Saints are saving their set allocation of form for the end of the season when trophies are handed out.

This way they can finish 5th/6th, be rewarded with a home tie and thereafter an easier route to old trafford.

I think this is the major problem with us at the moment from what I've seen.

We just look badly organised with ball in hand, nobody is taking leadership in the halves and directing us around the park. We don't have a Sean Long / Lee Briers type player who tells the forwards where to run and communicates with his half back partner to organise the set plays. We often go one or out or the moves stop at 6 or 7 because we aren't organised enough to challenge the defence. Whilst I think Gaskell is a good player, I think he's struggling a bit at the moment and I've never really been convinced with Lomax at 7. Lomax is a quality player, but he doesn't have the passing or kicking game to play in the halves for me. We're badly lacking an organiser, a leader to move us around the pack. There's no lack of effort from the side and we have shown improvements in defence, but the team are going nowhere with the ball in hand. I'd give Wheeler a shot at 6 personally. I'm not saying he's the answer to our problems, but our current 6 and 7 isn't working. He was a player in form and has barely been seen since he signed his new deal.

To be honest this is where someone like Wilkin should be stepping up. He's the only experienced pro we have (excluding Hohaia who is still finding his feet) with a head for tactics. The moment he saw Lomax and Gaskell falling to pieces he should have assumed responsibility and led the side. I've defended Jon for years. He's an outstanding pro who's been consistently undervalued throughout his career. And I appreciate he has a testimonial this season which is a lot for any player to organise. But right now we need his influence more than ever - and Royce should be stressing this point to him in the most unmistakable terms.

I think Lomax's rombustuous play and bravery lends itself well to that 1st receiver role. He has the confidence to work at the line without worrying whether or not he'll get a whack.
However, he should be taking the line on with options.
He should have a runner back on the inside and one on his outside shoulder, aswell as the long pass to Gaskell.
We've no inside runner and the runner on his outside looks everybit the dummy by moving half heartedly, so the defnce know'seitherLomax will run it, or spread it to Gaskell. This means the A and B defenders (as P Cullen refers to them) stack up on Lomax and the wider defnders arenever distracted andsucked in.
So why are the runners never in place? Some blame could be laid with Lomax's organising, but if lads are doing it in training all week, they're not just going to stop for the match, are they?

One of the most irritating things about the past couple of weeks for me.

I completely agree with this. He, Gardner and Wello are now our longest serving players. Wello just throws his hands around and sulks when anything goes wrong - useless for a captain - and Gardner is three sheets to the wind on most occasions. Wilko is the only one who has what it takes. For me, make him joint captain and charge him with the responsibility of leading the team. Make it official.

that is the best advert for buying a Saints season ticket I ever heard....you might as well play behind close doors for 6 months.

You won't get any arguments from me on that one. Superleague might as well be played behind closed doors these days.

Most people on here know my opinion on Jon wilkin in that I don't think he's a top class but I gave him plenty of praise last year and thought he was the best backrow in super league.

Im pretty shocked people are now calling him for the way he's playing this year, he's been like this for most of the past 6 years!

Obviously last years form was for new contract.

In terms of leadership though it's a narrow field and Wilkin is the obvious choice, if he is not the best choice to lead us who is. But the monkey has a good point too. A leader on the field can only implement what the general has ordered. So Lomax maybe playing the calls he's been told to, the fact they are not good enough plays does not mean they are being implemented incorrectly.

Individual plays during the course of the match when facing an opposition by nature unpredictable are not going to be called by the coach. That is the job of the leader on the pitch. Normally that would likely be the scrum half, in terms of playmaking anyway, but ours is too inexperienced and prone to panic.

Wilkin has the most nous on the pitch now and is one of the most experienced players. He should step up and do the business and the players should listen to him.

He's not doing a very good job then and should take his fair share of the blame.

To be honest, if Wilkin possessed the kind of leadership qualities we need right now he'd have exhibited at least some evidence of such throughout his playing career. Yes, he has assumed kicking responsibilities in the past. But mostly in isolated games. He has never shown sufficient consistency to warrant kicking duties over extended periods - as Paul Sculthorpe did on numerous occasions. He is a reliable third option who functions best working alongside better players.

I'm skeptical whether - at this stage of his career - he can change his game sufficiently to make a difference.

As for the wisdom of offering long-term contracts to player approaching the veteran stage of his career I'm similarly skeptical. That said, it's not like there's an endless conveyor belt of quality players to pick from.



I have some reservations about Royce's tactics. I do think we are standing far too flat. For Lomax - who I don't think is a natural scrum half - this seriously eats into his thinking time and the result is the kind of panic passes we saw on Friday night. We would be far better served standing just that little bit deeper thus giving Jonny more time to evaluate whether or not a pass is truly on.

I think that comment is a bit extreme. I think he starts to try too hard when he is not being given any options, That's the fault of the support runners and not his!!