Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 6:19 pm  

I thought we played pretty well, great advert for RL. Think u can pick mom out of Sau, Chase, Tomkins and Hanson. Thought Meli was useless as always.however I think we look a lot better coached team than we did! Agree with john wells comment of always playing in 5th gear. I think Widnes have shown us 3 times this year the imPortance of pace. I think this was highlighted by the fact that Widnes lost their bench yet were still able to pick up point.
Quick mention to Sau for putting his hand up and taking that kick! Diss appointed Chase of another back didn't!
Big improvements since I last watched them and loved the game.
Come on Solly!
Ps Tony really annoyed me by saying Sal-ford all match, he must know by now!

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 6:23 pm  

Btw disappointed in Hock. Went missing when he could have made a difference!

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 6:31 pm  

Fifty-fifty calls didn't go our way. Kevin Brown threw more forward passes than John Elway but only got pulled on one. We failed to capitalise after scoring by gifting an error. Eden seems to be on a different planet. Chase opted for style over substance at crucial times, adding more pressure. Defence was weak out wide as usual.

On the plus side, Mullaney was good, Sau, most of the forwards except Hock who had a quiet one. We looked much better around the ruck both in defence and attack.

This season was always going to be a tough one and there's still time for the team to pull something out of the bag. If you add Locke, BJB, and Sneyd to that side without any other signings and we would be holing-up our problem areas.

Disappointing but I can see slow progress. The team really needs a lift morale wise and need a win to steady nerves. We'll probably go and beat Wigan now...

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 6:35 pm  

You can't blame the ref for that!

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 6:42 pm  

TheButcher wrote:

. Eden seems to be on a different planet. C.

It's more apparent now I'm watching it on tv that Greg Eden was involved in some of the good things that we did.
I hope we renew his loan period.
He's been solid

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 8:09 pm  

TheButcher wrote:

except Hock who had a quiet one

I don't watch us every week so maybe I'm well off the mark, but Hock to me had the air of a man who is sick of not being utilising to the best of his abilities yet having to drag others along with him (perhaps on the back of his paper rant a few weeks ago as well).

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 8:13 pm  

Being very subjective Francis Meli for all the good he was today might as well have been employed as an extra turn style.

Much as it pains me it's a long time since I've seen a limited team like Widnes so well drilled with a brilliant game plan, hats off the Betts as I thought he was made of fail as far as a super league standard coach goes but he appears to be one of the better ones.

Stand out for me again was Sa'u who looks the most enthusiastic and when he really hits the ball up nearly impossible to stop first man up.

It struck me today with Meli on one wing and Gleeson on the other we have weak links on both flanks which a well drilled teal like Widnes exploit with alarming ease.

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 10:03 pm  

I'd have about the same amount of confidence in someone with both hands amputated going up to catch a bomb than with Meli. He's a decent finisher and also makes some good yards when he takes up a few hit ups to help out the forwards but he's an absolute liability in defence and has been responsible for us conceding a number of shockingly bad tries this year.

We probably should have won today. Almost every single Widnes try seemed to come off the back of us gifting them possession or from some needless penalty. Whenever we looked like we were getting a handle on the game we seemed to get overexcited and made some stupid error. They made far fewer mistakes than us and that made the difference overall. Can't expect to keep giving the ball to a well drilled side and not concede.

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 10:12 pm  

Adamjk wrote:

Whenever we looked like we were getting a handle on the game we seemed to get overexcited and made some stupid error. They made far fewer mistakes than us and that made the difference overall.

This pretty much sums it up. Got too giddy when in front and coughed up possession which meant we never put them under any sustained pressure.

Re: Match Report- No idiots : Sat May 17, 2014 11:07 pm  

I'm taking the quote about Eden being on a different planet meant he is playing well?, seems to be one of the few players playing with confidence and seems like he's enjoying himself. I'd stick with Mullaney at scrum half as he looked more creative than Smith has for most of the season and he simply isn't the better full back on current form.

Does anyone have any idea why Sa'u took the sitter kick he missed? Mullaney didn't look to carrying an injury (and kicked the attempt afterwards) so it bewilders me and could have come back to bite us at the death if we'd have closed the game out better. At the very least if he was going to kick he should have clouted it rather than chipping it.

I'd love one of the stato's to work out how many tries have come down Meli's wing or from a mistake by him compared to however many he has fallen over the line to score. It's all right scoring them but when he allow the opposition to score more it's counter productive. Time for me to give one of the youngsters a go, you never know we might unearth a gem.

One thing that did strike me was the call when our player got pole axed, for the ref to judge it was accidental is bewildering as accidental or not it was still high and should have been a penalty to us rather than a Widnes ball.

Agree with the comparisons between Brown and Elway as some of his 'line balls' we nothing short of blatant forward passes, how professional refs and linesmen fail to see that is beyond me and shows that not only is the class of player different in SL compared to the NRL but also the quality of the officials.