We only had one forward missing - I would suggest the pack is about as strong as it gets

You are depressingly correct.

Our energy levels look very flat at the moment, perhaps injuries meaning certain players have had to do a disproportionate amount of work, and the trip to Australia are taking its toll. You can blame individuals, but we simply aren't winning enough collusions. Our attack relies on a quick ruck and we aren't creating enough of them.

On another note, I thought Thahler tried to ref the game well, and hopefully we see more players penalised for trying to milk penalties.

We didn't come out of the dressing sheds for the first half hour, it was laughably bad from us you should have been 20 clear.

Leeds built their successful sides on mobility and speed. This pack is like cart horses, there is limited mobility but plenty of graft. It is aged too much. I would presume that is why the tactic always seems to be to run back to the ruck all the time, to try and tire specific defenders, rather than move the ball around. Yet when we have to chase, and forced to move the ball around, we are a much better team.

whilst your last paragraph is spot on, the deeper holes you refer to IMO were the years we had the top 8 play off system and for large parts we were around 8-9 for long periods, managed to finish 5 and we all know what happened from there. No such luxury with this system though. Lose too much ground on the top 4 by the split and it makes life very difficult for finishing in the 4 for SF time and I'm not sure if anyone outside the top 5 at the split under this new system have managed to drag themselves into the 4 for the Semis?

Luckily for us, AT THE MINUTE, outside of Wire, saints & Wigan it seems pretty much up for grabs that 4th spot between us, Cas and probably Hull but we certainly need to start putting a run of wins together sooner rather than later otherwise we will be too far back and needing miracles come the super 8's (unless of course Cas and Hull continue to be inconsistent as well)

Not so. Garbutt, Delaney (both injured) would have made the starting line up and so would Galloway who has not been replaced yet. Add to that that Peteru was making his comeback after a long term injury and would not have been match fit, as is Ferris, and you have a different picture.

I'd say that's certainly true of the back row. JJB in particular looks knackered. However, I'd say the lack of power in the front row from the starting props is also true. Singleton and Cuthbertson don't give us enough go forward at the start of games.
For the first half an hour we really struggled to get out of our half, and Wire were starting their sets 30 or 40 metres from their line, we didn't make them work hard enough and our kick chase was really poor I thought, which is usually a sign of a tired team.

Singleton always runs diagonal back at the ruck, with limited yardage. This must be an instruction and tactic, but you are not going to make yards that way. Cuthbertson seems to have lost the mental speed, and seems indecisive as to whether he is a prop or additional half. He can’t seem to decide quick enough whether to run forward, or pass. If he is a prop then he needs to be to,d his role.

Woe woe woe!

Your not wrong.
33 points on any leeds side at Headingley is a battering. To put 20+ doesn't happen often.

I assumed moon playing at stand off was a temporary measure. At the moment it seems to be permanent, he should be playing in the centre . At the moment handley is not up to standard, and I don’t honestly know if he will make the grade. The problem is obtaining another half back. Due to a woefully low salary cap and a lack of talent available it’s a difficult task. I am certainly not writing off our chances at the moment, but things don’t look good. We certainly won’t make the one and two spots, so we would have to travel and win at teams superior to us. As to the comment the Aussie trip affected us, it doesn’t seem to have affected Wigan.

Of course it was disappointing to lose especially after we had fought back to move 11 points in front. However looking at the wider picture all the games we have lost or drawn recently could have gone either way with just a drop goal the difference sometimes, which shows we are close to getting things right.

The lack of our big men in the middle is having its toll now and we have missed the size of Garbutt and Galloway all year with Ward, Peteru and Cuthbertson missing for a lot of the time too.

Also you should factor in that in the absence of the above key players has meant the back row have been taking on the opposition heavy men in defense as well as attack for some weeks now and will be jaded at the least which is why Parcell has not been in his usual form. Long term injuries to Keinhorst and Sutcliffe and Ferris has meant we could not rotate the back row as we would have liked and therefore for some to write off JJB, Ablett and Delaney is to misread the situation.

You cannot expect players to return from long term injuries in fine form, the lack if match fitness will mean their speed, stamina and timing will be off the mark.

We have key players Moon and Cuthbertson who have been lacking their best form and perhaps fitness. The former was our best player last year and the latter did not make one offload against Warrington last night and both JJB and Singleton made far fewer tackles than usual so may not have been fully fit.

On the plus side the attitude and never say die attitude is still there and several youngsters have stepped up to the plate in the absence of the regulars so all is not bad news. With a return of Garbutt a replacement for Galloway and some form to return to the key players then we could get on a winning roll in time for the business end of the season.

On a technical point our forwards are not putting the opposition on their backs an slowing down the ruck which allows them quick play the ball and the all important momentum. What has been noticeable is that the opposition are turning us on our backs and slowing down the ruck. This was the main reason last night for the big metres gained by Warrington and for most of their tries.

I would like to see Walker have a run at 6

I think the Aussie trip has affected us, more psychologically. We’ll have geared pre season towards peaking for the WCC. I suspect there’s an element of lacking motivation at the moment.

Coaching selections are playing a part though. The hooking situation last night was farcical, but from experience it’ll happen again and again. Our line speed in defence has been poor for a while now too.

Match fitness seems to be a problem. The opposition at the moment seem to be coming home with a wet sail and we have no answer.

Also, the tactic of kicking for a scrum when in the opposition 40 metre area is nonsense. Last night, we were on top and in the lead. We should at least have asked a question of their defence, and hopefully tackled their ball carrier close to the line, meaning their first two or three of the set didn't get much distance. It would have kept the pressure on. Instead, we let them have a breather and re-gather themselves. A similar thing happened at Hull.