Totally agree on all that you say. The performances of Jouffret and Walmsley show just how wrong Simon Grix got it to omit them from previous teams. Those two play against Widnes and we would have won the game.

Played well enough in certain parts of the game and with ten minutes to go there was just one score in it.
If a couple of passes in the second half had stuck might have even been closer.

Fev were that bit better in both D and attack keeping us out on successive sets and then frequently punishing us when they had the ball in the red zone.

Our slide and edge defense looked vulnerable on more than one occasion, couldn't see who it was with the sun in the eyes but it looked like Pickersgill regularly joining the line to create the numbers and space out wide.

Overall a much better game for players and fans than the mud slog of the previous weeks but there were clear signs that the firmer pitches will help us play a bit and see some entertaining good quality rugby.

Apart from the actual weather, how far we will be down the table by then is the biggest cloud after the poor start but there's always hope.

All in all there were a lot more positives to come out of the game than negatives. The shocking first half where we looked clueless was followed by some great rugby in the second half. Walmsley and Jouffret were both excellent and will only get better as we go forward. As has been said though, we are already falling behind in the league table and out of both cups too. Looking forward though the signs from yesterday are optimistic and with better pitches and players coming back we can still have a successful season. Up The Fax!

Regarding Walmsley and Jouffret I hope they are both back in the side for next week based on performance and what was added in attack from yesterday and there's no doubt the drier pitch help them and us.
Would they have been the better selection than Martin and McComb in the mud?

And if we are using form as the marker.

Certainly against Widnes all the backs were outstanding as were the pack.

Now there's part of the conundrum, because apart from being cup tied which forced the issue, on their form against Widnes should any of them have been left out?

It was the kicking game that let us down against Widnes and SG went for the players he thought were better suited to the conditions and they produced apart from with the boot.

On conditions, horses for courses where both Walmsley / Jouffret are closest to the race horse variety and if we were going to choose a surface for them to play on would it be yesterdays or the swamp against Widnes, decide for yourself?

LJ, in attack he's going to be a cracker jack player if he's picked, only question.

Not sure on the strength of his defense and because of the sun couldn't see if it was Jouffret with succesive knock on's who coughed up the ball close to the line gifting a couple of scores.
Would the steady Joe Martin have done that?

Either way Jouffret for me, because he adds extra threat, enough in his own all round game and he gives live in game options at 1,6,7 and 9 if anyone gets injured.

Connecting a few dots on SG, LJ and Widnes.

In that game LJ was on the bench instead of the injured Kyle Wood, now if KW had been fit would he have just been left there to sit it out never getting onto the pitch?
I very much doubt it regardless of how Brandon was playing KW would have been on.

My question to SG is, why would you almost certainly bring on KW to spell BM and not do the same with LJ once he's included in the side?

We'll likely never know.

Great second half effort, but our mistakes close to our own line costly again. Good to see Jouffret and Walmsley get a chance. As per previous poster, different conditions may have dictated otherwise. And whilst they stood out in moments, if we are fair in our reflection of the game: Jouffret coughed the ball up twice on or own line, I think both lead to scores. I don't necessarily agree that he did that much coming into the line, most of the time he simply shifted the ball on, he didn't straighten and make the defenders think twice. But there were glimpses of what he can bring to the team. For Walmsley, it was clear what you will get from him, particularly on a firmer track. But I'd be interested to know how many carries he took coming out of our own half compared to Salty and the metres he made doing so.

I see that as a problem with the modern game in a winger can be judged by how many hard yards he made rather than the spectacualr things they do that the fans pay money to see. Just another thing related to that where faxcar made a very good post but pointed out "Would the steady Joe Martin have done that?". We are a team aiming for a top 3/4 position, so is steady Joe Martin the type of player that should be taking up a position in the team? I accept that if he were a back up incase we have a lot of injuries then he is not a bad player to come in and "do a job" but again we should be aiming higher than doing a job and Joe at best is a lower half Championship fullback which pains me when we have top half flair players like Walmsley and Jouffret sat in the stands.

Yep all part of what’s the best thing to do question.
The answer to one of those questions regarding who would be the first choice fullback was JWH as shown when Alex Walker was allowed to leave even after Woody broke his hand.

At that time neither Joe Martin or anyone else from outside the club was even part of the equation and that leads to another question.

Who was going to provide cover for Woody if he had been injured at any time during the regular season?

I mean Woody has had a history of injuries in the past so if not a certainty surely it must have been thought of as a possibility?

And if your not going to retain someone like Walker (and I understand the financial implications) logic would lead to someone else already here so why not go with that?

