It didn't seem to help Saints when we finished up with Russell running from dummy half just as effectively as Michael & Mickey & when they were all on the field together it was explosive.

I think we have a replacement hooker for when Higham's knees finally grind to a halt.

Some of the plays have baffled the fans this year but last night they started to pull it together .

Quite brilliant last night from everyone involved.

The main difference for me was going 6 behind and not panicking we got ourselves back in the game by playing relatively straight forward RL, put the squeeze on, complete sets, made Saints defend (a couple of poor-ish kicks first half was all we gave them) and ultimately mistakes. When their heads and energy levels went we starting throwing it about and it stuck because it wasn't 'rabbits in headlights' stuff trying to score off every play.

Hard to single out anyone, but, a special mention to Asotasi and Waterhouse who I have criticised, whilst not stellar it showed real effort, more of the same please till season's end. Atkins is definitely back and seems to be enjoying himself. I wish some folk would get off Myler's case, one wag near me shouted to him to eff off back to Widnes as they converted their first try, yes he'd put in a couple of poor kicks, but, I thought his ball steal was more one on one so a bit unjust for mine, he improved as the game went on.

Also, the Myler shout apart, I thought we gave the lads decent backing last night can it/does it make a difference? Let's keep going ....you just never know if we all put the effort in.

NTW

If Russell worked on his distribution skills, I think he would make an outstanding acting half back
and Ratchford could then play what I think is best position at full back.

I would play Russell as a winger so we can utilise his skill from running out of dummy half.

we played very well don't get me wrong. However what annoys me is when we put in a performance like this, players who had been poor such as asotasi and myler are deemed to have played really well. Okay, they were better than usual but let's not over exaggerate it, they couldn't get much worse.

Asotasi didn't really do anything good, I think he had one drive where he carried on pushing forward after the collision, which isn't even anything special it's a basic skill for props. He's been so bad all season that our expectations seem to have dropped from a seasoned pro former national captain, to treating him like he's an 18 year old on debut.

Now myler, I watched him very closely last night. Kicking game was very poor, even when he has bags of time it's straight down a defenders throat. He missed multiple tackles, one after his poor kick which lead to a half break and also one lead to a try. He took his try well but that gap was huge so it was nothing special. He was out shadowed by Obrien all night IMO.

Please don't think I have some vendetta against these two, I would love for both to start playing great, however I just don't feel because we had a great team performance that their individual performances need over exaggerating.

I can't actually believe i agree with you on this , although for totally different reasons . i prefer it when we play our fullback as the third halfack the way Brett used to play , Now Matty Russell with 3 tries, 3 assists and and 8 clean breaks all season is never gonna be that player so for me the sooner we get Ratchford at 1 the better .. Russell simply isn't good enough at Fullback so get him on the wing where he may get put into space to use his pace and like u say use that also for running outta dummy half .. but i want Ratchford at Fullback .. .

Ratchfod never proved that he was going to be fullback, He was given the No 6 jersy for obvious reasons. Russel has had a good season at No 1, and moving him to the wing would mean dropping J Monas or Rhys Evans! Ratchford seemed to enjoy the space he got at centre yesterday so I'd play him there again, assuming that Bridge gets asked to play at 6 again when he returns.

I would have ratchford at full back and Russell on the wing aswell. Monaghan has played a lot of this season at centre and done well there, with his strength and Russell's pace that right side could be frightening.

I don't care where ratchford plays so long as he is in the team, he is one of our best players. However, given how well Russell played last night I would keep him at full back, he has improved a lot over the season and there is far more to come as well. If bridge is back next week I would be tempted to play ratchford at loose forward again given the unfortunate injuries picked up last night and keep the rest the same. Otherwise currie to loose, ratchford or bridge in the halves with gob the other to centre.

TS got his selections and tactics spot on last night, in smith we trust as far as I am concerned. I would like to see our turnover kicks better placed and away from the throats of the defenders, but other than that we controlled where the game was played quite well last night. Atkins put some decent kicks in as well.

Ben Harrison was outstanding last night, he really is developing into a formidable player and is still only 26 so has got his peak years yet to come. I cant think of many players at the moment that would keep him out of the England 17 on current form. Lets hope he can continue and not pick up any nasty injuries, a habit he seems to be accustomed to sadly.

I was one that thought that Ratchford was going to be our long term full back and was disappointed when he was started to just be used as a utility back.

Russell, however, has really impressed me. More and more as the season's progressed in fact. I think he's only had one poor game (Leeds CC semi) in the second half of the season.

Ratchford was excellent last night, having him at centre with JMonaghan outside him looked an excellent right edge. And I've always been least impressed with him at C. A one-off or a future cemented role?

I really like Harrison. I was a forward when I played the game for a short time as a young adult, my favourite players are always in the pack, so maybe I am a little bias. But whenever he's had a run free from injury, he's always a stand-out player. He was egging in the Enlgand side four years ago but he has had season-on-season with constant severe injuries, (hasn't he had a knee reconstruction?). But another one, who in the second half of this season has been spot on!