Cuthbertson may have been, I don't know. But the team didn't look overly tired. But I don't remember them making breaks past Cuthbertson or scoring because of him or any of the forwards really, bar maybe the one in the first half ran over the top of Aiton. But that wasn't because he was tired.

Cas won because of the individual mistakes, unfortunately some from Handley but also from Sutcliffe at full back and Hall. And some of the bizarre Child decisions, the non-obstruction immediately before their drop goal being the most obvious.

In the second half they were clearly running at Cuthbertson who was struggling throughout that second half. It was clear to see from the Carnegie seats, as Cas were aiming that way. He was struggling to get near them, and when he did he was down on the floor then struggling back up. He wasn't the only one tired, but he was the one targeted.

I agree on why we lost the match, but still think without the poor coach in the dugout making these crazy decisions things could have changed in our favour. I agree with you on Child also, that drop goal from the obstruction was a joke, just as the head high on Sutcliffe in the first half stopping a certain try was. Surely that type of tackle is what they have defined as a sin binning in the rule changes.

Cuthbo was blowing. If he was more refreshed would he have knocked on after the re-start to Sinfield's match leveling 2 points? we can hand pick dozens of examples of errors through the course of the game on both sides. But Cas on this occasion found the killer blows.

do tired players make more errors, or less errors, in your opinion ?

I enjoyed Kylie's bone rattler on Milner. Not sure how legal it was though.

Poor though people may think Child was we still won the penalty count 7-3.
Two of his dubious decisions were:
not to penalise Cas when the player kicked the ball forward at a PTB on their line.
Secondly, not to penalise Bailey when he tackled Burrow in the air after he'd kicked the ball on a 5th tackle play.
Both plain to see.
Child wasn't the reason we lost.

Cuthbo blowing was not the reason we lost. Too many players made errors which cost us not only points but possession and field position. This was much more of a factor in the workload of JP and Cuthbo. I do not believe having Yates on the pitch in place of either JP or Cuthbo would have improved our situation.

On a positive note it was a good return for Kylie who we are going to need in the coming weeks. McGuire too had a good game and did not deserve to be on the losing side. We are missing the sort of performances that a fit JJB & Delaney bring to the side and of course Briscoe can not return soon enough.

Two inches lower, it would have been perfect. Just caught him under the chin with the shoulder I thought.

We are talking about how this particular game was lost not generalisations.

Are you saying that the errors in the first 20 minutes that cost us 18 points and a lack of attacking positions were due to fatigue?

Are you saying that Handley's inability to make a try assisting pass (not for the first time) or Watkins making a stupid offload when we had tackles in the bank and in a great field position were down to tiredness because they didn't get the chance of a nice cup of tea on the bench?

And do you believe that the last two Castleford tries were because Handley did not get interchanged rather than due to inexperience/lack of technique of a young player serving his apprenticeship.?

And why can you not seem to accept that perhaps the reason Handley was put in that position for the last try is down to the fatigue of his team mates not doing their job before getting to him?

Would having a fresher Peacock or Cuthbertson on the field in the last ten minutes when the game was on the line have improved Leeds chances of winning it? Of course it would. To say otherwise is absolute nonsense.

With three big fresh forwards on the pitch Cas were eating up the ground every time they took the ball in and much more aggressive in defence. Leeds couldn't match them down the middle because Aiton was off the field and the two players highlighted were running on empty.

McDermott's bizarre use of interchanges handicapped the team in a vital portion of the game, not for the first time. There is never a sole reason for any defeat/poor performance, but playing with one hand tied behind your back certainly doesn't help.

Hard to disagree with that.

Correct, Cuthbo wasn't the reason we lost in isolation. But he contributed an error, like many did.

Cas isolated Sutcliffe and Handley for some special treatment and their kick pressure worked.

But for me, Cas bringing on the refreshed Big 3 with 20 minutes to play, in a close game, was the difference for me.

No aggression, no defence, no size, no communication, no commitment, no organization..

apart from that I thought we were ok

we have a very soft underbelly at the moment, teams don't need to do anything special to beat us