Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:06 pm  

St pete wrote:

I was impressed with swifty today, he was a little naive in defence on two tries (I think) but he took some very good high balls and also looked good on the ball.

I was impressed with him in attack but not in defence (except under the high ball).

I think it was a needless risk, though, to play a noob in a knock out game.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:07 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

I was impressed with him in attack but not in defence (except under the high ball).

I think it was a needless risk, though, to play a noob in a knock out game.

So who would you have played? Jamie foster!! His defence can definitely not be trusted at the moment.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:11 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

I was impressed with him in attack but not in defence (except under the high ball).

I think it was a needless risk, though, to play a noob in a knock out game.

Agreed, it was a risk in a tricky knockout game and when ah van skipped past him i thought this could be a problem.

He's not a natural winger and looked a little lost in defence.

He's a good prospect as is jones who Brown said he likes.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:13 pm  

In regards to Owen, I thought he looked a little leaden footed personally. As the saying goes there's no substitute for pace, which is something all top fullbacks have. Once upon a time even Wellens was speedy, well a little. That's not to say Owen won't be fine player but he looks a little on the heavy side to me.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sat Apr 14, 2012 10:46 pm  

The Chair Maker wrote:

Some interesting thoughts on the game.


Swift looked a real handfull with ball in hand. Reminded me a bit of Tomkins in that he is built like a starving sparrow yet ha the ability to bounce out of tackles. His fielding of bombs was exemplary. Could he turn out to be our future fullback??


Josh Jones hard to think that he is only 18 years old. He is a real handful with the ball in hand and defensively sound.

Lance. Looked like a deliberate tactic to keep him out of the action for the first 20 mins then introduce him into the midfield. Suspect he may be playing with a knock.

Clough a one man yardage machine, our best forward along with Lafranchi.

Roby playing well but then committed a complete brainfart that nearly lost us the game.

Overall performance, pretty solid in a going through the motions sort of way for the first 65 mins. Then Roby went off and we collapsed.

Paul Wellens. Not captain material at present , spends the match screaming abuse at his fellow players when a mistake is made making wind mills with his arms. For me this puts undue pressure on the other players and distracts them from the job in hand. Paul is a passionate player but need to temper his emotions when dealing with his team mates.
Joynt was a great captain not because of what he said but what he did. For me a quiet word in the ear is better than a whirling dervish

I disagree with you about Wellens. This is one of the quietest (on the pitch) Saints teams I've seen in 20 odd years of watching them.
Joynt didn't have to be loud. The team was full of leaders with the likes of Long, Scully, Cunningham etc
Saints don't lack quality, they IMO lack leadership & direction. Wellens is doing most of it, at least last year we had Graham chipping in too.

We're missing that mean streak. The type of player that gets in the oppositions faces a bit. A player that away fans hate.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sat Apr 14, 2012 10:54 pm  

DaveTwentyman wrote:

We're missing that mean streak. The type of player that gets in the oppositions faces a bit. A player that away fans hate.

Indeed. We've never really replaced Jason Hooper, who played that role admirably.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:22 am  

Dux wrote:

Indeed. We've never really replaced Jason Hooper, who played that role admirably.

I'd much prefer a sonny Nickle in that pack at the moment. Brown likes his forwards tough so maybe he will put a little fire in them.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:27 am  

St pete wrote:

I'd much prefer a sonny Nickle in that pack at the moment. Brown likes his forwards tough so maybe he will put a little fire in them.

Totally agree. They don't lack quality in the pack but they certainly lack that aggression, that mean streak. The type of forward/s were the opposition just think 'Oh Christ' (Although he lacked a bit of aggression too) when they come on the field.
I agree that type of player give away a few penalties but they gain you so much more.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:47 am  

On a positive note I thought Lomax, Jones, Roby and Cloughy had great games. On the negative side we have lost that mental toughness that Cunningham, Sculthorpe and Graham use to provide in bucket loads. We are a 60 min team and look like the Jeckyll and Hyde teams we had in the 1980's.
Agree totally obout our pack and no impact from the bench, don,t think it's a quick fix either. Someone needs to get inside the heads of the players that it's n 80 min game and can,t switch off anytime in a game now. Quite a lot of games lost this season were self inflicted where we have some how managed to find a way to lose, until we fix the mental toughness........we will always be this Jeckyl and Hyde team.

Re: CC Widnes v Saints Match thread. : Sun Apr 15, 2012 8:22 am  

St pete wrote:

I'd much prefer a sonny Nickle in that pack at the moment. Brown likes his forwards tough so maybe he will put a little fire in them.

another Vila is what we need!