INOUT

The whole the pack isn't big enough is misleading. No pack is ever dominant all of the time and games have momentum shifts that directly effects yardage. I think some people still live in the era of that Bulls monster back of Fielden, Anderson, Vagan etc. The forwards game has evolved since then and forwards can make yardage for more than just size. Eliott Morris is a classic example of just quick feet at the line which gets him easy meters. The pack isn't small. They are all 6 feet. I mean the best prop in the world is James Fisher-Harris @ Penrith is only 6'1. John Bateman was the best second-rower in the world at Canberra and he is hardly a monster. Sunday was a 50/50. You can pick hairs but if our pack was so dwarfed, Widnes would have won more comfortably.

Where did anyone say the whole pack wasn’t big enough, small or was so dwarfed?
Those words were never said or implied.
What was said was add to what you have some size or punch.
Someone who can break the line and get some space to play against a retreating defence which by the way we haven’t done, it’s mainly been tit for tat in the middle of the park.
You can pick hairs but if we did have that bit extra size or punch as explained above Widnes wouldn’t have won by any score.

You certainly are implying about size but don't we all
I do get your point about that line-busting forward but they are few and far between in our division at least. Springer was that type of player but that came to nothing. I do miss that Cahlhane type of prop as he had everything but hopefully, when Matty Gee is fit, I think he can give us some dimension.

So the reality is we are three matches in and we are all reevaluating potential league positions . Fev look very good and leigh look to be emerging as the next contenders . For me it looks like fax for mid table but get better on drier pitches as the team gels . Workington will probably be a 60s mudbath, I fear by the end of this weeks rain. I seem to remember going to a cup match workington v fax years ago early 90s? Standing in the bottom corner not able to tell the shirt colours wondering why on earth I had driven 3hrs to watch that mud feast .
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Just a quick statistical analysis on the game ( haven’t finished watching the 2nd half)

1st half Widnes had

17 completed sets
4 incomplete sets
1 set resulting in a 7 tackle set for fax
Conceded 2 penalties
Made 2 handling errors.

Halifax

11 completed sets
2 incomplete sets
3 sets resulting in 7 tackle set for Widnes
5 conceded penalties
4 handling errors

During our purple patch in the 2nd half we completed 11 sets in a row to Widnes ‘ 4 till joe Martin tried to offload in the tackle then we conceded 2 consecutive penalties, offside from the scrum then high tackle to give them a penalty kick .

Ultimately like mentioned before it’s handling errors and silly penalties conceded that costs us . Interestingly and why I believe Grix goes for the mobile stamina based forward is we complete our sets faster than the opposition , it happened for 20 mins against London and 15 against Widnes, the opposition starts to flag and we add to this by having a relentless gwaze type character on the field . Problem is up to now we undo all that by sloppy play , if/ when it clicks we will score tries on the bounce , if you listen to grixs’ interview that’s what he’s referring to .

Exactly this - the pitch at the South Stand end makes defending and getting out of your own end more difficult. We were in control in the 2nd half and I was confident we could go on and win an maybe get a few more scores. But in those conditions all it takes is an odd error to give away the territory - we made 3 in quick succession

Enjoyed Sunday and glad to return from Yorkshire with the narrowest of victories. Our form for playing away, even on grass, it terrible, add in to the mix a rainy, boggy day, I was pleasantly surprised with how we played. Your lads didn't really show up first half and it felt comfortable at one stage, but once you kicked on in the second half, we were hanging on for a long time.Our halfbacks did a good job, as did doro on loan and Tyler Dupree, think the local Halifax lad has a massive future in the game

It could have gone either way and you just need to concentrate on your next games and start picking the points up, i saw enough from Fax to say them and Widnes look fairly matched and you should go well for the rest of the season

We got there at half 11 on the train, straight to the White Horse. Great pint, very cheap and talking to a number of Fax fans in there. Would go back. Also had a couple in the Duke of Wellington and Royal Oak

Look forward to next years trip

Penalties, errors, poor decision making, there always going to be part of that in every teams game but the fact it’s been mentioned in after the game analysis on numerous occasions from within the club as a problem suggest it’s more than spectators just having a moan.
I fully understand why SG is going with the relentless Gwaze type player and on a hot summers day on a dry pitch can see that being very affective in blowing the lungs out of the big lump opponent.
In the meantime, in winter conditions before you get to wearing your summer trainers and tea shirts it might be prudent to have a pair of big boots and an overcoat in your wardrobe.
We’ve gone all in on a one strategy approach and another couple of losses (if not already) will equate to missing the hoped for good start to the season and relying on a big mid / end of season run in.

Anyway I’m now off to chill out, apparently according to our resident mind reading medical expert I need to relax more.

Some more stats courtesy of Widnes https://twitter.com/widnesrl/status/149 ... 04256?s=21 As regards the forwards it’s an ongoing debate , we have been unfortunate with injuries to gee and knowles . There are too many variable unknowns to make complete judgments , one is finances , have we spent close to our budget because of the the rumoured two leagues of ten , we appear to have at least 3 financially healthy sponsors in stage freight , eclipse energy and Deliveree , listening to various sources this is where some extra capital came from for some of the signings however Grix seemed to debunk that theory in his interview with mick gledhill stating the funds had come from better management of funds not independent investments . So how much money we had or have left is an unknown. I think overall Keyes Aston and jouffret are an upgrade on Harris and Robinson but due to injury we won’t see knowles for the rest of the season and gee till April, gwaze has been a good signing . I wonder if Grix new gee was injured when he signed him . If we had been offered Dupree then that is a mistake imo and I’m hoping we draft on an Oliver roberts type player for the double fev matches then the Leigh games .

Some more stats courtesy of Widnes https://twitter.com/widnesrl/status/149 ... 04256?s=21 As regards the forwards it’s an ongoing debate , we have been unfortunate with injuries to gee and knowles . There are too many variable unknowns to make complete judgments , one is finances , have we spent close to our budget because of the the rumoured two leagues of ten , we appear to have at least 3 financially healthy sponsors in stage freight , eclipse energy and Deliveree , listening to various sources this is where some extra capital came from for some of the signings however Grix seemed to debunk that theory in his interview with mick gledhill stating the funds had come from better management of funds not independent investments . So how much money we had or have left is an unknown. I think overall Keyes Aston and jouffret are an upgrade on Harris and Robinson but due to injury we won’t see knowles for the rest of the season and gee till April, gwaze has been a good signing . I wonder if Grix new gee was injured when he signed him . If we had been offered Dupree then that is a mistake imo and I’m hoping we draft on an Oliver roberts type player for the double fev matches then the Leigh games .