Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:17 pm  

I don't understand why Hankinson has never been recalled. A good centre who can kick goals.

I thought it was a money thing (assuming we were offloading to bring a new signing in).

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:17 pm  

jonh wrote:

I took my usual position behind the sticks tonight in the North Stand and what was very obvious was the total lack of direction from the halves and strike.

We were very very lateral.

Harvard was fantastic as usual and I actually thought Clark brought some impact off the bench. Our other forwards tonight are great grafters but just very predictable and 1 dimensional.

The lack of a distributor at the back really hurt us. I thought Marshall did what he could but it was obvious he was a winger playing at fullback.

I can’t fault the effort. Isa alone lifts the intensity every time he takes a carry but the lack of finesse and creativity is concerning.

I’m really not sure Smith can be our starting 7 next year if we hope to challenge for trophies.

Smith has plenty to work on but I’d love to see him behind a proper pack. He needs to steady down and be a bit more boring sometimes. I don’t blame him for the endless hoofed balls tonight down the fullbacks throat. That’s him, Hastings and Leuluai before that who have done nothing else under Lam. Smith needs to work hard on his defence for sure.

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:20 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

Certainly a lesson in not listening to the morons on social media.

We weren't as bad as the previous two weeks. The effort was there and if we had a couple more regulars, I think we'd have won.

Generally I don’t. However those I do read into are those who are quite respected. Lam talked about last week how having to play players out of position hurt us. So what does he do? Play Marshall (a winger) at FB and Hanley (a FB) on the wing.

Bullock, our starting prop - whom I can predict his performance without even looking - plays 14mins. He then comes back on at 74mins.

Attack flat, predictable and one dimensional. Defence is said to have improved - clearly it has.

The team we had out was never going to trample Wakey, let’s make that clear. But it was still good enough and experienced enough to win.

Lam simply has to go.

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:21 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Smith has plenty to work on but I’d love to see him behind a proper pack. He needs to steady down and be a bit more boring sometimes. I don’t blame him for the endless hoofed balls tonight down the fullbacks throat. That’s him, Hastings and Leuluai before that who have done nothing else under Lam. Smith needs to work hard on his defence for sure.

When Smith put three grubbers in near the line we got two repeat sets. Hoofing it with no pressure has been our achilles heel for years now. Still don't understand why we don't play a few along the floor especially in this weather. This tactic got them the winning try when Bibby fecked up possession.

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:26 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

Certainly a lesson in not listening to the morons on social media.

We weren't as bad as the previous two weeks. The effort was there and if we had a couple more regulars, I think we'd have won.

Agree we were better and you can’t say that the effort wasn’t there.
Wakefield also had a few regulars missing so difficult to say if we’d have won. We are playing like a bottom four team so difficult to assess if we’re are better than Wakey.

We don’t have a coach and we only have 4 props that the coach will play and no real attacking threat so difficult to see where the next win will come from unless Lam has some sort of epiphany or the players start to coach themselves as happened with Dorahy.

Highlights tonight over and above the effort was the performance of KPP, Harvard’s storming run and O.Neil.’s debut.
Smith was ok but is way off of being able to the lead team so for me a new HB next season is also a must. I hope though that he displaces TL going forward as unfortunately Tommy is either carrying an injury or maybe it’s one season too many. Smith is still smart prospect he just needs to stop listening to Lam and play his own game.

Personally I’ve written this season off which is fine as long as there some decent signings for next season.

I just hope that the next two games aren’t too embarrassing. If we get butchered which wouldn’t surprise me my worry is that this season could explode and we end up in the bottom half and even possibly in the bottom four.

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:33 pm  

100% Warrior wrote:

Generally I don’t. However those I do read into are those who are quite respected. Lam talked about last week how having to play players out of position hurt us. So what does he do? Play Marshall (a winger) at FB and Hanley (a FB) on the wing.

Bullock, our starting prop - whom I can predict his performance without even looking - plays 14mins. He then comes back on at 74mins.

Attack flat, predictable and one dimensional. Defence is said to have improved - clearly it has.

