Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Sun May 27, 2012 10:23 pm  

St pete wrote:

His kicking is the worst I've seen at any level of rugby and I mean even kids level, its just utter shocking.

His kicking is no worse than any other Saints player whose taken a shot this season (with the exception of Gaskell).

We have to remember - the reason Lance is kicking is because everybody else is shocking, too. That's an enormous burden placed on someone's shoulders - especially when he is struggling to find his own form - not to mention his team mates.

Totally and utterly crazy idea bringing him in to play halfback.

Hohaia hasn't played well. But you don't write imports off ten weeks into their first season. Slagging Hohaia is completely stupid. The guy has a FOUR YEAR contract. Precisely WHAT do you hope to achieve - other than attempting a self-fulfilling prophecy? In which case - you might as well start wearing Cherry & White - because you'll be inflicting a similar level of damage.

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Sun May 27, 2012 10:29 pm  

No1 Saint wrote:

If Wigan have been making offers to players in contract they will be in a bit of trouble

Yes. Wigan always get into trouble for that kind of thing don't they....

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Sun May 27, 2012 10:32 pm  

I have to agree with this. Last season I was terrified of Lomax with ball in hand - that step into a gap he had was incredibly dangerous.

This year he's far more subdued. Far too much pressure on his shoulders to organise the attack rather than play some off the cuff rugby.

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Sun May 27, 2012 10:54 pm  

Lomax is a very easy player to read. He practically has "I want to run with the ball as often as possible" stamped into his forehead. Worrying about which receiver to pick out, or whether to kick on the fourth tackle etc. is just not part of the programming.

He's not one quarter the player he was last season. Yes, this is partly because opposing teams have had a look at him now. But it's the weight of responsibility that's killing him. You can see his head dropping lower and lower as the game drags on.

Roby is in a similar situation. He's being asked to go above and beyond the call of duty every game. Yes, we're getting eighty minutes out of him. But we're NOT getting eighty minutes of full contribution. It's too physically demanding. If it were so easy every team would run with one hooker.

For me - alternating Lomax and Roby is the obvious solution. The latter needs someone to take the burden off his shoulders whilst the former needs a role with plenty of possession, opponents to beat and a role with less responsibility. No team in the country would like to face Roby playing fifty minutes at full-tilt and then have to worry about Lomax's agility and pace over the first twenty metres against tired forwards.

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Sun May 27, 2012 11:39 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

Lomax is a very easy player to read. He practically has "I want to run with the ball as often as possible" stamped into his forehead. Worrying about which receiver to pick out, or whether to kick on the fourth tackle etc. is just not part of the programming.

He's not one quarter the player he was last season. Yes, this is partly because opposing teams have had a look at him now. But it's the weight of responsibility that's killing him. You can see his head dropping lower and lower as the game drags on.

Roby is in a similar situation. He's being asked to go above and beyond the call of duty every game. Yes, we're getting eighty minutes out of him. But we're NOT getting eighty minutes of full contribution. It's too physically demanding. If it were so easy every team would run with one hooker.

For me - alternating Lomax and Roby is the obvious solution. The latter needs someone to take the burden off his shoulders whilst the former needs a role with plenty of possession, opponents to beat and a role with less responsibility. No team in the country would like to face Roby playing fifty minutes at full-tilt and then have to worry about Lomax's agility and pace over the first twenty metres against tired forwards.

Last year Roby had one of the best Props in the League backing him up with his runs, so he could do the full 80 as he had another machine with him. This year Roby is still running like a machine but no other player is sharing out the workload.

I'll be honest no idea if Lomax is a half or not, but the pairing with Lance seams to have took the pressure off for one game. Maybe it gave piece of mind if Gaskell was struggling, but since then, it seams it's all been left up to Lomax to run, whilst one of our most experienced players is going to spend a whole year learning a game we can ill afford the time to teach him.

It's not like with Leon, when he had, hooper, long, scully to learn halfback play from. Lance has Lomax to learn from and Gaskell.

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Sun May 27, 2012 11:43 pm  

roader wrote:

So Wigan are tapping up contracted players are they, I do hope they have permission from Saints.

No.

Gaskell actually approached Wigan over 12 months ago as well as another SL club, he is no stranger to Kris Radlinski.

