Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Sat Mar 29, 2014 12:36 am  

I expected a loss by Saints. I thought given the team out we would have done well to keep to within 12 points.

But my word, what a result.

I have no time for Lance as a half, but that was his best game barr none. Deserves a gold medal for kicking. Every single one was on the money.

Lomax did excellently at 7, ran it to the line and took a few smacks for it. Sneaky play by Brown. 1 in defense. 7 in attack.

Flanaghan boy he's a tough nut.

I thought we ballsed it up when someone went rouge and tried to do a cunningham on the last tackle.

At half time I had already seen enough to make me proud of the team. A totally totally unexpected result.

I've seen 3 Saints games and in each one Wellens has been a Giant. I'll be honest I'm not entirely sure where he ended up playing at times. But his tackling is amazing. Given he has played 10+ years at FB, were you are not doing 20+ tackles a match, I thought he would struggle. But SMACK welcome Zak Hardacher to a tackle. BOOM!

All the young forwards have really put a hand up. Even Dawson had some nice touches.

Maso is not a feka by any means. He may turn his back on the tackle too much for my liking but he takes it in and gets smacked about.

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Sat Mar 29, 2014 7:26 pm  

bewareshadows wrote:

I expected a loss by Saints. I thought given the team out we would have done well to keep to within 12 points.

But my word, what a result.

I have no time for Lance as a half, but that was his best game barr none. Deserves a gold medal for kicking. Every single one was on the money.

Lomax did excellently at 7, ran it to the line and took a few smacks for it. Sneaky play by Brown. 1 in defense. 7 in attack.

Flanaghan boy he's a tough nut.

I thought we ballsed it up when someone went rouge and tried to do a cunningham on the last tackle.

At half time I had already seen enough to make me proud of the team. A totally totally unexpected result.

I've seen 3 Saints games and in each one Wellens has been a Giant. I'll be honest I'm not entirely sure where he ended up playing at times. But his tackling is amazing. Given he has played 10+ years at FB, were you are not doing 20+ tackles a match, I thought he would struggle. But SMACK welcome Zak Hardacher to a tackle. BOOM!

All the young forwards have really put a hand up. Even Dawson had some nice touches.

Maso is not a feka by any means. He may turn his back on the tackle too much for my liking but he takes it in and gets smacked about.

good summary that.

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Sat Mar 29, 2014 7:27 pm  

St pete wrote:

And you think wello played the traditional 7 role? He played like a back row.

Nobody with eyes and any knowledge of rugby would think that, but it suits a certain point of view. It was pretty obvious Lomax was playing 7

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Sat Mar 29, 2014 7:57 pm  

No1 Saint wrote:

Nobody with eyes and any knowledge of rugby would think that, but it suits a certain point of view. It was pretty obvious Lomax was playing 7

Good old "Dad's army" thought he played well as a scrumhalf which is surprising in the fact he played like a second row and lomax was playing the 7 role.

Like I said before the game, no way we'd go into the game with lance and wello playing as out and out halves.

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:51 pm  

Its called evolution of adaptive roles, not many teams will get a full season with out and out positions.
Saints have faired better at the moment learning from the fiasco of last season, Wilko and Wellens hold things together, they can read the game, organise and show mental toughness.
Neither of them are specialised in any particular position now.............they are Big Team Players, something a coach needs in every side.

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:53 pm  

bewareshadows wrote:

I thought we ballsed it up when someone went rouge and tried to do a cunningham on the last tackle.

.

Actually thought this was very sensible play. Any drop goal attempt would of led to a tap on the 20, with Leeds steamrollering downfield with us trying to grasp at them (aka the semi final last year) - instead we handed the ball over, with a set defence, and on their own goal line. Almost worked too.

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Mon Mar 31, 2014 4:20 pm  

LFC Saint wrote:

Wheeler is injured. Not serious but not worth risking. He was at Wakefield last week with the rest of the injured / banned squad.

If that's the case what is the point in naming him in the 19?

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Mon Mar 31, 2014 4:45 pm  

saint at wire wrote:

If that's the case what is the point in naming him in the 19?

Because he failed a last minute Fitness test so Lewis Charnock played the first half of the u19's then had to leave the game to be 18th man.

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:29 pm  

LFC Saint wrote:

Because he failed a last minute Fitness test so Lewis Charnock played the first half of the u19's then had to leave the game to be 18th man.

It was decided by lunchtime Friday that Wheeler wasn't playing.

Re: 19 man squad announced for Leeds. : Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:24 pm  

St pete wrote:

Good old "Dad's army" thought he played well as a scrumhalf which is surprising in the fact he played like a second row and lomax was playing the 7 role.

Like I said before the game, no way we'd go into the game with lance and wello playing as out and out halves.

What we are talking about here is flexibility and versatility that just comes from being a good rugby league player. Wello defended at seven but where Ablett (and Lauatiti last week) normally get to run at a small half back Wello wraps them up foiling one of their big offensive plays. In attack Wello did play more of a running role but when required kicked well as a half. JLo came in and did a bit more handling at first receiver. The biggest plus was Lance who looked like the playmaker we thought we'd signed. Between them they managed the team around the park. A team is not about individual displays but the sum of the constituent parts where they all play for each other.