, 2024 11:14 am  

Nothing we dont already know unfortunately.

Looks great when it comes off, looks amateurish when it doesnt.

Almost dead last in all the metrics that count according to Sky before Catalans

completion rate - 75.7% - 12th
territory - 44.8% - 12th
errors - 107 - 12th
possesion - 49.3% - 9th