The game in the a nutshell. I know we have an absolute mountain of injuries but we all assumed there was enough quality out there today to get the job done especially being 24-12 up with 15 mins remaining

Another bad day at the office with our so called ‘leaders’ going missing again. Am I the only one who feels the wheels are about to come off?

Point dropped. Lots of players back next week so if EoC wants to ring the changes due to poor performance then he can do. I hope he does. Some of those players were doing some stupid stuff

That result is going to be another one that we will look back on at the end of the season and realise how costly it was.

Earlier in the season I genuinely thought EOC had a group he could mould into a side that might have an outside chance in a Championship GF. We had a determination in our defence that allowed us to make a few errors or concede some penalties. Not good enough, EOC has a job on his hands getting a grip on things before the season is all but over.

Spot on....the sensible call would have been the one pointer, but no. Poor game management once again.

Halfbacks aren't up to it. Can't fault Lilley's effort but he's not a leader. This was spotted yonks ago when he was shunted to be impact hooker where he's better IMO. Recruiting 37 year old Sammut who isn't a leader either shows where we are.

I'm not blaming him for the result, as it's an easy scapegoat, and it was extremely difficult conditions today, but Lilleys average Goal-kicking quality really is harming us.

2/5 today.
4/7 against York (was 3/6 until our last try which is why York sniffed a comeback)
The missed penalty in front of the posts against Batley.

He was always the backup kicker when we had players like Patton and Brough who were better at goalkicking. Ideally we'd have someone else doing the job. The main reason we're losing games or failing to win isn't really down to the goalkicking. It's down to playing dumb football.

Keyes coming in will improve things a bit provided he stays fit. That's next year though.

Isn’t Lilley kicking at 80%? If so I’d say that is more than acceptable?

I note Ryan Shaw who I would suggest is as good as anyone in the league at converting also kicked 2 from 5 on his home ground so it sounds conditions weren’t great?

It's around 75% I think. Even lower if you exclude penalties. I'm absolutely not blaming him for the result. It's more of an observation. As Bullseye said our dumb play and lack of game management is to blame and conditions were very poor for a kicker. But there's no question it's hurting us. Unfortunately we're stuck until Keyes comes in next year.

Keyes missed a sitter for Fax yesterday ironically it was to convert his own try which was a beauty. He's just what we need next season.

Indeed. Our inability to hold onto a win and close the game out was the reason we lost. A familiar set of circumstances. We need some cool heads that can take a step back and control the game.

I'd love to know the content of those half-time talks. It's now a certified trend just to fall away in the second half so I presume EOC is saying "Good first half, really impressive. I wouldn't bother repeating it though. What's everyone having for their tea?"

Yes, I think that’s spot on. Lilley’s goal kicking (the poor miss at Batley aside) isn’t the direct reason we have lost points we should’ve hung on to.

It’s absolutely poor game management and discipline, but as much as you can’t fault Lilley’s effort as noted above, he is one of the principal contributors to the game management aspect. For example, his Hollywood style pass in front of his own posts in the home game with Widnes. I can make some allowance for him maybe trying too hard at times, especially when the only recognised half back, but his approach in those ‘close out’ scenarios is awful, poor leadership and a captain he is not.

I’d actually look to replace him next season (not with Keyes who would effectively be Gaskell’s longer term replacement).

To use one of Bullseyes quotes, we'll have the grown ups back on the pitch soon. I think we win that game with Lawrence on the pitch. I've said it multiple times he's our most important player.