We brought in Walshy to do that job with Lance operating as a running supporting 6. This has been a success this season.

I do think calling the team an embarrassment is sad indication of some posters. They are not an embarrassment, some people are either just here to stir or are living outside of the reality that we have no halfbacks.

It's like going into a test match with no fast bowlers, going into a football game with no mid-field. etc etc

It was a close game it's going to be chop and change in the halves until we can magic up some formula to give us some control of the game. It's not even about a kicking game, it sounded like we had plenty of field position, just not the brains to do anything once there.

Sorry but I don't agree.


We are well and truly lacking a 6. Far play to lance, he's done well and puts 100% in every week and often gets dumped on by Brown but he's not a 6. Anyone with half a brain can see that.

Let's look at the pies. If smith gets a broken leg, they have Blake Green that can steer the ship because both green and smith are halves.

What if Walsh went home after one month this year? We'd have been stuffed. We need a 6 and every man and his dog knows it.

Do you think saints are actively seeking out any 6 that might be available just for something to do? No, they are scouting the NRL and super league because we need one! Simple as that.

Yes he did play like a 6 against Leeds and his kicking that day was very good. Name another when he played the "proper" 6 role well?

No we don't need cover for lance and Walsh, we need a 6 to play with Walsh and that can sail the ship if Walsh is off form or out injured like now.

IMO we need a 6 and lance playing the utility off the bench and can spell robes. Saints know this, Brown knows this and that's why we want a genuine 6.

What world you prefer -

6) Burns/Brown/Mullan/campase
7) Walsh
14) Lance (bench)

Or

6) lance
7) Walsh
14) tommy lee/GOB or another back up player.

Brown got rid of Gaskell, a homegrown player who had helped us get to a Grand Final. I hope he's not getting rid of Swift in the same way.

It's defensive issues. I think swift offers so much more with the ball than Dawson that he has to play. We are going to struggle to put points on the board so we need our best attacking players out on the field.

Pretty much saw this result coming, but still doesn't make it any less depressing

Going to be a real shame to end the season with such a whimper after showing such promise at times this year.

Yeah I admit I was a bit bored waking up early on a sat morning. I don't actually believe they are an embarrassment, but it is frustrating.

From the comments I've seen from brown and on the hull board it seems like it was actually poor defence and the fact that hull won the middle that lost us the game, as opposed to missing halfbacks.

What I find frustrating is that, knowing from the outset that we've only got one proven halfback able to guide the team round the park, we've never looked to blood a youngster in parts of certain games to be an understudy for Walsh at 7. Instead, every time Walsh has been injured, or has need to be rested (sometimes within a game), we've put either a back rower (Wilkin) there, or used 'Mr Flatters to Deceive' Wheeler (when he's fit)

We were crying out for a ball-handling halfback last night, who can direct the play. Surely we have a scrum half in the juniors who has the bones of this ability - and, if not, why the frig not? Brown should have had the foresight to bring in a organising 7 to be understudy to Walsh, and it's a total neglect of duty not to have been working with Walsh to develop the skills of a junior scrum half who'd be able to do a job in stepping in when needed. They don't need to be the next GB 7 (although it'd be great if they could be!), but just able to do the organising/first pivot role.

I appreciate the lunatic decision to scrap the u-21's makes having understudies more difficult, but we should have the foresight to build for the future.

I can't believe it's defensive issues because we're no better defensively when Dawson is on the pitch.

I agree but why the hell go into the season with only one ball playing halfback in the first grade? It's bonkers.

Not holding his position in defence I'm told.

I agree with this completely. But I also have to question whether there is a large enough pool of players available with enough quality to play at the highest level. Comes back to my argument of whether the game/player pool is too diluted.

To be honest mate, we had the same problem with the halves for about 3 seasons so it's no excuse really. We've had 3 years to put a proper halfback combo together and we've failed.

The pies lost lulu and finch in the same season and brought in Green and Smith. Wigan know you can't win pots with no halves.

And, when Smith/Green are injured, wi*an have youngsters able to step in and do an adequate job.

Yes but it's rare both are out. If one is out, the other can dictate play. They have lockers to step in if need be as we have Wilkin but the fact they DO have two halves that can control the game is a massive difference.

Who have been our halves in the juniors since Gaskell was there? Why haven't we seen any come through to the first team?

But the issue is we have binned or loss all our best junior prospects bar Wheeler.

I'm still not sure on the thinking behind binning Gaskell last year for an average hooker.

Fine he was the big I am, but hell he could play when he wanted to. I think sometimes we need to be more practical than principled. We got rid of a player with attitude with no back up in place to cover him.

If we had Gaskell he may be a pain in the butt, but he would be vital at this time of year and it does not stop us looking for another player in the mean time.

As it is we are were we are and it's going to be a struggle, but it's all relative. We are struggling to stay top. Not to stay in the top 4 or top 8 or the league.

Given that Rush dropped him and Brown dropped him I'd say Rush and Brown didn't like him so that was that! The Bradford coach seems to be handling him ok just now. They're relegated but last week in one of the RL weeklies Gaskell was their MoM and from what I've seen of him on the highlights shows he can pull off some great passes, he's tackling his heart out at present (saved a try last week) and is kicking well. Maybe the 'big I am' was Rush and Brown, rather than Gaskell?


I read somewhere that we'd guaranteed our top 8 spot.

I doubt we will make top 4. A couple of losses and with the top 4 being so close we'll soon be down the table.

Think we can't finish out top 6

Pete's right , no halves = no pots.

We will finish this disappointing season with a whimper due to an inadequate squad .... again. How many years will we go without 2 recognised halfbacks before it finally sinks in. As has been stated people claiming 'there arnt any out there' should just look over the lump where they seem to have no problem replacing them

Indeed the worst position finish we can have is 6th, however it might even be 4th (I haven't done all the permutations yet, but owing to the fact there's so many games between the top 5 in the last few weeks of the season, teams will have to drop points)

We've been scrimping on recruitment in hope a set of superstars come thru the youth system and it didn't.

We've only just got the props to a decent standard, we went 4 years with one centre and we must have gone 3 seasons with one or no halves and people wonder why we stopped making finals.

Finishing out side the top 4 would take a collapse of unheared of proportions

I don't think we will win another game in 2014.