My problem is that he's been out of form all season so far, that's 12 games. And if anything he's starting to look worse than he did before.



I think he's allowed a brainfart

Well, that's what form is like isn't it? It can go for ages and then just come back or be around for ages and just go. He may be out of form all season. Wello was a couple of seasons ago, for instance.

Tremendous fightback by Widnes,IMO another 10 minutes and they would have won by 10 points
Saints will clearly play much better and could actually go on and win the CC without a doubt

Doubt it. Saints have been playing like that for most of this season. There is a serious attitude problem among some of our players.

Most players being consistently poor are dropped. I don't see Shenton as being that vital he's immune to being dropped and we can't afford to carry him all year.



I couldn't believe he'd done it. I did imagine your reaction to Meli's brainfart losing the ball late on though

I agree. But if he is dropped then Perry and LMS should be too as neither of them is earning their keep at present either.


Me neither. Apparently he did it against Wigan too but got away with it on that occasion.

Some interesting thoughts on the game.


Swift looked a real handfull with ball in hand. Reminded me a bit of Tomkins in that he is built like a starving sparrow yet ha the ability to bounce out of tackles. His fielding of bombs was exemplary. Could he turn out to be our future fullback??


Josh Jones hard to think that he is only 18 years old. He is a real handful with the ball in hand and defensively sound.

Lance. Looked like a deliberate tactic to keep him out of the action for the first 20 mins then introduce him into the midfield. Suspect he may be playing with a knock.

Clough a one man yardage machine, our best forward along with Lafranchi.

Roby playing well but then committed a complete brainfart that nearly lost us the game.

Overall performance, pretty solid in a going through the motions sort of way for the first 65 mins. Then Roby went off and we collapsed.

Paul Wellens. Not captain material at present , spends the match screaming abuse at his fellow players when a mistake is made making wind mills with his arms. For me this puts undue pressure on the other players and distracts them from the job in hand. Paul is a passionate player but need to temper his emotions when dealing with his team mates.
Joynt was a great captain not because of what he said but what he did. For me a quiet word in the ear is better than a whirling dervish

I watched a lot of saints u20s last year and also watched some Widnes u20s and I've been very very impressed with jack owen. I think he's got potential to be top class fullback.

I was impressed with swifty today, he was a little naive in defence on two tries (I think) but he took some very good high balls and also looked good on the ball.

I was impressed with him in attack but not in defence (except under the high ball).

I think it was a needless risk, though, to play a noob in a knock out game.

So who would you have played? Jamie foster!! His defence can definitely not be trusted at the moment.

Agreed, it was a risk in a tricky knockout game and when ah van skipped past him i thought this could be a problem.

He's not a natural winger and looked a little lost in defence.

He's a good prospect as is jones who Brown said he likes.

In regards to Owen, I thought he looked a little leaden footed personally. As the saying goes there's no substitute for pace, which is something all top fullbacks have. Once upon a time even Wellens was speedy, well a little. That's not to say Owen won't be fine player but he looks a little on the heavy side to me.

I disagree with you about Wellens. This is one of the quietest (on the pitch) Saints teams I've seen in 20 odd years of watching them.
Joynt didn't have to be loud. The team was full of leaders with the likes of Long, Scully, Cunningham etc
Saints don't lack quality, they IMO lack leadership & direction. Wellens is doing most of it, at least last year we had Graham chipping in too.

We're missing that mean streak. The type of player that gets in the oppositions faces a bit. A player that away fans hate.

Indeed. We've never really replaced Jason Hooper, who played that role admirably.

I'd much prefer a sonny Nickle in that pack at the moment. Brown likes his forwards tough so maybe he will put a little fire in them.