Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:54 am  

As much as it was a terrible start to the season, a lot of posts on here are showing we have fans who know very little in terms of RL.

Firstly, last season began with Gaskell & Lomax in the halves and we looked clueless, very similar to last night. The reason being, neither one of them is experienced enough or knows how to organise a team properly. Whilst hohaia is not the best half back in the world, he can organise a line which is why rush used him there last season.

Secondly, Paul Wellens. 20+ tries last season, always gives his all and is usually safe as houses. People are judging full backs now on what likes of Tomkins, Slater etc can do and Wello has never been that style of player. He still gives his all every game and still capable of doing a job for us. Perhaps if our defensive line did what it's paid to do and made tackles Wello wouldn't be in the spotlight as much.

Don't know how anybody can try to single Meli out last night either. Granted 1-17 were poor but Meli is our main strike player who we gave 1 pass to all game yesterday. Sadly the finger of blame points at the half backs not being organised enough to distribute the ball out wide.

The one player who does need dropping is Perry. I have never seen a player go from state of origin enforcer to pudding like he has. Whether on attack or defence he never wins a collision and sadly the only thing he will be remembered for his time at saints is being arrested for his naked run on mad Monday - bet that was easiest arrest police ever made and managed to drive him 10 yards back up the street before cuffing him!! Clough has to return and we have Greenwood and Walmsley who have impressed pre season and show heart when they play, time to give them a chance!!

Rant over, 1 game doesn't make a season. IIRC Huddersfield went away to Wigan in round 1 last season and beat them 38-12 (there or there abouts) and look at how the season panned out for the 2 teams. After a possible complacent start after 2 friendly wins this could be the kick up the backside we need to fulfil our potential this year. Maybe we should get behind the team instead of writing them off and see how we go in next few games.

Keep the faith...COYS

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:58 am  

What a difference a day makes, this time yesterday it was all talk about which coach would get sacked first and that the new Salford Reds owner would want a refund! perhaps some would want a refund for that performance! totally unexpected and on live TV!

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:05 am  

wakey_saint wrote:

As much as it was a terrible start to the season, a lot of posts on here are showing we have fans who know very little in terms of RL.

Firstly, last season began with Gaskell & Lomax in the halves and we looked clueless, very similar to last night. The reason being, neither one of them is experienced enough or knows how to organise a team properly. Whilst hohaia is not the best half back in the world, he can organise a line which is why rush used him there last season.

Secondly, Paul Wellens. 20+ tries last season, always gives his all and is usually safe as houses. People are judging full backs now on what likes of Tomkins, Slater etc can do and Wello has never been that style of player. He still gives his all every game and still capable of doing a job for us. Perhaps if our defensive line did what it's paid to do and made tackles Wello wouldn't be in the spotlight as much.

Don't know how anybody can try to single Meli out last night either. Granted 1-17 were poor but Meli is our main strike player who we gave 1 pass to all game yesterday. Sadly the finger of blame points at the half backs not being organised enough to distribute the ball out wide.

The one player who does need dropping is Perry. I have never seen a player go from state of origin enforcer to pudding like he has. Whether on attack or defence he never wins a collision and sadly the only thing he will be remembered for his time at saints is being arrested for his naked run on mad Monday - bet that was easiest arrest police ever made and managed to drive him 10 yards back up the street before cuffing him!! Clough has to return and we have Greenwood and Walmsley who have impressed pre season and show heart when they play, time to give them a chance!!

Rant over, 1 game doesn't make a season. IIRC Huddersfield went away to Wigan in round 1 last season and beat them 38-12 (there or there abouts) and look at how the season panned out for the 2 teams. After a possible complacent start after 2 friendly wins this could be the kick up the backside we need to fulfil our potential this year. Maybe we should get behind the team instead of writing them off and see how we go in next few games.

Keep the faith...COYS

And you say others have little knowledge of Rugby League.

Last night had absolutely nothing to do with the Half-Backs, they were playing behind a beaten pack from the first minute until the last, and ended up kicking from the own 20-30 meter line for the majority of the game. It had nothing to do with their ability to control the game, the fact of the matter is they were on the back foot all the time, and as a Half-Back, to control the side on the back off that is practically impossible.

