It is an interesting point about the NRL - I think there is a change in coaching style and that is taking time to bed in. The mechanical controlled coaching of a Maguire can't cope now with a more free faster style like Brisbane. Previously they knew exactly what was coming at them now things have changed and they cannot cope

If Leeds and Huds are bottom 4 teams then based on Friday the standard of SL isnt too bad is it, the knights and Dragons of NRL have played a lot worse

YAWN! Do you just have that line on copy and paste?

Considering the general reasons people gave for Friday's loss were Leeds' poor discipline mostly by Ferres, the poorness of Watkins and Sutcliffe and inability to catch bombs then are you still going to trot out that tiresome line just because I correctly highlighted how you and William jumped on something (Lilley being compared to experienced NRL players) that really wasn't truely there.



Maybe he does. Won't know until Leeds improve. I'd actually say playing well in a struggling team is a good sign, not a reason to say that's the only reason he looks good.

in fairness both Leeds and Hudds were terrible on friday.

Leeds made a huge number of handling errors in attack and barely caught a kick in defence and overall it was a penaltyathon.

So, not only has Lilley been compared to JT, Lewis, Cronk, etc, but some of the struggling clubs in the NRL like the Knights, Warriors, Titans, Roosters, Dragons, etc, are also worse and/or playing worse than the bottom clubs in SL?

Deary me

How can anyone take this forum even remotely seriously.

Worst Leeds player this season has been Watkins, followed very closely by Hall.

I don't think Roosters and Leeds is a good comparison because the Roosters would walk it in Super League with or without Mitchell Pearce. They were bottom of the NRL last week because there are plenty of other NRL teams who are as good or better than them.

I've already argued on another thread that Newcastle are the weakest NRL team by some distance yet even they'd still give SL a huge shake. Their halfbacks are better than any combo in SL as well.

Discipline had very little to do with Friday's defeat. It's a symptom of the pressure we are putting ourselves under.
We failed to put any pressure on Hudds on attack, doesn't matter how you defend if you can't attack effectively and we haven't been able to attack with anything resembling structure, pattern or skill all season. It's a total shambles when we get in the opposition red zone.
Anderson would have been livid with the soft tries Hudds conceded on Friday. Burrow's try was unforgivable defence, Walters try wasn't much better. I guess that's why they were the bottom of the league until we played them. Fact is Hudds we're miles better than us with the ball. They were very unlucky with two video ref decisions - one was wrong, the other was probably offside by 18 inches at most. They were also held up over the line 2 or 3 times. Our scramble defence was actually very good, Keinhorst saved at least 2 certain tries (he reminds me very much of Darryl Powell - hits and sticks like a limpet).
If we hadn't defended so well and Hudds had been more clinical with the chances they created we would have been buried by half time.
We have to get our running lines sorted. We had guys all over the place getting in the way of plays, overrunning passes and so flat that only perfect passes were gong to stick - and there were not many of those. Still when we get inside the opposition 10 we run the big lads back into the middle play after play. It's clueless, but nothing else seems to be possible.

Worst season I've seen. Unforgivable when you factor in we are champions and CC holders. Defending this year's effort is rediculous. I'm not going to lose sleep over it and I'm not going to rant about the players, who I'm sure are working hard. But this season has flushed down the u bend like the steaming brown log that it is.

You see i have to disagree with that. In attack the only team creating things was us. Hudds plan was nothing more than 5 tackles and a Brough bomb. The fact we were still in it is testament to great scramble defence but also how unimaginative Hudds were. They rarely looked like getting over the line unless on the back of repeat sets.

Hudds squeeked past us in a game we straight dropped 4 (at least) kicks, and must have knocked on-on the first tackle another 3 or 4 times. We cant give teams that advantage, and they arent mistakes that come from structure or an expansive game plan or even forced errors, its just poor play from young players who are learning at this level.

We can stop making those errors, and if we do, we win last week and probably against saints as well.

I actually think going back to last year Ablett would also be up their as worst player. I just think as a collective the pack have been really bad, and if they had been slightly better we'd be a lot better off points wise. Not saying individual backs haven't been bad but as mismatched group they have been less disappointing.

I don't disagree they would walk it, I was talking more as a comparison within their relative competition. The Roosters are a team that generally contend who were having to play two very young halves who well rated were struggling, they had a number of other young or fringe players playing and we're without a pack leader and found themselves at the wrong end of the table.

Newcastle are plain bad, their team has no star power, not saying they'd be bad over here,that wasn't my point, my point was the NRLS standard also seems to have dropped.

Can't see things getting much better for the Knights with Simms likely to join Mullen for a spell in the stands.

Really? Apart from the 4 they scored, the two they had chalked off by the video ref and the 2-3 times we managed to hold them up in goal.

Why miss of the 2nd part of that sentence?

Yeah convientely left off. It wasn't like they were going (or we were making them go) 80/90m to get to our try line. Dropped kicks in our own 20m, knock ons, and penalties that piggy backed them 30/40m upfield. We actually made more metres than them on the night but those mistakes above meant we did 60 more tackles. We led in the last quarter but that extra defending we did seems to take its toil.

It was conveniently added on in the first place, a transparent excuse. Hudds moved the ball better, they forced mistakes and won penalties, some of which they exploited. That's what the better team tends to do in a game of rugby league.

Yes I know that's what the better team tend to do in a game of rugby league. I also know in some games the mistakes and penalties teams concede are mostly off their own unnecessary fault without the opposition forcing them which is what Friday was IMO. We lost that game rather than Hudds won it and Smokey is right, Hudds were unimaginative in attack but we gifted them enough good starting field position that they eventually could get over a couple of times near the end against a tired defence who made themselves do too much work earlier in the game.

Is this the line re Lilley's kicking you didn't like
Hardaker failed his first real test of a pressure kick (arguably first two tests V Warrington) and was almost universally condemned on here, most (IIRC) offering the opinion had Lilley been given the job one or both points would have gone to Leeds, well that jury may have to reconsider their verdict on their favoured alternative given this latest evidence.'"