OK, so now that we live in North Yorkshire, I don't get to live games, but I decided to buy a month of Premier so I could watch the Bash (and a few other things over the next month).
So this was my first opportunity to watch the Bulls this season. My thoughts
1. I was embarrassed to see Crossley and Walker taking to the pitch in such a (lack of) shape. Even my wife, who was casually watching whilst browsing on her laptop, noticed their rotund shapes. It's a shame because Walker looks like he could be a decent prop - he was good impact and an offload to his game, but he's just too lardy and out of condition to be genuinely effective.
2. We look devoid of ideas in attacks - we are only ever going to score from a Patton kick to Gill or a barge over from someone like Flanagan. That makes us incredibly easy to defend against.
3. What made Dunning think it was a good idea to put Kear into the halves to replace Lilley? Lawford has been in the squad for the past couple of weeks. Why? If he isn't going to get a game even when we don't have a viable alternative, then he might as well move to another club. If the kid doesn't get a game against Workington next week, then he's obviously never getting a game.
4. I felt a bit sorry for Burton because Kear should have been in that role, and those two first-half tries probably wouldn't have been scored. That killed the game from our point of view
5. On the positive, there did seem to be plenty of effort, even if it was effort devoid of skill. This was typified by the chase back on Woodburn Hall - albeit it was a kid from Warrington who led the way. From what I read, there's been a lack of effort in the past weeks, so this was something of a positive.
6. It looks like the team needs a complete clear-out and re-set. Too many average players going through the motions. Where on earth we're going to offload some of that lot to is anyone's guess. Then there's the problem of finding adequate replacements on our budget. Maybe it's time to put the budget into a core of experienced Championship campaigners and then fill out the team with our own Academy products? Forget about challenging for the Top 6 for a couple of years and concentrate on building up from the lower reaches of the Championship with a younger, fitter, more agile group.
