Lomaskell need a kicking game : Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:14 pm  

Terrible again tonight in that regard. I thought Lomax did well again tonight, he has really stepped up to the plate and stamped his name all over the 7 shirt over the past month or so. With the ball in hand he was so dangerous tonight. On that note his break for Puletua's try was fantastic, why was that disallowed? His choice and more importantly timing of pass was great at times tonight he is a great judge of momentum and speed and if he continues to develop as he is could be a star for us. It is frightening to think what a combination of Lomax and Eastmond could have been like for us.

Gaskell was his usual self, some nice touches, tried plenty of things and most didn't come off. His defense is now being targeted by sides so it could be a good time to rest him and give Moore a run at 6 possibly.

Lomax seemed to be given more responsibility for the kicking tonight following Gaskell's horror show in that regard last week. He was no better it has to be said and the lack of ability to do anything bar throw a big bomb up is a concern. Maybe it is time to get someone like Tommy Martyn or Bobbie Goulding in for a bit to work on their kicking game.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:17 pm  

Tommy God is already in working with them.

Gaskell, I thought, has been ok for someone thrown in at the deep end. He makes some great touch finders out of hand, and has made some deft kicks.

They seemed to take the pressure off him tonight and let Lomax have a do. He was ok. Nowt special. But, neither are any worse with the boot than we have had for the last 5 years.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:41 pm  

Kicking is a black art. Very difficult to master. I remember when Long first took over duties the ball was being sprayed everywhere. I'm not worried about either Lomax and Gaskell in this regard. They'll learn. And we have to remember that at the beginning of the season neither were supposed to be anywhere near this level of responsibility. Eastmond was the primary with Pryce, Wilkin and Moore operating as optionals.

We should also remember that ALL our kickers learned their trade at Knowsley Road - an entirely different proposition to Widnes where the dimensions, gradient and, most importantly, camber introduce a new dynamic which will take time to get to grips with.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:43 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

Terrible again tonight in that regard. I thought Lomax did well again tonight, he has really stepped up to the plate and stamped his name all over the 7 shirt over the past month or so. With the ball in hand he was so dangerous tonight. On that note his break for Puletua's try was fantastic, why was that disallowed? His choice and more importantly timing of pass was great at times tonight he is a great judge of momentum and speed and if he continues to develop as he is could be a star for us. It is frightening to think what a combination of Lomax and Eastmond could have been like for us.

Gaskell was his usual self, some nice touches, tried plenty of things and most didn't come off. His defense is now being targeted by sides so it could be a good time to rest him and give Moore a run at 6 possibly.

Lomax seemed to be given more responsibility for the kicking tonight following Gaskell's horror show in that regard last week. He was no better it has to be said and the lack of ability to do anything bar throw a big bomb up is a concern. Maybe it is time to get someone like Tommy Martyn or Bobbie Goulding in for a bit to work on their kicking game.

Apparently he lost the ball going over the line.

Thought Lomax was good throughout but Gaskell looked like a nervous wreck at times with ball in hand although defensively he looked better.
Wheeler looked more comfortable at SO when gaskell was subbed at the end.
Forwards were awesome.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:47 pm  

saint at wire wrote:

Thought Lomax was good throughout but Gaskell looked like a nervous wreck at times with ball in hand although defensively he looked better.

Different perspectives. I thought Lomax was comparatively poor tonight. Twice he was caught having a snooze in midfield; he kicked out on the full twice; he made some terrible passes and he kicked early a couple of times without actually telling anyone so no-one tried to score.

I thought Gaskell looked ok with ball in hand but defensively I thought he was quite poor overall. He likes to tickle players rather than tackle them!

But I don't hold any of it against either of them. They have both been thrown in the deep end and have done good stuff. We would have been much worse without them having a go.

Kyle looked quite good in the u20s. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw him back in the first team next week although whether with Gaskell or Lomax I'm not sure. Probably Lomax. It may be time to give Gaskell a rest and an opportunity to consolidate what he has learned this season so far.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:54 pm  

Gaskell's problem is his lack of physicality. He's a year behind Lomax in development and he has yet to fill out. Give him twelve months, a stone in weight and possibly another inch in height and he'll be far more competitive.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:53 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

Gaskell's problem is his lack of physicality. He's a year behind Lomax in development and he has yet to fill out. Give him twelve months, a stone in weight and possibly another inch in height and he'll be far more competitive.

Simmons has said as much in interviews recently. He is still developing his fitness for this level and needs more strength. He's doing just fine IMO.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Sat Apr 02, 2011 7:17 am  

saint at wire wrote:

Apparently he lost the ball going over the line.

Thought Lomax was good throughout but Gaskell looked like a nervous wreck at times with ball in hand although defensively he looked better.
Wheeler looked more comfortable at SO when gaskell was subbed at the end.
Forwards were awesome.

Indeed he did lose the ball going over the line. I actually thought it was knocked out by Briscoe, but can't be too sure without seeing the video. If it was on SKY, it would have gone to the video ref for sure.

I thought Lomax had a poor game (by his standards). Kicking out on the full twice, a couple of poor passes, no real kicking game. However, he has more positive inputs to the game than negative - the few breaks / half breaks he made were superb, and more often than not, his decision making is very good. I would go as far as saying that Lomax is a better prospect than Eastmond, because he has a better all round game.

Gaskell, whilst still inexperienced and learning the game, still makes too many errors for my liking. His decision making isn't the best - some hospital passes, and wrong options - but he will learn from that. He's definitely one for the future, and shows glimpses of classy play. The run out in the first team (which will probably end when Pryce is fit again) has done him the world of good. Regarding his defence, their first try was as a result of his slip, but other than that, I thought he tackled well -there were numerous times HKR attacked his side, but he tackled their centre one on one, when there was certainly temptation for Foster to come in field.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Sat Apr 02, 2011 7:31 am  

I"m not really concerned about the kicking department at the moment, most of the kicks last night were deep or difficult high ones, they are already better than Longy's efforts of the past.

The lomaskell combination is only 3 to 4 games old, they need about 10 games to get some combinations going.

The problem is Pryce will be be back by then and the lomaskell could be broken up, do we play Pryce at 13 to develop our future 6 and 7.

Re: Lomaskell need a kicking game : Sat Apr 02, 2011 7:53 am  

Is the kicking game any worse than what Pryce or Eastmond can do, neither where regarded as class kickers. Long has been our best of recent and he would often kick straight to hands rather than finding the spaces between the winger and fullbacks.