The blame lies with the forwards, and they deserve all the stick that's coming to them.

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:29 am  

Tez the Saint wrote:

And you say others have little knowledge of Rugby League.

Last night had absolutely nothing to do with the Half-Backs, they were playing behind a beaten pack from the first minute until the last, and ended up kicking from the own 20-30 meter line for the majority of the game. It had nothing to do with their ability to control the game, the fact of the matter is they were on the back foot all the time, and as a Half-Back, to control the side on the back off that is practically impossible.

The blame lies with the forwards, and they deserve all the stick that's coming to them.

I fully agree the forwards were awful but 1-17 were awful. We got ourselves into some attacking positions though and when we did our halfbacks looked clueless, they are as much to blame as anybody else last night. My point around them is not them struggling to play behind a poor pack, but they can't organise a prayer in a mosque and that isn't the fault of mike rush, lance hohaia or anybody else that's being blamed for "ruining the partnership".

Don't get me wrong, I fully believe Lomax and Gaskell will develop into a brilliant pairing for saints over the next few years, but from evidence last season and last night they aren't ready to lead a super league team just yet

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:30 am  

Tez the Saint wrote:

Wello put in more effort and commitment than the rest of them out together tonight, and if the rest cared half as much as he did, we would be a far better team. He was under so much pressure tonight it was ridiculous, and although he was poor, he was certainly not our worst out their tonight.

In that case you are truly lost and no one on here can save you. The blinkers are there for life.

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:41 am  

Noel Cleal wrote:

In that case you are truly lost and no one on here can save you. The blinkers are there for life.

Wellens is an institution , no surprise that many views have become institutionalised.

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:01 pm  

wigan lost 20-16 first game last season ,slightly less embarrassing!

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:05 pm  

Noel Cleal wrote:

In that case you are truly lost and no one on here can save you. The blinkers are there for life.

In all honesty, I would love us to have a more attacking full back, someone who contributes more in an attacking sense, but the effort and commitment he gives week in week out is inspirational, and as I said, if the other 16 blokes who took to the field last night gave half of what he did, we wouldn't have been in that situation.

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:14 pm  

wakey_saint wrote:

We got ourselves into some attacking positions though and when we did our halfbacks looked clueless, they are as much to blame as anybody else last night. My point around them is not them struggling to play behind a poor pack, but they can't organise a prayer in a mosque and that isn't the fault of mike rush, lance hohaia or anybody else that's being blamed for "ruining the partnership".

You do remember that Rush dropped Gaskell for pretty much the whole of last season, yes? And you now expect him and Lomax to gel and be very experienced after a season of not playing together when Gaskell has had his development from 2011 hindered? If you do then I have to say you are lacking a bit between the ears.

Had Lomax and Gaskell been playing together all last season and had they been coached well and given the opportunity to correct mistakes, learn how to retrieve messes, etc, then it is highly likely they would have been able to make something of yesterday's mess. If you remember, Simmons was quoted as saying that he was trying to teach them how to deal with adversity, before he was sacked and the club stuck its head in the sand. He recognised what was actually needed. All Rush did was defer the problem to Brown. And now Brown has to do what Rush should have done, and teach our halfbacks how to deal with adversity. On top of that he has to get them used to playing together again and help Gaskell catch up after a year in the u20s.

But even doing all of that would be a total waste of time with such gutless forwards as ours were yesterday. Brough would have been nowhere if his forwards had behaved as ours did. They were an embarrassment.

Re: Nothing better than a nice dose of reality : Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:16 pm  

Tez the Saint wrote:

In all honesty, I would love us to have a more attacking full back, someone who contributes more in an attacking sense, but the effort and commitment he gives week in week out is inspirational, and as I said, if the other 16 blokes who took to the field last night gave half of what he did, we wouldn't have been in that situation.

Yeah, he is so inspirational. His knock ons, dropped ball, absence from defence and ineptitude in attack just inspired us to the nth degree yesterday.

Giving his all, if indeed that's what he does these days, is not enough - or should not be enough - to keep a player in the side.