Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Mon Aug 29, 2022 8:13 pm  

Lord Tony Smith wrote:

We should be throwing the whole budget at Brodie Croft.

He is a great player, but not an organising half, which is what we need.

Sneyd fulfils that role at Salford.

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Mon Aug 29, 2022 8:16 pm  

Lord Tony Smith wrote:

We should be throwing the whole budget at Brodie Croft.

Croft is just what Williams is supposed to be, isn't he?

I'm not saying get Marc Sneyd, but that's the type of player we need with Williams - a reliable, steady Eddie, who will do all the dirty half back work, like the kicking game, general organising and giving Williams the freedom to be off the cuff.

Personally, our half back formation is the one thing that frustrates me most about the modern game - the idea that a half back has to be confined to one side of a pitch - I much prefer the old fashioned use of half backs, where you had a flair number 6 ( a Ken Kelly, John Woods, Phil Blake,etc) and then had a solid half back partner, who basically led the forwards around like a shepherd does with his sheep.

Croft does look like an absolute throwback, mind you. Always fantastic to see a half back with the confidence and courage to just run at a defence, using an exciting box of half back tricks.

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Mon Aug 29, 2022 11:00 pm  

I must say , i was pleasantly surprised how the Wire came back in the 2nd half , although the commentators pointed out that Huddersfield's defence had not been great all season either.

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Tue Aug 30, 2022 7:17 am  

I've just watched the tries back on YouTube. 3 of those tries were as a direct result of Thewlis dropping it/ineffectively challenging the high ball. It also appears that Huddersfield were having more success down our left flank. Thought Ratchford was poor on Huddersfield's first try.

Williams seems to have a strong game with his involvement in our tries and obviously Dufty is a real positive.

Defensively, Thewlis seems to have been targeted, in a number of games, with high balls bringing some success for the opposition. Medium to long term, given that he's been touted as a future FB, do people have concerns? He's been given plenty of game time by Powell to iron these errors out, but vulnerabilities still exist. Any thoughts?

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Tue Aug 30, 2022 7:54 am  

Gazwire wrote:

I've just watched the tries back on YouTube. 3 of those tries were as a direct result of Thewlis dropping it/ineffectively challenging the high ball. It also appears that Huddersfield were having more success down our left flank. Thought Ratchford was poor on Huddersfield's first try.

Williams seems to have a strong game with his involvement in our tries and obviously Dufty is a real positive.

Defensively, Thewlis seems to have been targeted, in a number of games, with high balls bringing some success for the opposition. Medium to long term, given that he's been touted as a future FB, do people have concerns? He's been given plenty of game time by Powell to iron these errors out, but vulnerabilities still exist. Any thoughts?

Thewlis isn’t a poor player, neither is he becoming one.
It’s all relative across the board.
Our pack is weak, as is our defence. The weakness puts the opposition in a better position, and that presence puts a catcher under pressure. It could be anyone under a high ball with limited time & protection around him, and it has been.
You can’t just single out Thewlis because he’s having the balls to have a go and puts himself under a spotlight.

If our defence was better, those kicks from Huddersfield and any other of the 11 teams would have been deeper, then Thewlis would have had the time and space to route some of those breath taking runs we’ve seen him do, pre Powell.
And if they aren’t kicking the ball to target someone, they are running straight through us because we are defending a zone with greater options against us.

Bottom line is, we need to play rugby league in their half, and defend that area with fast line speed if we dont have a wall of weight, or a combination of the two, not trying to defend own 20 for three parts of the game.

Thank heavens for Dufty, he saved our skin, otherwise we’d be getting relegated on Saturday.

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Tue Aug 30, 2022 8:02 am  

Gazwire wrote:

I've just watched the tries back on YouTube. 3 of those tries were as a direct result of Thewlis dropping it/ineffectively challenging the high ball. It also appears that Huddersfield were having more success down our left flank. Thought Ratchford was poor on Huddersfield's first try.

Williams seems to have a strong game with his involvement in our tries and obviously Dufty is a real positive.

