Dissatisfied.. I'm confused.. didn't we win at weeekend, and hopefully got to watch the next tier of talent coming through the system, where exactly are the lads supposed to get the experience, or as some previous posters have already stated is Tony Smith and the club, see whether they can handle the next level.

I agree it wasn't the most expansive rugby we've watched the side play, but at least it made me sit up and kept me there to the end with game being a close call.. and if you feel p****d off watching our so called second team (I thought they were all part of the first team squad...!) How the hell do you think Salford felt..
Well done lads and like the other thread states.. The Future is Bright!!!!

I don't think we lost league games in the Cullen era because we were resting our better players and playing promising youngsters, we lost because we put out strong teams that were simply not good enough. If the players you have are not good enough in the first place, it doesn't matter how much rest they are given.

I am sure you are correct about Leeds. During the early season they looked exactly like us this year, with daft offloads, dropped ball etc etc. They were playing catch up in the league all season. Fortunately (for them) they suddenly put it all together at the back end of the season and went on to win SL. I think the point about Leeds though is that it doesn't matter about finishing 5th, because you still get to play in the playoffs. All those poor games they played, all the points they dropped, all the heavy defeats, counted for nothing at the end of the season.

So, if you have a squad with quality in depth and you are close to the top of the league, you stand a better chance of winning SL if your 1st team pick arrives at the playoffs with no niggly injuries and not mentally or physically tired. It doesn't guarantee that you will win; its a knockout competition and anything can happen 'on the day'. But the odds are stacked in your favour.

It was always 'weakened teams' under Cullen, I remember every week when we lost the debate on here was always the same

Me, Wires71 and the cynics: "we are crap, we will never win anything till we change the coach, we should go for someone like Hanley or John Lang"

The All New Chester Wire and the loyalists: "knee jerk reaction, look at the players we had out: Reardon, Sullivan, Johnson, Rauhihi, Bridge, Vinnie Anderson, when we have these first teamers back we are as good as anyone"

Various other posters: "the future is bright as these games that Bracek/Pickersgill/Penny are playing now will stand them in good stead for the future, they will be the bedrock of our side for years to come"

Interesting debate, this.
One point I'd like to make - there seems to be a lot of assumption on here that we are not bothered about finishing first this year, but a look at the table might suggest otherwise!
Maybe we still want to achieve it, but to do it smarter, so there's still something left in the tank for the play-offs.
As for the Salford game, yes it was a flat atmosphere and a poor game, but if I had a pound for every time I'd experienced that at the HJ or Wilderspool over the past 40 years I'd be doing OK!
I'm just happy we got the win and some young players got vital game time. It's not going to be champagne rugby every week, I'm afraid, but I reckon we'll get better and better as the season progresses.

I agree we're only one point off the top spot!

What happens if the top two lose a game and we win, we could end up back in the same position we were in last year and all this planning will have been for nothing.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion,someone said if you dont like what you see dont go,that is the wrong thing to say,as i said everyone is entitled to an opinion,we all have ideas what we want to see.

Old saying/ YOU CAN PLEASE SOME OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME BUT CANT PLEASE ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME.

Or something like that.

Tbh is does make you wonder if the week off during the play offs for the qualifying team does more harm than good for match intensity.

After the CC rounds the Giants play the Pies and we play Wakey away.
If we beat Wakey then we will be 2nd, the following week Wigan play Saints & we play Widnes. We could go top that week.

Nuff said.

Funny just made a similar point on another thread before i saw this one, Being that i haven't been to the last 2 home league fixtures as i find them a bit pointless. If we were to slip around the 7th league position then games would have more meaning. The system is flawed, as people have said, plod along, save players and hope you are playing well for a few one off games at the end of the season.

It was all so much more exciting when we had the thrill of vainly chasing ( and failing to achieve ) a play-off spot.

Some folk are never happy.