Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Wed Sep 13, 2023 11:44 am  

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Wed Sep 13, 2023 8:51 pm  

No Hardacker.Is he injured?

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Wed Sep 13, 2023 9:17 pm  

Lam mentioned a hand injury that was going to be further investigated with an X-ray. No word on the result of that, so could be precautionary or could be something more of a concern.

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Wed Sep 13, 2023 10:51 pm  

Hopefully is the former and not the latter VL.

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Fri Sep 15, 2023 10:35 pm  

Full review later, quick review

Comically, tragically poop

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Sat Sep 16, 2023 9:05 am  

The best excuses I can come up with for that performance was a team that was spent from saints last week, carrying more than a few knocks and had an eye on Wigan next week.

No Asiata can't be a factor given how we went last week.

Maybe it was the new bulbs in the floodlights.

Scoring in the first few minutes I think everyone thought this might be a bit if a rout. The Hood scored off our mistake and I thought "well it had to be him that scores their try, now we kick on"

Then came 70 minutes of duelling penalties.

Not to do down wakey who defended very well but this was only matched by our brain farts and they only scored from our mistakes.

How many decisions went our way and how much ball and possession we had and yet nothing came of it was quite staggering.

O'Brien relegates another team. It's fitting it happened nearer the away fans and not near a disgruntled and disinterested north stand.

Not content with having the longest SL match it looked like we were going for the second longest too.

A draw was the only real fair result as no team was worth two points

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Sat Sep 16, 2023 10:10 am  

I have a bad feeling that our season is now over. 2 more games and I think that will be it. This season has been miles better than I thought it would be and that's a massive credit to the players. A lack of squad depth looks to have hit home now, players with ice packs all over their bodies at the end of the game and we looked absolutely spent last night at times. Also, I can't wait to see a decent stand off at leigh next year, had a right giggle when Ben got man of the match.

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Sat Sep 16, 2023 11:24 am  

Ben Reynolds may have had a poor game, as most did, all of which can be excused after this gruelling season. Ben is one of the most improved players this season, especially his goal-kicking which has won us many a game.

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Sun Sep 17, 2023 1:05 am  

Agreed, Ben is a much improved player this season but, he still is not good enough. If our stall is now top six SL side regularly challenging for silverware then we need to be looking for upgrades particularly in this key position.

At the moment we are winning with him but not because of him. His form has dipped over recent months.

Ben's kicking is not exceptional. He does not fall into the Riddy category on that score (yes, I fully accept that he nailed an absolutely crucial conversion from the touchline at Wembley but he also missed a penalty, a straight one from 30 yards out in the first half of the same game which a truly good goal kicker would have kicked in their sleep - and that is my point here). He also offers zip with ball in hand in attack and please do not get me going on his one on one tackling. Far too many drop offs leading directly to opposition scores.

Wembley hero - yes, and I am absolutely chuffed for him in that regard but that does not mean he is owed a position in the team for life or that his obvious deficiencies can be overlooked. For these reasons I have not got a problem with him going to Fev or wherever at the end of the season. I wish him well if indeed he is going.

Time to stop being starry eyed about our Wembley immortals. Is he good enough at this rarefied level? No, he is not. Time to get an upgrade and to move on without him.

I suspect that regulars on this site will be mortified by my comments but this is not about being disloyal to the club or being disrespectful to Ben himself. Our ambitions as a club are now set higher than ever before. As such there is no room for sentiment when it comes to retaining or replacing players, even those who are for some 'fans' favourites'.

Re: Squads - Leopards v Wakey : Sun Sep 17, 2023 6:22 pm  

Does anyone know what Asiata’s injury is? As usual nothing about it from the club and Trevor Hunt saying on radio Manchester he won’t be playing on Friday either.