Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 12:20 pm  

apollosghost wrote:

One other thing, Farrel's defence, been pretty shocking these last 3 weeks, very unlike him.
I'm not demanding he gets dropped but he needs to up that aspect of his game.

I don’t think it’s helped that he’s played with Cust and Bibby, then Smith and Hardaker, then back to Cust and Bibby and then on to Cust and Halsall these past few weeks. He does need to pick his form up but it’s been a bit disjointed.

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 12:23 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

I don’t think it’s helped that he’s played with Cust and Bibby, then Smith and Hardaker, then back to Cust and Bibby and then on to Cust and Halsall these past few weeks. He does need to pick his form up but it’s been a bit disjointed.

You can 100% see this.

Cust seems a little susceptible to a guy stepping back inside. We got done at KR with it and it almost happened again last night. It's probably a chat thing. Maybe he's pushing too quickly and not pulling his inside man with him?

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 12:59 pm  

A lot of people are getting carried away here. Start of this season we all wanted a changed after 3 years of Lams 1D rugby. We have had a response and although it’s been sloppy at times, there are promising flashes of a side that can cause problems. A few people on here honestly loose their heads when the lads put in a bad performance, I’d be happy to be proven wrong but I don’t see the same names commenting on the first 3 games we played

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:23 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

I don't necessarily think it needs to be one in, one out at prop. Last night showed that we need another body on top of what we already have. Playing two 2nd rows there isn't good enough + an extra, ready to go player, helps us rotate across the season.

I actually think Thornley is a shrewd signing. Granted it was only preseason, but I think you could see what he'll bring to the side i.e early front foot ball. Granted Bibby is a defensive centre, but he's also one of the best at it in SL too. Both are an improvement on last night & like pieces of a jigsaw will improve the balance of the team.

Isa - yup, he's still here for 2023. Doesn't mean he has to start or even play tho. Maybe he'll fill that Amor role in the squad?

If we are to the salary cap then it needs to be.

We already have 6 props (Ellis, Singleton, Mago, Havard, Byrne, Partington + Ramon Silva looking like he may be the next one to break through in a year or two.

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:29 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

You can 100% see this.

Cust seems a little susceptible to a guy stepping back inside. We got done at KR with it and it almost happened again last night. It's probably a chat thing. Maybe he's pushing too quickly and not pulling his inside man with him?

Sliding defence should be covering the man stepping inside. You cannot adequately defend inside and outside at the same time.

As you say, probably comes down to communication which goes back to training and working on sliding defence in small packs.

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:32 pm  

Not sure how long he played but didn't seem long, but in that time he delivered far more with 6 carries for 56m and 9 tackles in that time than a certain former prop forward.

I've got no issues with his work rate at the minute and his time on the field seems to be a coaches decision.

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:44 pm  

nathan_rugby wrote:

Sliding defence should be covering the man stepping inside. You cannot adequately defend inside and outside at the same time.

As you say, probably comes down to communication which goes back to training and working on sliding defence in small packs.

Agreed. I was always under the impression that you don't push until the person inside you says so. Definitely a communication thing.

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:47 pm  

nathan_rugby wrote:

If we are to the salary cap then it needs to be.

We already have 6 props (Ellis, Singleton, Mago, Havard, Byrne, Partington + Ramon Silva looking like he may be the next one to break through in a year or two.

I'm not fully convinced that it's a prop or nothing tbh.

I just think we need someone with size & go forward. That could be a prop, 2nd row or even 13. If we did go down the prop route then I'd love to see Ellis move to 13 and that's how we'd justify an extra body. Likewise a new 13 to replace Isa would improve us immensely.

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 2:08 pm  

I think people have maybe got a little too high expectations after the first 2/3 games and need to possibly reign it in. I think most on here said they thought we’d finish between 3rd and 5th (odd one maybe a bit higher or lower) before the season started and on what we have seen so far that’s about where we are. One thing that has improved is our attack without a doubt for me, on the whole we were pretty crap last night and probably only won due to a dodgy yellow card but I thought every time we did pass it out wide after getting some go forward and momentum we looked pretty dangerous, I think if we had the territory Cas had we’d have probably scored 50.
The worrying thing was the defence in the second half and also how much our lack of pace with KPP and Hardaker as a centre/winger combo was exposed. I think that should be changed in the next game and probably KPP back into the pack because I think opposing coaches will target that after watching last nights game.

Re: Cas Game : Fri Mar 18, 2022 5:34 pm  

CobraCraig wrote:

I think people have maybe got a little too high expectations after the first 2/3 games and need to possibly reign it in. I think most on here said they thought we’d finish between 3rd and 5th (odd one maybe a bit higher or lower) before the season started and on what we have seen so far that’s about where we are. One thing that has improved is our attack without a doubt for me, on the whole we were pretty crap last night and probably only won due to a dodgy yellow card but I thought every time we did pass it out wide after getting some go forward and momentum we looked pretty dangerous, I think if we had the territory Cas had we’d have probably scored 50.
The worrying thing was the defence in the second half and also how much our lack of pace with KPP and Hardaker as a centre/winger combo was exposed. I think that should be changed in the next game and probably KPP back into the pack because I think opposing coaches will target that after watching last nights game.

I'd be disappointed to finish lower than fourth to be honest.

Saints and Catalans 1 + 2 is pretty much nailed on.
Wigan and Wire 3 + 4
Huddersfield and Hull FC 5 + 6
Leeds 7 (due to bad start to season)

We need to improve for this to happen definitely.