I think Hicks did quite well in terms of "the calls". The problem was his interpretation of holding down. It made (or at least contributed to) the game very slow and sloppy to start with. He also did that thing which just infuriates everyone. Where he allows a lot of holding down/interference at the ptb, then penalises a couple of very soft incidences of it and then goes back to not penalising again.

Hicks getting back for 10 then taking two steps forward was confusing. Was that the 10 mark or what?

The refereeing I've seen this season seems better than last (James Child in the Widnes-Wigan game aside).

On the abuse side, the officials get much more when Leeds are losing, one of the reasons we have left the South Stand for the paddock.

From going to the game my main observations were Aiton is playing well. Briscoe is having a very good start to the season, indeed that whole side looks to be going well. Achurch had a good stint. Thought sinny went well. And Cuthbertson looks to be a very good signing

Widnes were dire.

Leeds went through the motions in the first half and rapidly went through the gears as the game went on. Widnes couldn't. From last week the defence was better organized but we were against some poor attacking opposition. Widnes has nothing in their locker, was all one out, only time they moved the ball was on the last when they looked for some space outwide only for one of their three quarters to kick poorly infield. It was a terrible tactic, but one they stubbornly stuck to time and time again when it wasn't working. Why they wanted to keep the ball in field and go toe-to-toe with Leeds on fitness is beyond me. They'd have been better served disrupting Leeds' flow and mastering some decent field position and time sapping scrums. Maybe the loss of Brown left them a bit leaderless.

As for Leeds, I was pleased to see Sinfield at hooker and some of the kicks he got away from that position were quite brilliant. It was nice to see McGuire and ebb and flow, constantly opting for the switch of play. And whilst Cuthbertson was mentioned for his offloads, his workrate in tackle was just as impressive.

Agree with all that. I think Widnes' woes were, in large part, down to the absence of Kev Brown.