Defensively, Thewlis seems to have been targeted, in a number of games, with high balls bringing some success for the opposition. Medium to long term, given that he's been touted as a future FB, do people have concerns? He's been given plenty of game time by Powell to iron these errors out, but vulnerabilities still exist. Any thoughts?

Only saw the game live, and yes Thewlis should have been able to cope with those kicks better, but he received very little help from his centre Joe Wardle who should have been able to block the Huddersfield chasers better.

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Tue Aug 30, 2022 8:07 am  

rubber duckie wrote:

Thewlis isn’t a poor player, neither is he becoming one.
It’s all relative across the board.
Our pack is weak, as is our defence. The weakness puts the opposition in a better position, and that presence puts a catcher under pressure. It could be anyone under a high ball with limited time & protection around him, and it has been.
You can’t just single out Thewlis because he’s having the balls to have a go and puts himself under a spotlight.

If our defence was better, those kicks from Huddersfield and any other of the 11 teams would have been deeper, then Thewlis would have had the time and space to route some of those breath taking runs we’ve seen him do, pre Powell.
And if they aren’t kicking the ball to target someone, they are running straight through us because we are defending a zone with greater options against us.

Bottom line is, we need to play rugby league in their half, and defend that area with fast line speed if we dont a wall of weight, or a combination of the two, not trying to defend own 20 for three parts of the game.

I'm not having a pop at him, he's shown promise. I agree too that a better organized defence would help, but it won't always negate a well executed kick. Put it this way, there are other players who are going to be dealing with those situations better and he does appear to have been targeted by opposing teams with a degree of success.

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:46 am  

I wasn't at the game so haven't seen it and it's a little unfair to comment. The second half fightback was a massive positive but the first half was a massive negative, at least we are in these recent games even if we shoot ourselves in the foot before we start to play.

For the lads who went was the second half a better performance across the board? Was our game management and tactical kicking from Leon Hayes? And was that pivotal? How was ratchford and Williams as a pair in the first half?

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:51 am  

Gazwire wrote:

I've just watched the tries back on YouTube. 3 of those tries were as a direct result of Thewlis dropping it/ineffectively challenging the high ball. It also appears that Huddersfield were having more success down our left flank. Thought Ratchford was poor on Huddersfield's first try.

Williams seems to have a strong game with his involvement in our tries and obviously Dufty is a real positive.

Defensively, Thewlis seems to have been targeted, in a number of games, with high balls bringing some success for the opposition. Medium to long term, given that he's been touted as a future FB, do people have concerns? He's been given plenty of game time by Powell to iron these errors out, but vulnerabilities still exist. Any thoughts?

I think thewlis head/confidence has gone under the high ball, I had no problem with him previously, then he dropped one going for a Hollywood catch and since then he's got worse.

The zero defence he got at Wigan for challengers didn't help, mind as mentioned, we do a crap job of supporting defending our catchers

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

Re: Todays match v Huddersfield : Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:56 am  

Dita's Slot Meter wrote:

Croft is just what Williams is supposed to be, isn't he?

I'm not saying get Marc Sneyd, but that's the type of player we need with Williams - a reliable, steady Eddie, who will do all the dirty half back work, like the kicking game, general organising and giving Williams the freedom to be off the cuff.

Personally, our half back formation is the one thing that frustrates me most about the modern game - the idea that a half back has to be confined to one side of a pitch - I much prefer the old fashioned use of half backs, where you had a flair number 6 ( a Ken Kelly, John Woods, Phil Blake,etc) and then had a solid half back partner, who basically led the forwards around like a shepherd does with his sheep.

Croft does look like an absolute throwback, mind you. Always fantastic to see a half back with the confidence and courage to just run at a defence, using an exciting box of half back tricks.

To quote Paul Cullen, we should all be lucky to have a degree in hindsight, brodie croft was deemed not good enough for the nrl.

If we had signed him in the off season, can you imagine the pelters that KF would have got?