Not bad - Seriously : Fri Feb 25, 2011 11:09 pm
I thought we did okay tonight. All this talk of people being 'pwned', us being 'raped like an under 7s side in the Bronx' and every second player taking the mick out of the club is way off.I drove to the game and it certainly didn't feel like a proper match. The game on and off the field had the atmosphere and intensity of a friendly between Barrow and Bramley. Very quiet off the field and as a game it was completely lacking. No intensity at all, no real quality on show and were it not Saints v Wire and their fans getting excited about finally beating us it would have been one of the most drab, boring games I've seen as a Saints fan. A typical early doors defeat at home. We get them most seasons, but normally they are to Quins or Wakefield or Hull and not Warrington.
Credit to the Wire, superb defensively in the first half, although we didn't try much to make it hard for them. They took their opportunities but I don't think Tony Smith will be too excited about their performance, they will play a lot better than they did tonight this season and lose. First half we had so much territory we should have been at least level. The worrying thing in the post-Cunningham era is that we didn't even threaten their line. It was all one out rugby, one pass and a drive and someone held on their back over the line very often. No clever kicks, no dummy runners, no planned moves, no offloads. All very predictable and monotonous.
Bar Gaskell I don't think there was anyone we could single out as having a bad game. Even Eastmond, flavour of the month in the scapegoat stakes didn't do anything wrong, we just didn't involve him, the ball went to Gaskell all too often and the only ball he didn't drop tonight was the one on the floor he dropped on to score. I thought the pack played well, we had enough territory to win the game. I thought Wilkin, Roby and LMS did a good job in particular, the usual suspects. Wello was his usual self, a week late to every ball and about as threatening with the ball in hand as an angry hamster to a 747.
Strange game in all. Wire deserved their win, but I wonder if any of their fans feel it was a tad anti-climactic? Boring game, no real quality, no good moves from either side, no excitement? We'll be okay this season, the squad depth isn't sufficient for us to win any trophies unless we get a ridiculously favourable Cup draw, but if we can get Leon back out there to lead them a comfortable play off spot and a season of rebuilding with a respectible finish is what we should be aiming for. We have no 'greats' in the side now like we used to have so it's back to normality after so many years around the trophies and finals I feel. Hopefully with the new stadium in place the signings from now on can be ambitious and they can replace Jammer and Kyle with players good enough to build a squad around.