Player by player

Ratchford - Again proved to me that he's the man to play at fullback. Great support runner, and offers far more than Russell wrapping around the line in attack. Defence was great too. For our style of play we need a smart fullback - Ratchford is that man.

R Evans - Looked dangerous with the ball and seems to have found that step again when hitting the line. Got caught out a couple of times when Salford went wide.

Monaghan (Capt) - Constantly talking on the pitch, much like last year which was good to see. Looked dangerous with ball in hand, but like his winger was caught out on both scores for Salford. That said in defence of both of them, if Dobson isn't on the pitch Salford don't score those tries.

Atkins - Took his try well, showing great speed. I thought it was Penny that scored it initially. Still suspect defensively for me, and better sides will exploit us out wide. He's not the smartest of players, as seen when getting both himself and Penny bundled into touch early in the count. A better player off a short ball where his speed and power exploit lazy edge defenders.

Penny - Great performance, looks like a rugby league player now. Very dangerous in attack, and great enthusiasm in defence. Obvious test will be against better sides and wingers. Looks better equipped though now.

O'Brien - Steady performance. Kicking game not up to much but otherwise directed the team well and looked ot take the line on. Took quite a few late hits, but got up and carried on.

Myler - Best game in a fair while. Looked interested, looked to direct play, and backed up well for his try. Tested in defence and came up well from it.

Sims - Targeted by Salford all game. Did what he needed to in both attack and defence. Lasted longer on the field than the bully boys who targeted him, which speaks volumes.

Clark - Quietly effective. Shipped the ball quickly and accurately, stood up well in defence. He'll get better when he's fitter and morecused to how we play.

Hill - Your normal 8/10 performance. Surprised he got riled early on throwing the ball at the Salford player after being pushed back in goal - that could be down to dirty Salford niggle though.

Laithwaite - What every team wants in a back rower. Carts the ball up strongly, defends very very well. Setting high standards early.

Currie - Looking like the player that burst through a few years back - but with better defence.

Westwood - Typical performance. Strong with the ball, strong in defence. Typical brain fart that could have seen a red with a different ref. Needs to control that.

Subs

Higham - Effective against a tiring Salford defence. Offers something different to Clark. Typical Higham performance.

Harrison - Solid if unspectacular. Defended well, took the ball up strongly.

Asotasi - Couple of decent stints. Great shot on Morley on our own line to cause and error, and drew Morley in to free Higham up for his try.

Wheeler - Decent cameo, keep him fit and we've a very useful player. Quick, evasive and smart.

Happy overall - room for improvement, but a decent start against niggling opposition.

Salford did have most of the possession in the 1st 20 minutes, but luck wasn't the reason we didn't concede it was top class defence that kept Salford out.

I said this at the game, my understanding is that if the Ref makes a decision on the pitch and awards a Pen, Yellow or Red, then that is the punishment that the Ref feels is appropriate and no more action can follow.

But if the Ref puts an incident on report or doesn't see something then the Panel can step in.

Players can be cited by the match review panel regardless of whether the ref took on field action or not

Thanks Paul.
Benny will be banned for Hull and probably the St George game.

I'd just like to point out that whichever of the walked brothers Westwood hit, he completed Fucking deserved it and got off lightly in my opinion, he was just as bad if not worse than Patterson yesterday.

Yeah its the psychology of a constantly losing team that bands together.

With success comes boring fans, look at Wigan and Leeds, the latter have shipped a brass band in to try and generate some noise

Saints are alright after going so long empty handed but now they've got an extra 2k or so fair weather fans in there so..

It'll pick up at the HJ, I'm determined to make it so.

It will be interesting to see what the match review panel picks up from this week's games.

My assessment:

Ratchford at fullback for the foreseeable future.
I love Matty but if he was on the pitch then Salford would've walked right passed him imo whereas Ratchford stopped the breaks and defended superbly. He also links in better in attack. Russell would do well off the bench and if injuries strike he's there to earn his place.

Penny was class. He's now a well-rounded player and hasn't lost his pace. That try-saver was phenomenal!

Joel got sucked in too much but he captained the side well and looks determined to lift a trophy this year.

Atkins and Evans were their usual selves, Atkins with the big hits and Evans with the finishing. Need to avoid that touchline a bit better though and Atkins needs to work on his timing.

GOB was quiet. His kicking was a bit spotty but other than that he did well.

Myler was flourishing. He's determined to improve from last year and looked hungry out there.

Hill and Sims did well. Salford fans may be spouting "we dominated their forwards" but truth is they were dirty and tried to wind them up. They both stayed classy and let the score do the talking.

Clark was quiet also. He linked up well with GOB, Myler and Ratch though and it was a good, solid debut. Him and Higham on the pitch together for the last 20 minutes could win us a good few games.

Laithwaite and Currie were brilliant. Both ran the ball in well and defended well.

Westwood played well and made good yards until he let the Salford lads get to him and went AWOL.

Higham was brilliant. With someone of that class and skill on your bench you aren't going to go far wrong.

Rest of the bench went well, Harrison made good yards when he was on and so did Asotasi. Wheeler did well when he came on too and he looks determined to prove his doubters wrong.

All-round great performance. Our defence was the highlight, such a shame we conceded our first points this calendar year but it's testament to our defence that they could only score in the corners, the first when we were down to 12 men.

Bring on Hull FC!

Check the average attendance from last few years. We seem to have more " fair weather fans" than the cup kings Warrington.

that's... What I said?

Edit: actually no, I didn't. I didn't even refer to exact attendances..