We nearly scraped it, and possibly would have if it hadn't been for an enormous clanger by Silverwood in the last 10 seconds. But let's be honest, if we had, it would have been against a rudderless Huddersfield side without their pack leader and halfbacks. When we come up against a proper team in the playoffs, it'll be bad. Hell, we may not even make it past the also-rans in round 1. A few thoughts :


1. Walmsley's sending off was justified - the clumsy great bugger still can't play the bloody ball either

2. Hohaia's drop-goal was pretty symptomatic of Saints' error-strewn season - plenty of opportunity, but awful execution

3. Our pack proved embarrassingly incapable of getting out of our own 30 metres for 75 minutes of the game, with the honourable exception of LMS and Roby, who played Huddersfield on their own tonight.

4. Soliola's heart has already gone to Oz. A shame, but he is a shadow of his former self.

5. Manu - done, thanks.

6. Amor - need a big close-season and a return to form for the big guy, because the second half of the season has been very poor

7. Turner - just average. Some good kicks, some crap kicks, and I simply fail to see how he allowed himself not to score in the last ten minutes when he was stopped on the line. He just has no impact.

8. Wheeler - did he play ? I'd been waiting for years prior to this season to see the much-heralded star stand-off. Time for him to move on - he's had plenty of chances, but does nothing.

9. Wellens - I'm not a hater like some, but if we haven't got better now in the academy, then we should pack up the academy and go home.

10. Jones - just a blonder version of Clough IMO - average medium-sized second-row

11. Flanagan - at least he tried, I suppose. But when one of your dead-ball-tackling-machine 2nd rows is putting your grubbers in and throwing twenty metre hail mary passes, it says something about the complete lack of any organisational ability in the entire team.

12. Masoe - big man : it is not enough to do 10 energetic minutes in a game. Either shape up and do 30 minutes, or bugger off home

13. Roby - Nice to have the old James back again, but he's never looked more lonely out there in terms of class or ability.

14. Makinson and Percival - ok lads, you did your best, but you can't do much when the forwards are failing and there's no halves to give you decent ball. No blame there.

15. Line speed - awful

16. Chasing kicks - you all have to do it fellers, not just the nearest two



It's a sad end to the season. Injuries have royally screwed us this year. But there are deeper problems. Brown has the close-season to sort them out, or next year is another spell in the desert.

League leaders shield...no BIG deal, compared to the play-offs !

It was our only chance at the first silver in 6 years. The play-offs are already gone. I think we all know that.

Agree with most. Though Jones had a decent game (and he's a centre, not a second row) he kept wardle quiet all game, which is a rare feat his season (he's just won all of their end of year awards). Percival had a very encouraging game too I thought.

I think it's incredibly harsh to lay the blame of our lack of go forward on the forwards. The first three tackles of every set are the same. 3 scoots, from our 3 smallest players. Everyone knows this, we've been saying it for years about browns tactics, and everyone knows, condense, smack em and we go less than 10m on tackle 3. No matter how many times this happens the tactic never changes. Forwards make themselves available, but it's clear instruction they don't get it on tackle 1,2 or 3. Then when you take the only real kicker we have out the team, it's an obvious recipe for disaster.

I agree about the tactics, and our wingers are too small really to make that work. But you let our forwards off too easily. Many yards in the game are made [iafter [/ifirst impact, with leg drive, footwork and brute strength winning an extra 5 metres after collision. Watch Huddersfield tonight, and they're winning those extra yards in nearly every tackle. Saints forwards generally stop at collision and either wrestle to a stationary "held", or hit the floor, so our yardage is terrible. Now that wouldn't be too much of a problem if they were saving their energy for the sort of energetic rush defence which Wigan have perfected, getting three men into every tackle to really slow the PTB, and having tremendous linespeed. But our linespeed is amongst the worst in the league, and only rarely do our forwards actually make the ball-carrier stop dead in his tracks, or push him back. Contrast tonight how easy it was for Huddersfield to come away from their line compared to how Saints couldn't get to the thirty most times. We have some forwards who are not playing their weight.

By the time our forwards get the ball, hudderfield players have basically had a rest for 30 seconds, a set line, and all the time in the world to line our players up. We had a few (Manu ... Between 20 - 60 minutes) who were busting tackles against all odds. Amor is still very good at finding the floor - Masoe ... For 2 runs ... Are winning the ruck, but aren't being given any chance by being allowed to run at a fragmented line (as we afford our opponents)

By enforcing the rule that we HAVE to have the wingers scoot every single set, were basically putting ourselves on the back foot every single set, so of course our forwards aren't going to have the same impact,

Kicking on the 3rd or 4th tackle with 12 men in your own half also doesn't help.

wellens dropping the ball and they scored an easy gift try off it didn't help!...ive never known a side to drop so much ball week in week out...silverwood knew that was a chargedown at the end..if it had been huddersfield it had happened to..he'd have waved 6 more plays...and what annoyed me in browns interview after the game..he didn't ONCE mention all the fans that had gone down there to support them.....all he could say was he's proud of the guys...

Think you are a bit harsh guys you have been busted most of season with injuries and have had 3 really tough fixtures. I thought tonight was a terrific effort and i hope that silenced the Pies who think Micky Thug Mac is better than Roby . Any team who have the injuries that Saints have had would not have done any better . Obviously you need Cas to lose not just for the L.L.S but also to avoid Wigan next week

Brown is a simple-minded idiot. Remember that.

Anyone surprised? Another awful performance tonight. Roby and LMS were outstanding, a few of the outside backs did what they could, but for me most of that 17 and coaching staff can bugger off.

Brown has got to go. Huddersfield were worse off than we were for injuries and yet we still let them bully us. Our pack is pathetic, utterly pathetic. Walmsley was stupid and we again didn't deserve to win. Yet the tool still comes out and tells them he's proud of them. They did okay, he likes okay and Eamon loves it, as it's cheaper than excellent.

It was a charge down but wasn't the ball then picked up by a player in an offside position...

Can't be offside from a charge down, it should have been play on with saints in possession.

As soon as it hits a Huddersfield player, all saints players are onside.