Never mind the Grand Final, I've still not forgiven him for Catalans away in 2007!

Players are coached to defend from in to out, inother words from the play the ball out to the touch line, not from the touch line in. So if Riley is left with space outside him it will be due to players inside being out of position. The props or second rows not being in place would result in Riley being dragged in to cover the gap between himself and his centre. So not really Rileys fault. We score loads of tries like this and these tries are usually due to good attack rather than bad defence.

Whilst I am not criticising Riley's defence in general, there is no way you can blame Atkins for Blanch's second try.

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 )

*Hi Kev...Chris here...It's my turn now...any chance of a gig at your place buddy?*

Every try conceded is ultimately somebody's *fault* Are we to scapegoat the whole team on this basis ? We won't have a team left if this is the case...

Er no, not every try is someone's fault - sometimes they're just the result of some great rugby by the opposition. In the case of the Catalan tries on Friday however, they were a result of Riley's poor positional play & inability to effectively tackle his man.

Where in that post have I said anything about him being a scapegoat? I just tried to put forward an reasoned observation.

I wouldn't really blame Riley for the first try. Blanch is a good finisher and you would expect your winger to score in those circumstances.

having read all this ive just checked our results this season and our league position..2 wins from 3..2nd in league..and theres folk on here whinging about riley and atkins....anyone would think they were at fault for 3 defeats

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.