I get that there might be variables such as weather (wind/sun/wet) but you'd think kick pressure and catch protection would be a relatively simple thing to coach?

There aren't that many contested variables

How tall is Dufty? Is that a factor in his not being able to contest high balls?

Not much doubt that being 6ft 4 ins & say 17st is a handier than being 5ft 8 and a half.

The kick that Dufty missed in the Catalan game wasn`t a high kick at all.

It was just a speculative kick and the bounce deceived him and favoured Tom Johnstone.

Should he have done better....probably, but it certainly wasn`t a high kick.

There is a proactive defence to protect Dufty (and Thewlis, let’s be honest!) which comes down to stopping them kicking from attacking positions. We leak meters so quickly at times. I think we’re terrified of giving away penalties, but if you watch Wigan and Saints, they don’t care about the whistle. They care about the tempo and owning that tempo. If they give away a penalty, so what. They have a breather and defend again and get back in control of the speed of the game.

For us, we are in reverse unless we get a miracle kick. We don’t strangle or suffocate teams. We desperately need to learn to respect the whistle, not fear it.

We were basically blown away at the start of both halves before finding our way back into the tussle. 40 minute involvement from the outset would have seen Catalans off. We need to be aware from the very start to compete with the top teams.

I see it as progress that they needed a full team to beat us this time!

Im sure I read that we would "learn lessons" again...

Would be worse if they didn’t say this.

Yeah it's all just BS words for "we ed up again".

Let's be realistic , how many times have we been caught napping by so-called lesser teams & found ourselves chasing the game? Proactive rugby instead of reactive is what we need.

They have to say something and acknowledging publicly that there is work to do is no more than they expect. In fairness it was an horrific start where everything Catalans do d resulted in a score. Not a problem Burgess has seen before in this team and it needs to be worked on. Catalans are a top 3 team, we aim to be but aren’t there yet.

Quote: Captain Hook "They have to say something and acknowledging publicly that there is work to do is no more than they expect. In fairness it was an horrific start where everything Catalans do d resulted in a score. Not a problem Burgess has seen before in this team and it needs to be worked on. Catalans are a top 3 team, we aim to be but aren’t there yet.'" Yes I understand that. Catalan are a better side. We were slow out of the blocks first half, then second half shows our inability to remedy of slow start in the second half. Slow starts are a theme with us. Did a core of the players not learn from ... https://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/ ... st-helens/ I don't think it's about lessons. I think it's about the squad not being good enough to compete with the top teams.

Quote: Captain Hook "They have to say something and acknowledging publicly that there is work to do is no more than they expect. In fairness it was an horrific start where everything Catalans do d resulted in a score. Not a problem Burgess has seen before in this team and it needs to be worked on. Catalans are a top 3 team, we aim to be but aren’t there yet.'" Yes I understand that. Catalan are a better side. We were slow out of the blocks first half, then second half shows our inability to remedy of slow start in the second half. Slow starts are a theme with us. Did a core of the players not learn from ... https://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/ ... st-helens/ I don't think it's about lessons. I think it's about the squad not being good enough to compete with the top teams.

And I get that you won’t be satisfied till we win a GF (or 2) and hopefully that day will come. In the meantime i’m enjoying the rugby way more than I did last season…or the season before…

Yes me too. I have accepted we are not up there with the top 3 and won't be for at least a few seasons, if ever. The players do seem committed this season and we have scored some nice tries. I think thats a more healthy position for me than swallowing this "lessons" stuff and expecting a difference.