Must admit I have thought ... he'd make a good second row.
But Conor Wrench's main weakness looked like his defence to me. So not surprised Mat. has played right centre most of time.
I think Mat. and Holmes have taken stick from those "who don't really watch the game" because of their obvious association with Powell. All sorts of "herberts" seems to throw cr!p at em.

I stuck up for matautia earlier in the season. He was excellent v cas(obviously had a point to prove), in my opinion he was man of the match and superb at stand off against Huddersfield(our best performance of the season)and was also very good against Saints. Since then he has performed appallingly, although he's not alone there. I'd still rather have him at half back than ratchford though!

Not sure that’s true. It was Dean who ran the show. Matautia was decent enough.

The one thing he’s done well is the hard yards, which was especially useful early when we getting battered in the forwards. He’s been less effective lately though.

Sounds like Hayes has gone well, which is great, but frustrating in equal measure. Anyone watching can see Ratchford isn’t a half back and yet he plays week in week out. I’m willing to give Powell a chance next season but he persists with Ratchford then he can go.

Whoever’s decision it was to give Stefan Ratchford a 2 year contract extension should be sacked before the bank holiday ends.

I’m sorry but apart from the last 3 games Holmes had been dreadful all season and you didn’t need to be some coaching expert to see that. Stats don’t tell you all that but the 20m made v HKR was one of his many lowlights. Frustration with Holmes’ performances had nothing to do with his Powell association, many were not happy with Currie in equal measure. I think most people were happy with the Holmes signing as he seemed a good pro at Cas. If he continues as he has done in the last few games (I didn’t see today) then maybe he can redeem himself. Holmes has not been doing unseen work that only genius RL brains can notice, he had a mare for 95% of the season.

Powell has a real blind spot there.

Imagine if Ratchford had played for another team at full back for seasons on end. Could you imagine us signing him to play half back for 2023? Not in a million years.

We must be looking for a back.

Moving on ... I think we may have more signings to come. Powell did suggest we were still looking. For me I would love a Right Wing, Half Back & keep Wardle. I like Thewlis so much that I would really look at the potential to convert him into a half-back otherwise I'm not sure where he will play at Super League level. I'm also not certain about how good Wrench is & his best position ... good in space with the ball but need to see more. We won't be spending money on more forwards.

A halfback with a kicking game is an absolute must, then Ratchford as utility player makes perfect sense.

I’d like us to sign Murphy from Wakefield but I believe Saints are sniffing around him. Looks a great player.

We should be throwing the whole budget at Brodie Croft.

He is a great player, but not an organising half, which is what we need.

Sneyd fulfils that role at Salford.

Croft is just what Williams is supposed to be, isn't he?

I'm not saying get Marc Sneyd, but that's the type of player we need with Williams - a reliable, steady Eddie, who will do all the dirty half back work, like the kicking game, general organising and giving Williams the freedom to be off the cuff.

Personally, our half back formation is the one thing that frustrates me most about the modern game - the idea that a half back has to be confined to one side of a pitch - I much prefer the old fashioned use of half backs, where you had a flair number 6 ( a Ken Kelly, John Woods, Phil Blake,etc) and then had a solid half back partner, who basically led the forwards around like a shepherd does with his sheep.

Croft does look like an absolute throwback, mind you. Always fantastic to see a half back with the confidence and courage to just run at a defence, using an exciting box of half back tricks.

I must say , i was pleasantly surprised how the Wire came back in the 2nd half , although the commentators pointed out that Huddersfield's defence had not been great all season either.

I've just watched the tries back on YouTube. 3 of those tries were as a direct result of Thewlis dropping it/ineffectively challenging the high ball. It also appears that Huddersfield were having more success down our left flank. Thought Ratchford was poor on Huddersfield's first try.

Williams seems to have a strong game with his involvement in our tries and obviously Dufty is a real positive.

Defensively, Thewlis seems to have been targeted, in a number of games, with high balls bringing some success for the opposition. Medium to long term, given that he's been touted as a future FB, do people have concerns? He's been given plenty of game time by Powell to iron these errors out, but vulnerabilities still exist. Any thoughts?

Thewlis isn’t a poor player, neither is he becoming one.
It’s all relative across the board.
Our pack is weak, as is our defence. The weakness puts the opposition in a better position, and that presence puts a catcher under pressure. It could be anyone under a high ball with limited time & protection around him, and it has been.
You can’t just single out Thewlis because he’s having the balls to have a go and puts himself under a spotlight.

If our defence was better, those kicks from Huddersfield and any other of the 11 teams would have been deeper, then Thewlis would have had the time and space to route some of those breath taking runs we’ve seen him do, pre Powell.
And if they aren’t kicking the ball to target someone, they are running straight through us because we are defending a zone with greater options against us.

Bottom line is, we need to play rugby league in their half, and defend that area with fast line speed if we dont have a wall of weight, or a combination of the two, not trying to defend own 20 for three parts of the game.

Thank heavens for Dufty, he saved our skin, otherwise we’d be getting relegated on Saturday.