Poor set completion poor kick choice and execution especially in the first half and conceding penalties was the story yet again. Grix keeps mentioning brain explosions , maybe it’s time some players saw a shrink or readjusted earring aids because this brain explosion thing seems to have been happening for some time . It’s a long season and I’m sure things will improve ( probably not for a while with fev and Leigh on the horizon) gwaze looks a Find , I’ve been impressed with him runs hard tackles hard does big minutes and follows the gameplan . We’ve played 240 minutes of rugby and played well for about 75 mins that’s over 2 full games poor performance, imagine where we’d be if we could reverse that statistic.

Nowt changes, does it?

Said it last year will say it again Grix is not the man for the job do not care if we got 3rd last year.

His team selections are shocking. Two star signings not getting any game time LW had a bad game like many others against batley but he as not played since. Why have Jufret on the bench and not play him at all. We need a full back and another forward fast. Could of easily had LW or Joufret at fb who are both far better than martin

Personally I like Grix , his communication skills have improved with the media and he comes across well in his interviews. As regards ‘ star players ‘ we have signed , you get picked on form not status and I’m pretty sure subjectively Grix doesn’t look at them as stars , Grix played under one of the best coaches of super league in tony smith he played in grand finals he played with legends like lee briers , Adrian Morley etc in pretty sure he isn’t remotely intimidated by Lachlan walmsley and Louis jouffret. Personally I don’t understand the jouffret thing but then again I don’t spend all week analysing the games or working with them in training and neither do I have Simon Grixs ‘ cv , we didn’t lose against Batley or Widnes because of grixs’ coaching decisions we lost because of individual errors or individuals giving silly penalties away . It’s seems pretty obvious why Grix picked salty , barber , arundal , McComb: the pitch and weather and injuries, all them players make yards on slow pitches and are defensively sound . I actually thought Martin played pretty well yesterday. Halifax have actually only conceded 1 try in 160 mins and I reckon we’ve defended significantly more sets than the opposition in our own half because of ill discipline and look defensively sound , once the weather improves so will our attacking play .

I think we should have won this game. Widnes looked the stronger in the first half on the back of a good kicking game. We doggedly held them out apart from a testing kick. Gradually got on top and had Widnes rocking and then attempted a drop goal in a swamp that would only have got us level. The better option imho would be put a decent grubber in and at least they would have started that set near the line. Instead 7 tackles from the twenty and the game was done!
As i have previously reported a Batley fan said we would not see Jouffret until the sun came out.

For me good coaches are the difference in tight games because they make adjustments , but to sit someone on the bench and not use is a big question mark . Communication and decision making abilities are key..just nudge the players to make the correct decisions. 2 points lost big time .

It’s interesting to see Simon Grix getting criticised for is substitutions or lack of substitutions being inept and the reason why we lost when one point separated the two sides especially when Simon finnigan only used two subs himself for the same tactical reason Grix mentioned in his interview https://youtu.be/3veudqz1zQY We lost because 1 there kicking game was executed better 2 our discipline was poorer 3 individual errors compounding point 2 .

It’s interesting to see Simon Grix getting criticised for is substitutions or lack of substitutions being inept and the reason why we lost when one point separated the two sides especially when Simon finnigan only used two subs himself for the same tactical reason Grix mentioned in his interview https://youtu.be/3veudqz1zQY We lost because 1 there kicking game was executed better 2 our discipline was poorer 3 individual errors compounding point 2 .

Slightly different subject matter but I would be doing my best to sign someone like Tyler Dupree for next year, young local lad and is exactly the kind of prop we need , believe he’s on a one year deal at Widnes .

From what i have been told we had the chance to sign tyler but simon wasn't interested he is another who is not simons type of forward. And that as been a problem with simon last year and this he does not want forwards who may offer impact and go forward he prefers smaller fitter players with higher work rates who tick the boxes that he is looking for. The problem is those type of players lack punch and we are desperately missing that and until simon addresses this we will always have this problem at the start of the season and also when we play the best sides. Packs need to have balance and ours is too one dimensional. As for the game other then the opening 20 minutes of the second half i thought widnes were the better side and played the conditions far better then we did. Tyler was a handful and the rest of there pack did well which laid the platform for smith and craven too completely dominate the kicking game our halfbacks kicked very poorly in comparison. If jouffret was dropped on the back of the batley game then aston should be no where near the side next week not that keyes kicked much better. If i where simon i would be on the phone to huddersfield for as many players as possible for next week and if he still cant get a response from the players then he is the wrong man for the job. The problem with that is the board have just given him a new 3 year contract which i questioned at the time as a big risk. All that being said i will still be going to workington next sunday some of us fans must be mad.

If this is the case regarding Tyler then I have to agree on it being a missed opportunity, having a blend of for example a Titus gwaze and Dupree type forward would be more beneficial.

Having a mobile pack is all well and good if the conditions are right but you can’t hang around waiting for warmer weather and drier pitches.

In winter conditions you either get field position by yardage from the pack or by kicking well and we aren’t doing either well enough.

Like Terry posted you need a balance between size and mobility and we haven’t got the size.
Workington this weekend and once again the above will be put to the test, if we fail again then SG has to do something about it.

I don't feel the forwards were the problem. We got outclassed in the halfbacks. Their kicking game was superior.
Calcott , fairbank , gwaze and Murray held their own.
We had a big lump in K Hirst. He was sluggish and didn't play enough minutes.
By the way thought widnes were lucky not to have had Lawton sent off.

Keegan was a world beater when at Fax according to some on here.

The pack has held it’s own to a degree but the point is it’s supposed to get on top of the opposition.
To do that you add to what you already have, in our case, fitness, big minutes, mobility with some size and punch.
And if we’re going to choose a “big lump” why not a Mitch Cahalane or a Gadwin Springer and then say we wouldn’t be a better, stronger side right now with them in the side.