I understand JWH being the first choice fullback.
I understand the need to have cover from existing or new signings.
I understand if JM had been added as a new signing just as cover.
I understand JM has done a steady job since he’s been here and in isolation it might seem like shrewd move, steady away, not costing a lot.
Pre season planning and bigger picture and what led to the necessity for JM coming even coming to the club in the first place?

It just seems like a last minute, last resort, unnecessary decision out of step with the others taken that has led directly to the crux of the debate surrounding Walmsley and Jouffret all of which could have been avoided and I don’t understand that.

I agree, I want a winger who knows how to score when given a sniff of the line. I think Walmsley will give us that. But part of the game also means making those yards out of our own half, using the speed to hopefully hit the defence back peddling and take some pressure of the forwards. the likes of Tommy Makinson and Mcgillvray score some spectacular ones themselves, they also do the graft running the ball out. In the mud baths we have had this year, it usually needs the graft more than the flair.

I was pretty frustrated at halftime it was like a death by a thousand cuts they were just slowly pulling away from us moving us around side to side and it was like we could do nothing about it. We needed to throw more at them in attack just to put a spanner in the works to break up the flow of the game. And we did that with a lovely try at the start of the second half and then they start to look beatable and its game on again. I will give credit to aston who i said should be dropped he put in a all-round good performance running at the line and i thought he put up a brave effort in defence up against moors. Fevs left side is one of the biggest you could come up against in this division. Our middles held there own well too but we left ourselves to much to do in that second half we almost had to play the perfect half of rugby with being 16-0 down. It was small things like Kavanagh not playing the ball correctly when we have just scored and then throwing a silly pass in our own twenty again after dragging ourselves back into the game we just don't have that ruthless hardnosed rugby in us. Next week will be harder still we just after go there and go after them from start to finish and what will be will be. We will have a few blank weekends coming up with being out of the cup so there no reason not to throw the kitchen sink at next week and then leigh to see if we can get our league season on track.

A frustrating game at times with us, again, making far too many individual errors in our own half. Errors in attack and defence which need to be stamped out fast.

I thought Jouffret had a reasonable game but don't understand the over the top praise he's been getting. He dropped about 3/4 balls with 2 being right on our try line. When Scott Grix was making those same mistakes everyone was shouting for him to retire as soon as possible.

There were also a few occasions where our forwards got their noses through the defence and were looking for an offload. The fullback should be tearing through in these situations but he often wasn't. Most of these mistakes will be down to rustiness due to lack of playing time, hopefully.

Due to our larger playing squad I think we are able to apply a 'horses for courses' selection policy, which I have no issues with. Walmsley is going to be a huge threat on drier pitches.

Can't see us getting anything from the next 2 games but hopefully we can put in some spirited performances which will set us up for the following matches.

The thing with Walmsley and Jouffret is they are the type of players fans pay to see and we need something exciting to drag the fans back down The Shay, they're not going to return just to see run of the mill meaningless games. We've got to be up there challenging at the top and playing exciting rugby and these two lads will certainly help in that respect. Up The Fax! Sportsman, shuddersfield Mallinsons Simcoe 3.9% Mmm!

I think everything that has been said has covered the game .

Next week will reveal a lot .

I wonder if Featherstone are a bit like when wilder fought fury the 1st time , wilder intimidating everyone then it ends up where the reputation precedes the thing itself, and it clicked hang on a minute there a little bit vulnerable, they look a bit tired let’s have a go , we ll see next week but we having nothing to lose , start from minute one rather than minute 40 and we will see .

Absolutely. Yesterday went exactly as I saw it. 1st half we didn't test them and they plodded in for three easy tries. 2nd half had a right go and were the better team. Just go for it from minute one and see what we can do. Cheery Tree, shuddersfield Phoenix Wobbly Bob 6.0% Mmm!

I commented on Fev looking a bit tired live at the game then a couple of things happened.
We had a couple of what SG calls pressure release moments in not playing the ball correctly, going wide and into touch early in the tackle count and a silly penalty.

The other was Brian Mc seeing the bit of fatigue and bringing on Lockwood and I think it was Wildie in a double sub to freshen things up.

More optimistic about next week after the second half . Time will tell , I think it's going to be a hard month but the likes of walmsley and firmer grounds to come encouraged me. I only started watching league when kilroy Austin Preston and Bentley were running in tries from anywhere and couldnt care less about making the hard yards in defence . Rugby to me was all about scoring tries and bxxxxx to the rest . Maybe matt calland was right ?