v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 2:24 pm  

This should be a good game with 2 unbeaten sides although Hull looked really poor against Wakefield and they have a few more players out.

Sounds like we will have the same squad as last week.

At the end of March Gildart was "2 weeks away"?! Bringing him back against Leigh makes a bit more sense though.

Re: v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 2:57 pm  

Wigg'n wrote:

This should be a good game with 2 unbeaten sides although Hull looked really poor against Wakefield and they have a few more players out.

Sounds like we will have the same squad as last week.

At the end of March Gildart was "2 weeks away"?! Bringing him back against Leigh makes a bit more sense though.

I can't agree with your assessment of us looking really poor against Wakefield. Sure it wasn't a great performance, but considering our efforts the week before I thought it was a really gutsy effort because Wakfield played well imo and we did look tired. But we found a way to win. Our attack was rusty, but our defence was very strong again.

Anyway it should be a really good game this one. Can't wait.

Re: v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 3:05 pm  

Mr. Zucchini Head wrote:

I can't agree with your assessment of us looking really poor against Wakefield. Sure it wasn't a great performance, but considering our efforts the week before I thought it was a really gutsy effort because Wakfield played well imo and we did look tired. But we found a way to win. Our attack was rusty, but our defence was very strong again.

Anyway it should be a really good game this one. Can't wait.

Fair point mate, and valid that a 4/5 day turnaround after golden point is not ideal preparation time.

Poor is probably the wrong word but it's the first time I've seen you guys play this year and was a bit disappointed. Defensively very strong though and Wakefield only scored off a kick, charge-down and interception.

Our games against you weren't very competitive last year but I see it being as close as the 2019 games both decided by 1pt.

Re: v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:18 pm  

Looks like FC will be without Farimo. Think that puts Mahe Fonua on the wing. Very big test for us with the size of FC’s team. Hopefully Harry Smith has a blinder as I feel he’ll be the target

Re: v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:51 pm  

This should be a really good test of where we are.
Fonua will come in for Faraimo who has been solid if unspectacular this season.
Bowden looks likely to miss out with an elbow injury so Jack Brown will come in. He has real promise.
Otherwise I suspect it'll be the same again.

Hopefully we'll find a bit more energy than against Wakefield and our attack can click a bit more.
If I'm honest I think you'll be too strong for us but I certainly think it'll be a good contest.

Re: v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:52 pm  

Good test for both sides and an interesting one with it being the cup game the following week. I wonder if Lam will try and do things a bit differently this week compared to the cup game, so we don’t show too much too soon.

Re: v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:25 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Good test for both sides and an interesting one with it being the cup game the following week. I wonder if Lam will try and do things a bit differently this week compared to the cup game, so we don’t show too much too soon.

So far it seems to be a pretty simple gameplan of going blow for blow with our opponents for an hour then giving the ball some air when they start to fatigue. I think teams must know it is coming by now, but stopping it is another matter.

Re: v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:44 pm  

I'm not sure Hull can compete for the top 2 - they've done pretty well in the opening games but consistency has been difficult for them over the years. Recent history shows Reynolds may find it hard to put a run of games together so that might be problematic - I think he played something like 20 games in 3 years for Wests. As a team though Hull seem to be defending a lot better than previously.

I'm fairly confident we'll win on Thursday but the Cup game will be a tough one, particularly if Reynolds is back.

No Manfredi or Gildart this week, would imagine they're unlikely to be thrown into the cup game without match practice.

Re: v Hull FC : Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:43 pm  

If we can beat Hull twice then get Manfredi and Gildart back (Marshall soon after too) for the Leigh game it will be an incredible start to the year.


Can’t back this up with any facts but games where you play a decent opponent twice in two weeks tend finish one win each.

Re: v Hull FC : Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:15 am  

NSW wrote:

If we can beat Hull twice then get Manfredi and Gildart back (Marshall soon after too) for the Leigh game it will be an incredible start to the year.


Can’t back this up with any facts but games where you play a decent opponent twice in two weeks tend finish one win each.

True.

If we had to choose we would obviously target the cup game and lose the SL game if (hypothetically) it was a choice.

Getting to Wembley this year and having a big crowd in July would be amazing.