Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:12 am  

Now the red mist has gone....

The state of our team come down once again to a lightweight pack...and how we roll with it..

No finger at Hill. We are getting hammered up front. There is little go forward meters from Sims again and Cooper.

Yes we're short on front rowers with grunt but why don't we try and roll early with the pack we have out and get a lead and then try the kicking game and hold on to the lead while the forwards take a breather?

From minute one...we had the outside backs running the ball up!!! What in heavens? You can't tell me the forwards need a break that early on!?

Yes our back are average at best excluding Lineham but behind a dominant pack on the front foot, even our backs would look great.

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:16 am  

I thought Cooper made some solid runs. ....Sims has no intention of breaking the gain line. ...he thinks he's Paul wood circa 2011. ....but he's not

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:23 am  

sims n cooper were the only players that ran in hard last night unfortunately the other players had more aggression

I feel for sims he was one of the only players putting any effort in for us last night but in a beaten pack that didn't equate to much.

if we have a lightweight pack its reasonable to expect it top be relatively nimble an fit yet were not playing to our strengths and letting the backs wear themselves out early on and become ineffective towards the end of the game

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:28 am  

the flying biscuit wrote:

I thought Cooper made some solid runs. ....Sims has no intention of breaking the gain line. ...he thinks he's Paul wood circa 2011. ....but he's not

I thought I was a little harsh on Cooper but I expected him to have been the all barnstorming transition player...not much of that.

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:31 am  

My dad and I were discussing this last night. Back in 2013(?) we had Higham Hill and Wood as our starting front three. We had Monas Morley and Carvell coming off the bench.

Teams would be battered from minute 1 to minute 80. Imagine getting pounded by Hill for 25 minutes, before a fresh Adrian Morley came on. Best pack in the league by a country mile.

We also had Trent and Westwood in the second row, and Cooper knocking about as well. Our full 17 won us games, we weren't weakened by the interchange.

There's definitely a place for lighter, nimble, ball-playing forwards. Curry for instance is exceptional, as was Grix when in the back row, and I'm a massive fan of Westerman too.

However I think we've got the balance between the two wrong at the moment, and our interchange is particularly weak compared to a few years back.

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:52 am  

Jimathay wrote:

My dad and I were discussing this last night. Back in 2013(?) we had Higham Hill and Wood as our starting front three. We had Monas Morley and Carvell coming off the bench.

Teams would be battered from minute 1 to minute 80. Imagine getting pounded by Hill for 25 minutes, before a fresh Adrian Morley came on. Best pack in the league by a country mile.

We also had Trent and Westwood in the second row, and Cooper knocking about as well. Our full 17 won us games, we weren't weakened by the interchange.

There's definitely a place for lighter, nimble, ball-playing forwards. Curry for instance is exceptional, as was Grix when in the back row, and I'm a massive fan of Westerman too.

However I think we've got the balance between the two wrong at the moment, and our interchange is particularly weak compared to a few years back.

For whatever reason,whether a lack of available players or money, in the intervening years the quality of the team has plummeted dramatically. Recruitment & recruitment planning has been woeful.

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:08 am  

I mentioned this last week and was shot down in flames, we have no go forward, also in Smith post match interview on sky he mentioned all the injured players and when they might return but never mentioned Crosby, I know his wife has just had a baby but his team is struggling, I know about paternity but would you not want to come back an help the team unless ive missed something!

[Winslade's Offload]

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:13 am  

Wiredeano wrote:

I mentioned this last week and was shot down in flames, we have no go forward, also in Smith post match interview on sky he mentioned all the injured players and when they might return but never mentioned Crosby, I know his wife has just had a baby but his team is struggling, I know about paternity but would you not want to come back an help the team unless ive missed something!

Nothing official, but it was suggested on here that he was injured. Either way, teams will lose players for a variety of reasons during the season and we should have the squad to cope with that. I have to say I am really surprised that our pack isn't up to the job atm. I assumed with the recruitment of Coops and Crosby that the problem would be solved and it would release the likes of Clark and the BR, but it just doesn't seem to be happening.

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:22 am  

Winslade's Offload wrote:

Nothing official, but it was suggested on here that he was injured. Either way, teams will lose players for a variety of reasons during the season and we should have the squad to cope with that. I have to say I am really surprised that our pack isn't up to the job atm. I assumed with the recruitment of Coops and Crosby that the problem would be solved and it would release the likes of Clark and the BR, but it just doesn't seem to be happening.

I agree, I liked the look of 4 good props and Westwood backing them up, saying that Westerman and Clark are working there socks off they must be pulling their hair out

Re: Our Pack....Again! : Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:59 am  

Crosby hand injury I heard. Paternity was circumstance.