to be fair some of the blame must go the players barry mac cannot go on the pitch and tackle for them he can give them a game plan and then its down to them to excecute it.

I dont think trying to match our pack was best plan but to spread it about from wing to wing making us work harder and circumventing an arm wrestle up the middle

but heinsight is 20 20 and whats done is done i just hope bary mac is given time as im sure he has learnt a great deal from it. You cannot really criticise him for selecting keinhorst as i dont think that any alternative would have made a differance to the outcome, but a young bright prospect has gained some vital big game experience that will hopefully give him some extra drive, sometimes bigger lessons are learnt in defeat

The players had no idea at all how to defend against wire using dummy runners. our defence was embarrassingly slow at times, with markers particularly slow to get up and cover gaps, and defence being huddled centrally and easily outmanoeuvred by Wire simply passing the ball fast out wide at the same time as being unable to stop Wire making easy yards up the middle.

BTW I can see Watkins made a few questionable decisions, but the damage had already been done by the time the ball was near him - all it needed by that stage was for Wire to execute well, which they did. Blaming him for any of Warrington's tries is ridiculous. Seriously some of their second half tries looked like unopposed training sessions.

We looked a million miles off the pace.

So are you saying Clarkson is above ' average ' and the better bench game changer ? If so, you're surely deluded.

The theory was good. Bailey to start at LF a la Ben Harrison, with Ablett being the interchange forward ( better than Clarkson IMO ) starting at centre. Keinhorst then to slot directly into that position.
The one thing I will not criticise anybody for is being bold and for taking a risk. Well done Brian.

bold or reckless? we were clueless and by far and away outplayed for long parts of the game. we rarely looked like scoring. the team needs an overhaul, especially in the forwards.
sadly i don't believe BM is the man to do it

Don't get me wrong. I am in general agreement with you ( mostly I think ).. My point is that we should not be afraid to ring the changes....ideally with a better coach, but I remain pessimistic there.
Keeping faith in Hardaker at FB over Webb, Ward at SO/LF and introducing Keinhorst is a start.
Now let's get to work on the pack: Singleton, Smith, Hood all should be blooded asap into the first 17. Amor and McShane too should be part of the new look pack next season.
Griffin, Moore and Kirke are surely not part of the new generation now needed and should be thanked, paid off and sent the way of Hauraki. Lunt is ok, but is he any better than McShane/Hood for next season ?

I am assuming there will be no big money signings in all of this of course. ( Pulatea - sp? - would be a nice signing eg )

Correct and you called it before the game. The selection showed that Brian McD did have a clear and valid game plan. He knew he was going against the top form side in SL and without one of his key attackers (two if you include Webb) and maybe with a doubt about Burrow. So a plan, to hold the in form Warrington for the first 30 minutes then bring on a back and move Ablett into the back row to play a more expansive game, seems logical to me. Two factors changed that... firstly the downpour came just after we had taken the lead and when Keinhorst was due on, and then in the second half some players committed hari kari and gifted Warrington possession and field position at the most crucial stage in the game. Both outside the coaches control.

Despite the poor form of 4 of our 5 props and their lack of go forward, we still managed to be in the game until our discipline problem. On the day we lost to the better side...this is what happens in sport. But I maintain we were not disgraced or humiliated like we were in 2010. So IMO not the coaches fault.?

Yes we need some new recruits which the coach I am sure is aware of, but in this game he had to play with the hand he had been dealt. Had Warrington lost Briers, Hodgson or Monaghan to injury 2 weeks before the game they too would have not been as effective on attack.

Discipline was one big contributor ( again ). How many times did we get ourselves into a good position, only to concede stupid penalties allowing Wire easy progress upfield to apply the screws to us instead ?

Whether we had the ability to score from close range is another matter of course (oh for some Warrington-like dummy runners ) .....as is the matter of improving/punishing the bad discipline and defending our line.

You did play brilliant in that final.

Also, so you're admitting that the team won a championship after you wrote them off?

For 70 minutes the only try we had scored was up the middle from short range.

The selection was a joke.

I'm almost certain there was no plan to bring Keinhorst on after 30 minutes. If there was then the loss of Jonesy made it even easier to get him on and it was still decided not to.

The weather almost gave us a chance but to give McDermott an excuse because of it is ludicrous

The players are the only ones who could have affected a change to Saturday's result. The fact that they were comprehensively outplayed is hardly the fault of the fans. The players tried as hard as the could sadly to man they under performed. Giving away silly penalties at crucial times - who is to blame for that the fans?

This team has delivered some great performances when it has really mattered Saturday was not one of them - as fans are we supposed say everything is fine? If you dare to fairly criticise you are not deserving, Gotcha's post is barmy but so is that notion of yours.

Missed McGuire though!!

going to be controversial here but i don't think mcguire would have made a e of difference.
we were always on the back foot, our pack were handed there s and he wouldn't have had the chance to shine

We looked clueless when we did have an opportunity near their line plus with Burrow not being 100% we only had one kicker as a result he was easy to shut down.

i really don't think it would have mattered mate. i love mcguire to bits but we simply weren't good enough