This

We have no attacking ideas at all. 0 - 12 in that Hudds pre season game proved this.

We are too reliant upon individual players having "moments of magic", which seems to happen all too infrequently.

The best I can hope for from the Brisbane game is no injuries (and a LOT less penalties!)

PS - I really don't want to see that bloody stupid "it's always our year" flag this season.

Three things we already knew last season. ..
1 Matty Russell is not a full back
2 Rhys Evans is not a winger
3 James Child is a pitiful referee

Other points worth noting are Catalan Dragons should never be allowed to turn rugby league info football. ....their behavior was nothing short of disgraceful tonight with the holding off heads in fake pain. .. the fake knocking back of heads as of they had been hit by a spade. ..and the ing putting up ten fingers to help the ref along ....

Awful ball control from wire and my scapegoat for the season will be Savelio. Whether he thought his work was done after his try but I think he'll be a small version of Trent Waterhouse. ...he was most ordinary and liked life on the wing far too much for a forward. .... but we'll see. ...Before I right him off

Hot weather preseason training.....

Is it the best preparation?

When much of the season is cold and wet at best, wouldn't two weeks training on Orford Park be more beneficial!?

Vs Catalan, a drizzle of rain and the handling from Warrington is puss paw. Under 9s have better handling skills than that performance.

Once again, I find myself blaming TS again. Lack of wet weather preparation. Playing Atkins inside our only class recognised winger. If it was Brian Bevan outside him...he'd have walked off the pitch sulking for never getting a pass.


Tony Smith what the feck are you doing?

I thought the game was for the taking, we were well in control in the first half but as stated many time on this thread and others our attacking threat was minimal.

Question : Do we practice scenarios whereby we are in the opposition 20 ...... it called a 'move' not really seen any.

Wouldn't mind if flamboyant movement with dummy runners all over the place and then somebody drops the ball over the line, at least we could moan about being unlucky but what a great move.

Thought there were a few plusses last night, Westerman was superb, Coops and Simms ran strongly, Clark tried hard, Lineham looked better, Livett continued his good showing from the diabolical Huddersfield shambles of a game. We need a session on composure, knowing how to spell it is one thing but how to show it is another.

Not forecasting a win next week, solid progress would do.

Gidley to full back. He really offers nothing in the halves.

Ratch to Linehams centre when fit.

Atkins inside Russell as he wont pass to him anyway.

Hope Patton can step up and Brown can stay fit.

Best we can hope for in repairing a lamentable back line.

Russell at full back! Please no more. He was scared to go anywhere near a high ball all day..and when he did...knock on every time!
We haven't got a half back in the club now capable of beating an average second rower for pace...not one.

It going to be a long season IMO.

Evans to Full back. He has played this position for Wales. Leave Russell on the wing.

I think the writing was on the wall in the Huddersfield friendly.. Zero creativity then and not much better last night, apart from Ratchford who's out injured I don't think we have another player that worries the opposition with ball in hand.. Obviously there is Brown to come in but I'm not exactly on the edge of my seat with anticipation over him..
Call it knee jerk but I honestly don't know if we have enough to make the top 4 this year.

faking injury? so when a french player spits blood and doesnt receive a penalty for a head high, thats faking?


your team were Indiscipline for most of the match, too hyped up maybe at the start, westerman guilty of that

The two things that stood out above all else were the total lack of speed and creativity, for a team with our aspirations that is appalling. There is more speed in the Monday pension queue than our back line!

Evans and Russell were shocking and what has happened that nasty aggressive bloke that played for the Pies Mr Crosby, I have seen more aggression in a day old chick!

I don't know where to go with that performance as a team they were inept at best, we all know we cant win the league on game 1, but game 1 should give us something to be positive about and sadly they didn't achieve that.

Westerman was very good, some glimmers of hope with others.

Maybe we can strike a line through it get through the pointless Brisbane game injury free and start the season in earnest.

I think you'd have to ask yourselves why would Wigan let a relatively young prop go to our greatest rivals without any argument?

Answer - He's not that good. He would have been about 6th choice for Wigan (behind FPN, Flower, Clubb, Sutton and Tautai) this season. In previous years he's put in a decent performance about once every six or seven games. But he was solid, never a liability.

Dom believed he was a better player than Wigan valued him at. Nothing wrong with a bit of self belief. He'll have to prove it now at Warrington though, because he's on a decent contract.

He's a long way behind Hill, Sims and Cooper and when Currie and Westwood are fit, I imagine Savelio will be ahead of him too.

You've got a good player in Crosby IMO but you will find that he'll frustrate you 'if' he carries on the same pattern of his Wigan career. The reason I say that is because he drifts through too many games yet every few weeks he'll come up with a performance which makes you think he's one of the leagues better props. He's always needed to find consistency and to do that he needs to switch on each and every week and stop waiting for the big games to really get himself going.

His showing in the Grand Final for us was a case in point. He was exceptional, the best forward on the field and he played with an aggression you don't see every week. I expect this move to Wire to move him out of his comfort zone and I think you'll see those sort of performances more often then we did but it sounds like Saturday was one of his 'switched off' games.

Russell a decent winger, picked as full back but not very good there.
Evans an International full back picked as a winger but not very good there or centre,
I've got an idea...why don't.....

Thought Crosby was doing really well till he went off. Our forwards weren't to blame they stood up immensely.

Once again I find myself looking in disbelief at Evans on the wing, Atkins at centre and Russell at Fullback. Our backline needs a complete revamp. We've been crying out for two centres and a full back for a good couple of seasons now.

Goal line defence was excellent. Until the last second, they had pretty much battered us and relied on a gift and playing against 12 to break the line. Rest was forgettable. Our back line does look terrible, but weren't we top scorers last year?