Well I am surprised. Most people seem to think there are some positives but I thought we were clueless.
Once Hull moved the ball about our defence and tackling was useless.
We had very little creativity in attack for most of the game. Even when we had a set in their 20 we didn't move the ball just one pass from acting halfback and rinse and repeat. So boring and easy to defend.
Why we give the opposition 10metres on every tackle when they are bringing the ball out of their own 20 just confuses me.
Is this is the style of play the coach wants? If so any half decent team will run circles round us.

Credit to Hull completely different to last years outfit. Mixed views regarding our performance. Defence for the hull second try was woeful, our line speed defence is slow . A lot of one man rugby especially in the Hull 25 area. Sezer apart from the odd moments offers very little. Austin is working hard at times, seems to be the only one trying to create something.Still think it was a big mistake letting hardaker leave, myler whilst fielding high balls effectively offers little going forward. However we could have quite easily won that game. Maybe that would have papered over the cracks, can’t see us winning at saints. Not quite crisis time but certainly could be about 6 games in with possibly only one victory.

Im tired of hearing the ‘let hardaker leave’ line, we offered him a deal and Leigh threw a stack of cash at him.

Hardaker has never left any of the clubs he’s played for on good terms including our own. Yes he’s a good player but not worth breaking the bank for

I thought Hull were pretty average which shows how bad we were.
Smith and Holroyd the only positives.
Macdonald did ok for his first hit out but like I`ve said his defence is woeful along with Handleys who is nowhere near to being a centre.
Myler and Sezer were awful once again along with Leeming and Martin.
No idea in attack and soft in the middle.
Like what`s been said Mik and Bentos will add something when they are back.
If we are looking for pace at FB we could try Handley there.
Not ideal as his defence is suspect I know.
Concerns over Gannon as he could be going down the Steve Ward route if he doesn`t get his technique sorted.

Said it last week and say it again this week. We will not go anywhere with a spine of Myler, Sezer, Austin and Leeming.

On reflection Myler really wasn’t good again, some of that comes from the halves, but it looks like teams have either figured him/the structure out, or he’s lost a yard of pace that gave him time to be in the right position.

Based on these two performances I wouldn’t be against Hooley getting a crack when fit. Wouldn’t put Handley there, for me he should be wing and nowhere else.

I agree re Handley.
It was only to add some pace at FB.
Watched the TV replay and no idea why Sezer was getting all uptight at the end after putting in such a crap kick to Fusitua.
It was if it was Fusi`s fault and not his for playing terrible 99% of the game.

I think this flat line, passive style defence is also a problem for Smith in terms of fan perception. If you win it’s all good, but if you lose then rightly or wrongly a lot of fans view it as players not getting stuck in etc. He got a tune out of it last year and hopefully will again if we get more attacking strike as the year goes on. That leads in turn to their defence being under more stress and less impact in attack. Personally I think we’ve got to stick with him even if first part of year is poor and the whole season disappointing. It might help him to explain it in more detail in press conferences to try and lessen wider fan negativity.

What’s the old saying, if coaches listen to the fans they’ll end up sitting with them.

Of course he has to stay for the year it was always a long term appointment.

Can’t believe some are already wanting him out. Do they realise what we’ve endured with Agar and what the options would be!
The guy took us from relegation to Grand Final last year. Let’s see where at after next two years. We will play some good stuff with Smith…..
May also add he’s not immune to some criticism, I’m not a fan of the no captain, and not sure how Myler ended up first choice FB, or Leeming plays so many minutes, but minor things really…..

I can believe it!!

IN[/fimg]
None of the proper RL fans I know are saying this. People been watching too much footy, but not noticing the mistakes either….
Just look at Chelsea!!!

The problem with the no line speed from a fan perception is that it is often seen as a really simple attitude/effort indicator alongside kick chase. No line speed can easily be seen as no effort.

But don’t forget a lot of these ‘fans’ calling for smiths head are the same ones who thought Dwyer was a good 9 because he scored a few dive overs and ran lots from dummy half.

I'm not a fan of the passive defensive approach because it ignores the fact that RL is largely a territorial game. Put two basically equal sides against each other, and 9 times out of 10 the winner will be the one that has better field position throughout the game. Its clear as day there's a huge difference starting sets coming off your own line against even 20 yards out. Its far harder running off your line because the defence can compress more and you won't take as many risks moving the ball.

I'm not really sure what's going on, because it looks for sure that its a deliberate tactic, which it almost certainly was when he first arrived. But post the Wire game Smith said that all sides need to be able to defend occasionally when they're being rolled backwards, but did slip in that yardage defence was an issue. So I'm not sure that he is actively pushing this as much as we might think.

Either way I'd prefer a defence that gave away less yardage, particularly when we get the opposition pinned on their own line after a kick.

Not looked at any stats or watched it on TV, but my impression at the game, was that our line speed was much improved and the forwards certainly ran harder. Poor decision making, and lack of speed and athleticism from the spine players was the chief concern for me. Sure the organisation will improve in the coming weeks, but you can't coach pace. Anybody calling for Smith to be sacked needs to reinsert their dummy and have a good nap time.