: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:26 am  

to be fair Rob if Riley had been plucking bombs out of the air like a young Radlinski or had been making superb last ditch try saving tackles i think he would have mentioned it.
Riley did none of this he just had a quiet error free game, as he wasnt asked a single question by the Saints offence....

he joined the attack well but on one occasion when he kept the ball himself instead of giving it ,Jimmys reaction was there for all to see and was the same as everyone else in wire colours.... "'kin ell Riley"...

one offload for a try does not make him a rival to Billy Slater....

if he gives us an added attacking option great ...if it means we get goosed under every bomb or last man line break then thats a different matter.

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:40 am  

the flying biscuit wrote:

to be fair Rob if Riley had been plucking bombs out of the air like a young Radlinski or had been making superb last ditch try saving tackles i think he would have mentioned it.
Riley did none of this he just had a quiet error free game, as he wasnt asked a single question by the Saints offence....

he joined the attack well but on one occasion when he kept the ball himself instead of giving it ,Jimmys reaction was there for all to see and was the same as everyone else in wire colours.... "'kin ell Riley"...

one offload for a try does not make him a rival to Billy Slater....

if he gives us an added attacking option great ...if it means we get goosed under every bomb or last man line break then thats a different matter.

They are fair comments mate but given his limited oppertunities at Warrington along with some of the dreadful performances at full back in the past from the likes of Grose at times (in defence) and Reardon then i`m suprised he was never given the chance under Paull Cullen to start at full back, apparently he had played well there before in the under 21`s by all acounts.

He reminds of a Jack Russell that will always be nipping away at your ankles and no matter how many times he gets put on his back he will bounce straight back up, of course he is no Slater or Brett Stewart but when you have a salary cap he looks a useful player to have especially in attitude and consistency.

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 8:34 am  

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the line about our left hand side defence might not have been the best one to take on Gidley and Gardner - like Bracek and Penny then?

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:43 am  

Steve51 wrote:

Cullen "Warrington lost as they only tackled in pairs whilst Saints gang tackled." Quickly followed by "The reason Catalans got hammered was they had too many men in the tackle & left themselves exposed".

No and I'm dissapointed you've misunderstood that Steve, I expected better than that.

What he was showing was that alot of Saints tackles involved 3 or 4 tacklers, who would effectively shut down the runner and turn him onto his back, slowing down his recovery. Then, whilst he (slowly) gets to his feet to play the ball, the 3rd and 4th tacklers sprint back into the defensive line with the 1st and 2nd left to become markers. This compared to Catalans 3 or 4 tacklers losing the collision and hence all being still scattered on the floor whilst the player with the ball gets a quick play-the-ball.

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:49 am  

He did similar analysis of the Bradford v Hull KR game which highlighted how powerful some of the Bradford forwards are, there were clips of Langley and Burgess driving into four man tackles and still hitting the floor in a good position to get a fast play-the-ball which Newton then exposed.

Given the apparent power of the Warrington pack this year its something I would be looking for us to do, surely the likes of Carvell, Morley, Rauhihi and Westwood are as good as the Bradford forwards, if we can get these quick play the balls against multiple tacklers then a hooker like Higham will do damage.

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:56 am  

Our play the balls were the fastest I can remember. Lightning at times.

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:40 am  

Rob Wire wrote:

They are fair comments mate but given his limited oppertunities at Warrington along with some of the dreadful performances at full back in the past from the likes of Grose at times (in defence) and Reardon then i`m suprised he was never given the chance under Paull Cullen to start at full back, apparently he had played well there before in the under 21`s by all acounts.

He reminds of a Jack Russell that will always be nipping away at your ankles and no matter how many times he gets put on his back he will bounce straight back up, of course he is no Slater or Brett Stewart but when you have a salary cap he looks a useful player to have especially in attitude and consistency.

During his year at fullback, he was never dreadful Rob, okay, maybe the first couple of games he played there. From about game five onwards, he was a revelation. With ball in hand he was the best fullback in the league that year, and defensively he was solid if unspectacular.

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:47 am  

'Hitman' Norvern Soul wrote:

Now, now, let's be a bit realistic. You ask for people not to jump on your back everytime you post, yet you post something like this.

just a sarky post saying they looked knackered come the final quarter....then thats just my opinion

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:26 pm  

Anyone else notice that Terry Newton only ever stepped of his left foot.

: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:37 pm  

Steve51 wrote:

Anyone else notice that Terry Newton only ever stepped of his left foot.

yeah he did in the highlights shown,
what about the rest of the game??

also i spoke to him at the warrington v wigan friendley (DEBACKLE)he told me he had just had knee surgery,right knee i presume..