Obviously every adverse result we've had is a factor, but we're talking about how the factual situation was at 3pm and how it is now. That's sadly 100% down to Bentham's worryingly one-sided display

Perhaps the banana throwing incident when the locals threw them at him in Perpignan about 4 seasons ago unnerved him and he subconsciously looks out for the Dragons!

Thought the Catalans got the tactics spot on. They identified Heath L'estrange as our biggest attacking threat and made sure they took him out. Dirty, cynical and cowardly. Typically French then

Disappointed I thought we were going to hang in there and squeeze a win but it slipped away in the last few minutes.
Despite Mr Bentham single handedly trying to attone for a thousand years of English wrongs against the French (according to the Cats chairman) and some cynical hits on our playmakers we just seem to lack the cool heads to close the game out, the % football in the last 10 minutes was missing. maybe some of the new recruits will have the on field leadership we seem to miss at the moment.

Catalans play it right on the edge and have some tough players. I’d like to see the L’Estrange incident again. However it was the Catalans pack that was the main reason for the win.

We had only two bona fide props out there today and no answer to the impact that Bousquets made when he came on in the second half. I thought Gale kicked well with the wind in the first half but in the second half we were losing the energy battle having had to defend our line for long periods. Add that to the lack of props coming off the bench and we have no go forward. Kicking into a strong wind from well within our half was always going to be difficult for the halfbacks. That said we could’ve kicked lower to address this or mixed it up a bit.

I'm with those who are not convinced by Gale. Over the course of two full seasons, Danny Addy is a better half back.

If we have ambitions for the 8 we need a leader at 7. Someone who can lead us around the park, pick the right options, kick us out of trouble etc. Gale -IMO- is not good enough.

He's shown odd glimpses of doing something half decent, but that's not enough over 2 years.

I thought against Hull, Gale controlled things well. His kicking game was superb and his last tackle options were better. But I remember the Widnes home game when we were leading with ten minutes left, and Gale put a high bomb up for Ah Van, who then scored a length of the field try. Gale should have grubber kicked into the in-goal area and forced a repeat set. This decision more-or-less cost us the match.

I remember that. It wasn't much of a high bomb either, more of a lacklustre punt that my Mum could've caught.

Gale's had a few off field distractions lately, we'd do well to remember that. However it is time he put together some consistent good form as we need better game management from the halfbacks. If Gaskell is confirmed we should get another player with a decent long kicking game. I agree that Addy, in attack at least, as been the more impressive halfback recently but he's not [iyet[/i got the authority or experience to steer us around the park for 80mins. Hopefully we'll hear that he's going to stay at the Bulls, he's got a future here if he wants it.

Interesting re. Gaskell - No-one has confirmed at the club, yet in last weeks League Weekly (may have wrong paper, but was in the press) there was an interview with Foster, where he said the signing was great for the club, and how he will have petrol contributions coming from Gaskell as they live on the same street.

Everyone seems to now think the deal is done, but we know how the club likes to release it's positive press (usually after a disappointing on-field display).

You're right, he did play well against Hull and I understand there's been issues in his life.

However, he needs a big pre-season where he gets properly fit. He's missed the start of both seasons and doesn't look in good enough condition. He takes the ball walking or standing far too often.

Looking at it in isolation, that's fairly accurate, though I thought Scruton had some answers. But looking at a slightly bigger picture, the reason they had the chance to dominate was Bentham. It was a sequence of baffling calls that kept us away from possession for waht seemed like 15 minutes - and even then we only were broken once, at the end. Calling a kick into the back of someone's head from 1 meter, as he turned to try to evade it, was a harsh call, but giving 6 more tackles "played at" for the attempted grubber from point blank range was ludicrous - the ball hit the foot.

Here's a merge of 3 images of the ridiculously forward passhttps://img.photobucket.com/albums/v154/boiledvark/forward_zpscdabc04a.jpg" >

It isn't of course quite as forward as it looks from the stills, as momentum does come into play, but unless there is a huge hole in Langley, the ball had to come from behind that position, and all the officials missing it, despite a huge roar from the crowd who all saw it instantly, clearly, from every part of the ground, is just an inexplicable travesty

I'd be more worried about Cats having 3 number 23s palying for them.

I dont know if this has been mentioned already but has anybody watched a reply of the tries, and if so for Catalans 1st did Elliott Kear actually ground the ball first ??