The team we had out was never going to trample Wakey, let’s make that clear. But it was still good enough and experienced enough to win.

Lam simply has to go.

I don't disagree, but there's certainly a section of the social media following who like to go OTT.

I read one comment that said we won't win a game again this season FFS.

I've not given up all hope in this side, but it's always going to be difficult with such an inept guy at the helm.

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:48 pm  

I don't think it's unreasonable to say, we won't win a game with *that* team. But hopefully we have Faz and JB and Hastings to come back. As NSW says, KPP, Shorrocks and Havard had a real dig.(can you imagine, by the way, An NRL prop making a break like Havard, and not having a half or hooker or full-back on his shoulder?), which only highlighted how poor our props were. But even of Wigan found an all-singing, all-dancing prop, it wouldn't solve out lack of creativity in attack. Hence the number of 'held-ups'. Does that show we were unlucky? it does not; it shows we have no other ideas in attack. We don't scare even ordinary SL defences. And, let's be right, things weren't *that* much better when Hastings was playing.

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:59 pm  

moto748 wrote:

I don't think it's unreasonable to say, we won't win a game with *that* team. But hopefully we have Faz and JB and Hastings to come back. As NSW says, KPP, Shorrocks and Havard had a real dig.(can you imagine, by the way, An NRL prop making a break like Havard, and not having a half or hooker or full-back on his shoulder?), which only highlighted how poor our props were. But even of Wigan found an all-singing, all-dancing prop, it wouldn't solve out lack of creativity in attack. Hence the number of 'held-ups'. Does that show we were unlucky? it does not; it shows we have no other ideas in attack. We don't scare even ordinary SL defences. And, let's be right, things weren't *that* much better when Hastings was playing.

Couldn’t agree re our lack of creativity.
We must be one the lowest try scoring teams in competition and I think we are the only team to have played Leyth twice so far this season.

Our defence has dropped alarmingly over the last couple of months which compounds our attacking frailties.
I can’t see many more victories on the horizon and every match will be an arm wrestle at best.

I like Hastings but I can’t see him going left side with coach because with nrl next season why should he bust his balls this season to compensate for an awful coach.

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 10:03 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

I don't disagree, but there's certainly a section of the social media following who like to go OTT.

I read one comment that said we won't win a game again this season FFS.

I've not given up all hope in this side, but it's always going to be difficult with such an inept guy at the helm.

Oh I agree fully with that. The responses to the clubs tweet with Lam’s reaction make some on here - including my own - look almost celebratory. I’m sure I read one that said we’d be relegated

On the hope side nor have I but as you’ve said, it’s difficult with the ineptitude of our coach at the helm.

[DaveO]

Re: Raising a team for Wakefield : Thu Jun 24, 2021 10:16 pm  

100% Warrior wrote:

Generally I don’t. However those I do read into are those who are quite respected. Lam talked about last week how having to play players out of position hurt us. So what does he do? Play Marshall (a winger) at FB and Hanley (a FB) on the wing.

Bullock, our starting prop - whom I can predict his performance without even looking - plays 14mins. He then comes back on at 74mins.

Attack flat, predictable and one dimensional. Defence is said to have improved - clearly it has.

The team we had out was never going to trample Wakey, let’s make that clear. But it was still good enough and experienced enough to win.

Lam simply has to go.

Agreed. With a depleted squad all he had to do was pick what he had in their correct positions and say give it a go!

As mentioned on Mikes board by someone else what made Lam think Hanley was a better winger than Marshall and Marshall a better full back than Hanley?

Presumably Hanley possesses the skills and attributes of a full modern back or why is he first choice in the academy? He never looks comfortable on the wing and was caught out tonight. Marshall never passed and so is clearly not a full back. Baffling.

The substitutions were crazy such as doing the same as last week and bringing a prop on for five minutes at the end.

Last week at least Hastings being a half back wasn’t a completely outlandish choice as a full back but by half time when it clearly wasn’t working he did not nothing to change it about.

I think we could and probably should have been able to win both games despite the depleted squads and if Lam was a decent coach I think we may well have. The trouble is I don’t think he has a clue.