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Mon May 28, 2012 12:10 am  

bewareshadows wrote:

Last year Roby had one of the best Props in the League backing him up with his runs, so he could do the full 80 as he had another machine with him. This year Roby is still running like a machine but no other player is sharing out the workload.

I don't see it as an issue of "work". Despite what the critics say, I think our pack has been pretty good this season. There's certainly been plenty of effort from guys like Soliola, Laffranchi, LMS etc. The problem is there's nothing OUTSIDE of the pack. For much of this season our backs have been entirely dependent on weak tackling. Sides which have remained cohesive in defence have stopped us dead.

We were forward oriented last season of course. But back then we had Graham, who could function almost as a fullback in the way he used to link into the line and slip out that short pass to the centre. We also had a bit of a surprise package in Meli who proved pretty useful off his wing and then there was the novelty of Lomax and Gaskell. Two kids opposition defences had very little intelligence on.

All of those advantages are now lost. Every man on the pitch, in the stands and in front of the TV knows who's bringing the heat. Which makes the success Roby's enjoyed this year all the more creditable I suppose.

I'll be honest no idea if Lomax is a half or not, but the pairing with Lance seams to have took the pressure off for one game. Maybe it gave piece of mind if Gaskell was struggling, but since then, it seams it's all been left up to Lomax to run, whilst one of our most experienced players is going to spend a whole year learning a game we can ill afford the time to teach him.

It's not like with Leon, when he had, hooper, long, scully to learn halfback play from. Lance has Lomax to learn from and Gaskell.

I prefer Lomax to nine - which gives us a useful creative spine of Hohaia, Gaskell, Lomax & Roby. Hohaia's task would be to give Gaskell the quickest possible service and, most importantly, back up.

I can forgive Hohaia's misdirected kicking. As I said - Leon couldn't kick for lollies and that was after two full years in the job. But Lance has been extremely weak at supporting the ball carrier. Given his foot speed (easily in the top three fastest players at the club) he should be stuck to the back of every man in possession like a barnacle.

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Mon May 28, 2012 12:20 am  

Mugwump wrote:

I don't see it as an issue of "work". Despite what the critics say, I think our pack has been pretty good this season. There's certainly been plenty of effort from guys like Soliola, Laffranchi, LMS etc. The problem is there's nothing OUTSIDE of the pack. For much of this season our backs have been entirely dependent on weak tackling. Sides which have remained cohesive in defence have stopped us dead.

We were forward oriented last season of course. But back then we had Graham, who could function almost as a fullback in the way he used to link into the line and slip out that short pass to the centre. We also had a bit of a surprise package in Meli who proved pretty useful off his wing and then there was the novelty of Lomax and Gaskell. Two kids opposition defences had very little intelligence on.

All of those advantages are now lost. Every man on the pitch, in the stands and in front of the TV knows who's bringing the heat. Which makes the success Roby's enjoyed this year all the more creditable I suppose.

I prefer Lomax to nine - which gives us a useful creative spine of Hohaia, Gaskell, Lomax & Roby. Hohaia's task would be to give Gaskell the quickest possible service and, most importantly, back up.

I can forgive Hohaia's misdirected kicking. As I said - Leon couldn't kick for lollies and that was after two full years in the job. But Lance has been extremely weak at supporting the ball carrier. Given his foot speed (easily in the top three fastest players at the club) he should be stuck to the back of every man in possession like a barnacle.

I agree that our pack is pretty decent. Decent enough to take on most sides and win on its own with very little if no support from the halfs and backs.

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Mon May 28, 2012 12:37 am  

You have to feel sorry for our forwards. It must be terribly disheartening to see all your hard work evaporate on fifth tackle when the opposition full back or winger receives the kick on the full going forward and returns the ball almost to the point where it was kicked.

Graham would have been furious and you can bet greater concentration would be applied on last tackle. Unfortunately, we seem to have no one capable of providing similar coercion.

Re: We are killing Lomax at scrum half. : Mon May 28, 2012 8:43 am  

It seems our club is producing/nurturing some excellent talent but then we seem to spoil the good work when we put them in the 1st team by playing them out of position and forcing them into roles they're not greatly familiar with.

Lomax would be excellent at fullback. Hohaia would be good as a interchangable hooker with Roby.

If we don't sign a scrum half for next season then it will be a repeat of this seasons form. That said, if we can keep picking up points and get ourselves into the top 4 then you never know what might happen in the playoffs.