I'm sorry but this is just incorrect! (I'm not here to either blindly knock or defende anyone either) as was the comparison earlier on with Penny.

The fault for the tries lies squarley with Riley and his habit of coming in off his wing to "assist" in tackling the centre. Look back at the two tries from friday and you'll see that our defensive line was set correctly (unlike in the Penny era when we had some issues with compression and he did occassinally get hung out to dry) . In both cases there was absolutley no reason for him to come inside and leave the wing exposed. This isnt the first occassion either, it happened against Wigan & Castleford (he was an unneccessary 3rd man in on 2 occassions against the Tigers) That close to the line you have to hold you position, mark your man & have faith in the players inside you.

There's no evidence to suggest Atkins in "unreliable" in defense and therefore its his fault not Rileys. It was entirely Riley's fault that Blanch scored just before the half - man on man, by the touchline and instead of shutting him down or bundling him into touch, he got carried over the line for a try.

He's been weak in attack too - you cant fault his workrate and eagerness to come inside, but his hitting the line is weak and he goes down too easily. Yes he can score & he is quick, but only if he gets a clear chance. The first Monaghan try took some scoring and he beat 3 players to get the ball over - Riley had an almost identical opportunity in the 2nd half, but cut back inside, hit the line weakly and took the tackle.

I know the above sounds like a proper rant and Riley bashing (and all the Riley lovers will be up in arms), but its not meant to be that - it's my view of him based on current and last year's performance and not wearing any kind of tinted glasses, for or against. As someone said before just because someone is local doe'nt mean they're free from observation or criticism along with everyone else. I dont dislikeRiley as a person or player, nor do I doubt his passion & commitment - I do doubt whether or not he's the potent strike weapon you need on the wing these days.

(Typing done - sits back & awaits the ensuing pro-Riley backlash )

I don't often agree with you, Sir AM...

Whilst this thread is about Riley I see Atkins has been dragged into it. Atkins got caught on Friday by Leon Pryce whilst on the break. I believe that was due to the ground conditions. Should this game have been played on a dry day during May, June etc then Atkins would have scored and have been sat in the East stand with a cigar before Pryce would have been able to think knee or punch upon making contact.

You know, I think you are right. I was sipping my cocoa and sucking my Werthers Original this afternoon, and I got to thinking about this. I reckon if Penny hadn't been overly criticised he would probably be world class by now and probably playing in the NRL. And I hate to think what would have happened to Ken Parr and Brian Glover; no England cap for Parr and Glover's nerves would have been shredded, he would have been perennially in touch rather than squeezing in at the corner.

Of course you are quite right to criticise Rhys Williams, this is clearly a completely different issue altogether, and anyway he is Welsh. In fact for all I know, he is probably eccentric as well.

No, no. Read Brian's post properly, Atkins is eccentric (and apparently so was Matt King), this was the reason that he got caught. I assume he ran in an eccentric orbit, thereby allowing Pryce to run him down.