There's a hall full of them in Blackpool.

Doesn't help when the only place I've found that does show every attendance figure somehow manages to get the announced ones wrong.

Both Hull sides announced their attendances on website/twitter this week, and League Express still managed to get them wrong in their match reports. Something that I've noticed has been happening for a while.

Some one mentioned early the lack of aggression in defence cost you?? I thought it was your over aggressive defence cost you! People kept rushing out of the line trying to but the big one on one hits on and just kept bouncing off (Blythe being the main culprit) when you calmed down and went as a line we struggled to breach you! Thought it was a quality game and can't wait for blackpool

Blythe even took the mick out of himself with a tweet after the game about him flying out the line and missing every time.

He's normally quite a solid player, although I agree I'm not convinced he's a forward. He had a 'mare though on Sunday.

I've called Blythe out for doing that in previous games, so he has form for being a total moron in defence. I'd like to think our coaching staff could get it through to him to stop trying to smash people, but so far they seem to be failing.
I really don't know why we don't try Walshaw as our bench 2nd rower/centre for once. He's capable of playing both positions, just like Blythe, and isn't such a loose cannon.

In all honesty, I wouldn't play Walshaw unless we were desperate. Don't rate him at all. But I see the point. I think for that spot though they want someone who's more of a back that can play in forwards, rather than vice versa (as Walshaw would be). That way you have some actual back cover on the bench, but if you don't need it, you can use him elsewhere. Baile would fit the bill too.

I find it odd that Blythe is the one trying the big hits anyway, he's hardly the biggest bloke is he? Surely you want someone with a bit of size doing that, so that if they do land, it sends the opposition player into next week.

To be fair, much as it clearly didn't help, it wasn't really the 'flying out of the line' which cost us early on; it was the fact we were, in the vast majority of tackles, going backwards - often at a rate of knotts. Sometimes pathetically so, as in letting a bloke who had three pairs of hand on him touch the ball down. THAT, is the lack of aggression which really cost us, imo - not only in the try but in the fact it allowed Leigh to be on the front foot for most of the game; no wonder they always seemed to be in our line as fast as we were, that's what happens when you lose the tackle.

I know Leigh have some big lads but that is no excuse. We were going backwards against Swinton too, last week, and they were quite a bit smaller than us in general, they just ran harder. We seemed out enthused then as we we appeared to be out enthused against Leigh for most of the game. Hopefully, we're saving it for later?

“Flying out of the line” is alright if the whole team is doing it. If someone does it on their own though it’s usually bad news. Players can’t react quick enough to mirror someone’s defensive read if they sprint out like that instinctively.

At that point in the game we were really a shower and defending as individuals. It reminded me of the horror show away at Salford in 2011 when we conceded 50+.

Blythe got concussed a bit and I was surprised he stayed on as he was all over the place and one of the culprits for the fourth try when Addy got bounced off along with Mathers and Pitts. I do have my worries about our right side defence. In the first half we were slow to slide and left Caro with a 4 to 1 for the first try. Even when their winger looked to have blown it he still walked through Welham and Caro. Welham got pushed off a bit too often in the game for my liking and Addy isn’t the strongest defender sometimes.

As Bulliac says we seemed to be out-enthused for long periods up front. There seem to be issues with our attacking play. Our forwards 9/10 times got put on their backs – Leigh’s were always on their front. Leigh got numbers in the tackle and slowed us right down – Leigh were playing the ball fast with our tacklers still on the ground and nowhere in defence .

The Leigh defence was in our faces when the ball got passed from dummy half which put pressure on our first receiver. For 65 minutes they totally nullified us as a threat. Passes went above heads or to nobody leading to a try in at least one case. This is a concern as we struggled up front versus Fev and at times versus Swinton too. Only Sidlow has consistently made ground or broke a tackle. We’ll miss him and need Clough back asap. We need to address this before playing Fax and going away to Batley especially.

When we try and offload we look much more threatening as per the last 15mins of the game on Sunday. I don’t think playing it down the middle with the ball up the jumper is going to work anymore. I think we need to ask more questions with our forward play and try and use the ball more, we need support runners and offloads as I think we’re too easy to defend against when we keep it simple.

I have to agree. If the 4th is the try I'm thinking of, Addy's attempted "tackle" was quite pathetic. I use the term tackle loosely as he seemed to try and just bump into the bloke.

I praise Addy a LOT, but I'd expect better than that attempt from a 10 year old.

Spot on!

If you, 'fly out', the one thing you [imust[/i do is make the tackle. Coming out to, 'put a shot on' , is rarely a good idea - except when Paul Medley used to do it, of course, well...., sometimes when Medders used to do it.....

Scruton was also quite handy at it. Until they outlawed shoulder charges and then he calmed down.

He was, you're right. Same applies as it did to Medders though - it was good when it came off and, whilst fans loved it [including me], it was never really a reliable 'business' tackle.

Absolutely. Almost as high risk as one of those big looping passes Iestyn used to give away once a week.

Although it was useful sometimes when an opposition player needed putting in his place. I remember a friendly at Dewsbury and there was a bit fat knacker playing for the Rams (I forget his name now). Tried to rough up one of our young lads. Scruton came off the bench and absolutely destroyed the bloke with a huge hit. Never seen a better non-verbal way of saying "pick on someone your own size".

I'll be honest, I thought in that 65 minutes Welham was the worst player on the pitch. I rate the bloke very highly and he will be a very good signing this season. But on Sunday his defence was woeful. Fell off most attempts, grabbing shirts etc. He left Caro a few times with a Leigh overlap but the bit I remember most was in the second half. He missed a tackle at centre, then he proceed to chase the player to the middle of the pitch to try make a tackle, at which point he grabbed the shirt. It reminded me of an Under 9's match where the players chase the ball, which in turn left a gap out wide (again).

Don't get me wrong his catch for his try was superb and there were many poor players in that 65 mins. But he was for me, the worst in those dire 65 mins. However as I say, he will be fantastic for us this season. Along with Mitch Clark.

Having watched the match on Bulls TV I could see Marc Green saying to the Squad I'm paying you Full Time yet you're playing Part Time!
Leigh were guilty of that old Bulls habit of switching off thinking game won, though you couldn't blame them as the Bulls were an embarrassing shambles for 60+ minutes! Jimmy says he'll take the blame for the way the Bulls approached the game, but even more worrying is that there was no plan B(Nobby was unfairly castigated for not having one on a regular basis) as plan A was not working and the Team just let Leigh dominate them all over the park.
We could use FA's explanation and say that if the plan was to tire Leigh out then it worked brilliantly save for Addy's iffy line kicking for goal the Bulls should have won the match!!
I'm not worried about early season match's I don't expect or want the Bulls to peak until the super 8's but it's difficult to keep playing below their potential all the time Jimmy needs to ramp it up for the bigger games.
Still if was easy it would be boring!