Watched the game back and we're much, much better than what we've been given credit for.
Plenty of mistakes in the game, but we looked far more threatening in attack. Plenty of line breaks and adventurous with the ball. Faz makes a break, Tommy going close on a play, Field putting Smith through and of course the Field break.
Maybe it's just too hard for opposition fans to see, or say that though.
Having watched the game again today, there is far too much significance being given to this 'Hudds had their pockets pinched' idea.
They were a bit steadier than we were, but they didn't do anything like enough to justify such a claim.
The move that killed them was attempted at least a couple of times earlier in the match, and yet they still got caught out by it. None of the presenters mentioned that to my knowledge, which makes me think they were commentating on what they wanted to be happening rather than what actually was.
That’s all he is. For balance, I thought it was a yellow (only one of them though), on the referee if they want to play that game
I also thought the holding down on French just before half time was a yellow
McQueen’s try had 2 obstructions in it, both lead runners ran straight into defenders, pretty much the same as the one that was given against us in the first set.
I’d question why the game was stopped for Hill’s leg injury but not for Thornley’s.
The bottom line, for all the talk of them being the better side for large parts of the game, they weren’t good enough to register more points than us. That’s the only stat that matters.
Lets face it if this game had been played under the rules applied at the beginning of the season it would have ended up a nines match
Having watched the game again today, there is far too much significance being given to this 'Hudds had their pockets pinched' idea.
They were a bit steadier than we were, but they didn't do anything like enough to justify such a claim.
The move that killed them was attempted at least a couple of times earlier in the match, and yet they still got caught out by it. None of the presenters mentioned that to my knowledge, which makes me think they were commentating on what they wanted to be happening rather than what actually was.
Agree with both posts. I was quite down on our performance and felt the game was a little dour for the most part on the long journey back on the coach yesterday. Watching it again without the uncertainty and stress of sitting in the stands, I saw a lot to admire from both teams. In the heat of the moment, it’s those daft knock-ons that catch the eye, but you don’t register the sheer graft in defence and all the pivotal plays that could have swung either way. I thought Huddersfield came with a superb game plan designed to shut us down, but watching it again, you could see they were creaking during the last quarter of the game as we kept pushing at their edges. Sometimes it can be hard to appreciate the performance of the team when you’re there and the game is so tight.
And anyone who thinks Harry Smith had an off-day seriously needs to watch his performance again.
I've not had chance to watch again (going to do the first half now, rest tomorrow).
Before I do, one of the main things I noticed at the game was how little Mago did (minutes and metres), I thought he was very uninspiring when he was on (ten minutes or so)? My question is, did he suffer an injury or was he not fully fit in the first place. Like I said, I'm going to watch again without the pressure but for me it was his poorest game for us so far.
I've not had chance to watch again (going to do the first half now, rest tomorrow).
Before I do, one of the main things I noticed at the game was how little Mago did (minutes and metres), I thought he was very uninspiring when he was on (ten minutes or so)? My question is, did he suffer an injury or was he not fully fit in the first place. Like I said, I'm going to watch again without the pressure but for me it was his poorest game for us so far.
Yes Mago was underwhelming - he needs to start running his weight and pumping those legs after contact instead of purely focusing on offloads.
Whilst we're onto negatives I thought Jake Bibby was poor again at centre - two bad defensive reads which led to tries. Not unhappy that he appears to be off to Huddersfield in all honesty - a solid right winger at Wigan but nothing more than that. Maybe Ian Watson can get the best out of him.
I’m amazed people are criticising Child on some platforms and blaming him for the Huddersfield defeat. I’ve watched the game back and we got a bad hand from him. The first pen is a joke, the penalty for Huddersfield messing up their own scrum down is also a joke, he should sin bin their man on half time for a professional foul, McQueens try shouid go upstairs for obstruction, he missed a blatant 6 again part way though the second half, which ended with French being tackled in possession and just before the Smith try, Faz gets a whack to the face from Yates and stays down but gets nothing. The replay clearly shows he gets hit high.
If he gave us a helping hand, I shudder to think how he’d have performed if he’d been against us!
All history now and all that matters is Challenge Cup Number 20!
I've expressed plenty of doubt about Smith in the past, based on his ratio of successful plays to errors. All halves get it wrong sometimes, and nothing ventured, nothing gained. But the bad stuff needs to be few and far between. He's really come on this year under Peet, though. Like many, I'll reserve judgement until I've watched the game back on TV, but he was there for the big plays that mattered, and really won the game for us.
Having just watched it back I stand by my initial comment.
For much of the game we lacked any direction.
That isn’t just on Smith it’s on Cust and O’Neil too and non of them took the responsibility on.
Smith however did come up with key plays at key times which got us the win and that a sign of quality.
One player I thought had a poor game on the day was Singleton however I thought he went well particularly on his first spell.
Last edited by jonh on Sun May 29, 2022 9:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Agree with both posts. I was quite down on our performance and felt the game was a little dour for the most part on the long journey back on the coach yesterday. Watching it again without the uncertainty and stress of sitting in the stands, I saw a lot to admire from both teams. In the heat of the moment, it’s those daft knock-ons that catch the eye, but you don’t register the sheer graft in defence and all the pivotal plays that could have swung either way. I thought Huddersfield came with a superb game plan designed to shut us down, but watching it again, you could see they were creaking during the last quarter of the game as we kept pushing at their edges. Sometimes it can be hard to appreciate the performance of the team when you’re there and the game is so tight.
And anyone who thinks Harry Smith had an off-day seriously needs to watch his performance again.
He was at least as worthy of the MOM award as McQueen, if not more so.