Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 7:46 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

But to ship 40 plus points for the first time in five years is very poor.

And you can talk about tiredness, but not making effective tackles and then having to scramble defence is far more tiring to a player than making the initial tackle properly. We were flying all over the place and mostly missing.

There is no excuse for that lack of defensive effort. None.

Do you not think there are extenuating circumstances surrounding us shipping 40 points? Or having to 'fly all over the place'?

Like a sellotaped together, mostly injured, rather inexperienced line up?

I don't believe there was lack of effort, just lack of fuel.

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 7:52 pm  

Cragganmore Kid wrote:

I'll give you the Sia one, I don't think his defence is his strength (although when he hits them, they stay hit).

Ashe is injured, and Shenton may well be fatigued if not injured also.

The point is, rather than pick out individual mistakes, there has to be a recognition that we're sending out a team that's knocked about, full of kids and out of position players due to an injury situation the like of which I've not seen in 27 years of watching Saints.

It's harsh, IMO, to be overly critical on individual mistakes when the reality is with the luck and off field issues we've had thus far we are punching well and truly above our weight.

Sorry mate but anyway you try and dress it, shenton missed a poor one on one tackle against a old player deemed not good enough at saints. If Shenton is fatigued then he's got serious fitness problems for a centre at his age!

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 7:55 pm  

St pete wrote:

Sorry mate but anyway you try and dress it, shenton missed a poor one on one tackle against a old player deemed not good enough at saints. If Shenton is fatigued then he's got serious fitness problems for a centre at his age!

Nice 'Daily Mail' sensationalising with the 'old guy deemed not good enough stuff'!!

As I've said, it's harsh to be bashing individual mistakes when we're doing well to get 17 bodies out there in the vee, but whatever floats your boat.

I'm proud of 'em.

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 7:55 pm  

Cragganmore Kid wrote:

Do you not think there are extenuating circumstances surrounding us shipping 40 points? Or having to 'fly all over the place'?

No. Royce identified the warning signs after the match last week but he can't force the players to defend on the day. All those players, no matter what age, were capable of defence. They all learn how to tackle. They missed tackles all over the shop and Wello's positioning was largely terrible.

The only player on that pitch I excuse is Nathan Ashe and that's only because he had to have his knee strapped up further during the match, suggesting he was in pain, which would have made tackling more difficult. The rest don't get a bye on this. They were poor.

However, I didn't expect us to do much in attack because there was no way Wilkin was going to perform well with a rookie halfback at his side as he isn't a halfback himself.

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 7:58 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

No. Royce identified the warning signs after the match last week but he can't force the players to defend on the day. All those players, no matter what age, were capable of defence. They all learn how to tackle. They missed tackles all over the shop and Wello's positioning was largely terrible.

The only player on that pitch I excuse is Nathan Ashe and that's only because he had to have his knee strapped up further during the match, suggesting he was in pain, which would have made tackling more difficult. The rest don't get a bye on this. They were poor.

However, I didn't expect us to do much in attack because there was no way Wilkin was going to perform well with a rookie halfback at his side as he isn't a halfback himself.

So there are no extenuating circumstances.

Really?

And you're not injured unless you're visibly strapped?

And there's no way Wello came back to early to help out with the appalling injury situation?

Ok then.

Royce Out!

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 8:00 pm  

Cragganmore Kid wrote:

Nice 'Daily Mail' sensationalising with the 'old guy deemed not good enough stuff'!!

As I've said, it's harsh to be bashing individual mistakes when we're doing well to get 17 bodies out there in the vee, but whatever floats your boat.

I'm proud of 'em.

I'm also very proud of them but still think some sloppy defence cost us at times.

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 8:01 pm  

Cragganmore Kid wrote:

So there are no extenuating circumstances.

Really?

And you're not injured unless you're visibly strapped?

And there's no way Wello came back to early to help out with the appalling injury situation?

Ok then.

Royce Out!

You're getting silly now, so I think I will leave this. We'll have to agree to disagree.

As for Royce out ... far from it. I think he's done wonders with them given the hand he has been dealt. He can't force his team to defend, only give them the tools to use if they choose to.

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 8:04 pm  

So is there only me who came away with a mediocum of pride tonight?

We have cobbled together a side, with out 6th and 8th choice half backs, lost two players mid game, and still every player ran their blood to water. Yes, we missed stupid tackles, and yes we made stupid errors. But add Puletua and either Pryce, Lomax or Wheeler (and heavens to betsy, Eastmond) to that side, and it looks infinitely better.

We have a lot of kids starting to stand up, Magennis is putting in some bell ringing hits, Foster looks like he could beak the line on every return.

A couple of bodies back and the out look is not so bleak.

NEVER write off the Saints.

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 8:06 pm  

Ski wrote:

So is there only me who came away with a mediocum of pride tonight?

Very proud of the young players. And Roby. But the defensive effort was still poor. And some of the senior players were shocking defensively. I would have been bursting with pride had they kept Hudds to about 20 points. But they didn't. So they were marginally better than Harlequins.

Re: Saints v Huddersfield : Sat May 14, 2011 8:07 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

You're getting silly now, so I think I will leave this. We'll have to agree to disagree.

As for Royce out ... far from it. I think he's done wonders with them given the hand he has been dealt. He can't force his team to defend, only give them the tools to use if they choose to.

Not sure which part of it is silly.

You did say there were no extenuating circumstances.

You did say only Ashe is forgiven missed tackles and poor positioning because he had strapping.

But I suspect agreeing to disagree is the way to go.

Gin and tonic?