rlBest attack. 2nd best defencerl

My reflection on reflection ...

It all bodes well. The games we've needed to win we've won, we've done the hard bit with probably only Hull KR & Leeds as stand out tough away days left. If it was the other way, we were mopping up the trash but finding our level when we met a 'big team' I'd be worried, but last week apart we've lifted when needed.

I like the way when we play a cack side, we make it look like a Challenge Cup 4th Rd game.

Keeping it simple
We've either been dross or awesome....
It really is THAT simple
Take complacency out of our game, and we are a force to be reckoned with.
Just make sure we don't lose cup ties, and that we peak in late August/September/October

Let's not get above ourselves, re form
Cast your minds back a few years
Saints went to Bradford about July time, and they put 50+ past them
Noble took them to one side, and Bradford STEAMROLLERED their way through the rest of the season, and won the SL, when only 2 months before, they looked like they couldn't win a raffle

I don't like that we've lost twice to Hudds, but 7 wins from 10, a couple of clinical blowout scores, the Wigan and Saints away wins, and the fringe players coming into the side and performing well.

I agree. At Widnes when we played Saints there was no real crowd enthusiasm or anything, it was just like going through the motions, before the proper rounds come in.

i'd say we deserve a 7/10 for the first ten matches!

The fact that we've scored the most points doesn't surprise me but us having the 2nd best defence does somehow. We've looked a bit dodgy at times in the middle and I can think of 3 teams who have a better goal line defence, Huddersfield, Wigan and Saints. Oh well the table doesn't lie.

Looking at that table. it's shocking how bad Leeds' defence is. Surely mcDermott is in the line of fire.

Not really Hetherington's style to bullet people, is it?

I think the first 10 games can best be summed up by this gif

On reflection, we are exactly where I thought we would be. Smith just needs to iron out the inconsistency kinks. Only 3rd of the way through mind.

The slump in enthusiasm from the players for the Catalans, Huddersfield and first 20 of the Crusaders game was really disturbing. It seems like some of them just can't get up for these games and that's worrying. Also concerning is how poor we are without Monners playing at hooker; Higham looked better than Clarke so that's probably just form but we need to wrap Monners in cotton wool for later in the season. All in all not a bad start to the season but there's lots of room for improvement.

For me we are behind where I was expecting us to be.

At this point in the season I was fully expecting us to be 1st or 2nd with a clear gap to our chasers.
Hudds are doing far far better than I expected and Saints are the club that I thought we would be vying with for top or 2nd.
Wigan are where I was expecting and Leeds are way behind what I thought they would do.
The other club who I thought would be higher up the table are the Bulls, I was thinking they would be 5th or 6th by now.

A couple of games don't normally matter in the context of a long season, but this coming weekends fixtures against Salford and Hull will be CRUCIAL to where we finish in September. If we win both games we are back in the hunt and will be in 2nd spot or possibly 1st. Lose one or more and we will finish no higher than 3rd. This weekend is not just about the four points on offer, it will determine how we as a team will perceive ourselves particularly going into the must win games.

This weekend is about more than the four points on offer, it could define our chances of getting to Old Trafford.

At the start of this season I saw Saints as our main contenders and I still do
Their next four fixtures will be key to their season............
Wigan v St Helens
St Helens v Castleford
Hull v St Helens
Huddersfield v St Helens

Possibly getting carried away there fats. Think like Tony; our position in the table doesn't matter, it's performance that counts. Our performances against Catalans and Hudd were awful, winning would have only papered over the cracks that those performances won. The best thing about this Fridays game was that our performance improved over the 80. I won't be worried if we come out with a 2 point win against Salford or Hull if our performance is there. Obviously I'll be irked if we lose either game but I think if we're performing neither of those teams will touch us.

I wish I was getting carried away, the old Wire would have won one of the two Easter games and then gone on to oblivion in the play offs.

To be serious contenders for O/T we have got to win against teams like Salford and Hull, because that's what the Leeds and Saints teams have doing year after year and then on the platform of beating these teams they get to O/T.

If by next Tuesday we have four more points in the bag then O/T wil be back in our sights. I am not a SL historian but the Bulls are they only team to have reached Old Trafford from third or below.