PS.. certainly not moaning.. I mean look at Odsal in the rain .. Just general feedback.

Never been to Bradford and stayed dry tbh. Lets be fair, our weather at the mo stinks. If it was cracking the flags, as it should be at this time of year then there wouldn't be an issue.

Bradford are still poop. Feel sorry for their fans.

Makinson is getting some over the top praise I see again. He had a decent game overall but hardly excelled against very weak opposition and for a player with the kind of pace he occasionally shows as having he just doesn't threaten opposition defences even nearly frequently enough yet for me. How some have him in the top 3 for MoM is a little puzzling... Jones looked far more dangerous on every level and overall did a lot more with the possession he had. He looks to have good potential but I find the blind praise he gets for every little good thing he does and convenient ignorance of any shortcomings a little bemusing to say the least compared to the treatment certain other players get on here...

And noone's allowed to use the fact that he lines up on the ignored right wing as an excuse as Shenton isn't allowed that leeway in Saints' fans' minds so I don't see why Makinson should be either.

And Hohaia was a disappointment again... He spent most of the game either just passing the ball straight on to the next man down the line or putting in little kicks straight at the opposition fullback or winger. I know he's never a #6, but surely someone of his pedigree and quality should be capable of more than this?

Makinson probably is getting over hyped but that's what most fans do on here like they did in the past with the likes of hardman, foster, tyrer, Dixon, ashurst, etc .

It makes me laugh when people lost next years team with nearky the whole u20s team and come out with rubbish that out going players don't Need replacing from outside the club because we've gout our kids.

IMO in recent years only Kyle Eastmond really excited in terms of pure potential but lacked heart and attitude.

Lomax and makinson are very good prospects and especially lomax who out shines the the expensive world cup winning halfback we have.

Don't get me wrong, we've brought thru some great young players over the last 20 years but I do think as soon as one kid has good game he's tipped for the big time.

You amuse me sometimes. You won't give Makinson praise (he single handedly turned our GF around and was our best player against Wigan, to answer your criticism about looking good against weak opposition, for example) and yet you want Josh Jones' babies and he's only played a few games. Jones is good but it is very early days for him. Makinson is further down the track in terms of experience and like all players he has aspects of his game to work on. But that doesn't detract from the fact that he works extremely hard in defence, he always raises his game in pressure/big matches (unlike most of our team), on the rare occasions the ball goes his way he scores (sometimes quite brilliantly), he assists, he plays the ball at speed and uses all the pitch (when at fullback), he's pretty darn safe under the high ball (and is extremely brave when taking the ball) and he's a decent kicker to boot. There are plenty of reasons there to allow for his areas for development given that every player has them.

As for Shenton, when making claims about Saints fans, do remember to qualify your statement with 'some'. I have never bagged Shenny and have consistently stated that being deprived of the ball (in part due to Wello working only down one side of the pitch, in part due to Hohaia only being able to pass to his left) has affected his game and scoring opportunities. The same applies to Makinson.

What i like about makinson, he does the basics very well. His defence, catching the kicks and his handling is good.

I do like tommy, I like his never give in attitde and you can see winning means a lot to him.

I think he could be very good fullback but I'm still unsure on his positional play in attack(wello very good at this) and if he can break the line on kick returns but he's still young kid and that IMO will come with experince.

We've improved so much it's scarey to think how bad we were under Simmons this year

Ditto

Jonesy is the more dangerous player when defences are tight, he looks stronger and has better footwork. Makinson has a great attitude, if he is to be our full back he needs coaching of when to time his run into the attacking line, something that Wellens was very good at last night.
We still played last night without a No 6 and can,t see this being resoved this season, so come the play offs we will be Lacking against tighter defences.

Makinson is indeed developing into a good little nuts and bolts player. But I've never seen anyone possess the kind of pace he does and yet threaten so little whenever he has the ball - he should be capable of so much more danger than he has shown on a consistent basis so far. I wonder if it isn't a mental issue - his break last night from Lomax' pass was very telling for me: if that had been a Sullivan or Quirk or Albert they'dve just seen the try line, pinned their ears back and looked to burn down the line and stitch the FB up. Instead Tommy's first thought was to hold back and to desperately try and find a pass back inside instead. He has the physical tools but I start to wonder if he has the mentality.

Our biggest problem this season is having the mental strengths when we encounter intensity in games. When we play the poorer teams we,ve got no problem running up cricket scores, but I can,t recall many games where we have won a game in the last 5 mins through defence or attack. Our home games against Catalans, Hull and Wigan were very poor mentally, a trait which has got worse over the past 3 seasons.
We also seem very reluctant to exercise unpredictable game plans is this because we don,t have the playmakers with off the cuff plays. We know Lance is not a stand off but he he still playing the same way last night as round 1, I know we have a temporary coaching set up but surely we should come up with different tactical plans to counteract the more competitive teams.

+1000000000000000001

When talking about Makinson for me his key weakness is the inability to read the game well.
By that i mean that a natural finisher will know when and were a break is likely to take place, and consequently put themselves in a position to be on the end of passes to score trys. Jamie Foster for all the abuse he gets amongst Saints fans has shown a greater aptitude in this department compared to Tommy.
Wello is a classic example of a player who reads the game extremely well. For all his lack of pace, he scores shed loads of trys. This is because he has that skill of knowing when to join the line and were to be to take maximum advantage of a break.

Where Tommy excels is in what i would class as concentration. He always seems to be focused on the job in hand and doing the basics well.
Other young players tend to "ride the wave" in that their form can crest and trough quite heavily. Tommys game tends to merely ripple.

So what do you suggest he does? Run over defences? Perhaps send two and three tacklers flailing to the floor as he fires up the field?


You are joking, right? Makinson has the best mental attitude in the team (along with Robes).

I think CHAIRMAKER has made some very valid points, Wellens being the typical example of reading the game to substitute his lack of pace.
Makinson needs to bring some unpredictability to his game, something he can,t gain experience quickly enough from due to our lateral plays.
I seem to remember his debut game was coming in at centre and was hoping this would be his final position, think he is wasted on the wing. So if he is full back next season he has still has a lot to learn and avoid running into blind alleys. More experience in a settled position, he will do OK.