ThePrinter wrote:
Pretty much went how I expected although wasn’t quite expecting a zero for Cas.
For all the complaints about too many ex-forwards coaching in SL and can’t we have more HB’s coaching. Well in the last 160 mins of playoff rugby, Powell who has been lauded for his teams play has seen his team score a mere 6 points (and they were the scruffiest 6 points in GF history with 30 secs left) whilst his opponents have racked up 38. Don’t know why people were saying Cas had learnt from last year, there was no evidence of it until they faced this fixture and you got the true answer tonight.
Fully expect Wigan to continue the Wigan/Leeds stranglehold next week in the GF and make it 11 wins out of the last 12 years between the two teams at the big boys table whilst the kiddy table looks on enviously.
Not sure it’s the coaching to be honest. I’m pretty sure Powell has not told our players to screw up on the first tackle every time we get a set on the opposition line.
The problem is we have players who can look like superstars in games that don’t matter, but lose composure when it does.
At the moment we don’t have a player who can pull us through these big games. When it’s comes to the crunch, having the likes of Sinfield, McGuire, O’Loughlin, Tomkins or Leuluai (and others in years gone by) has been the difference between winning and losing big games. We don’t have one, hence the inclination to underperform when it really matters.
