Least big Sam does not have to do a bungee jump now.

Couldn't go or watch on TV due to a family event. For those who watched it, was the move to put in Ratchford instead of Leyland successful? And secondly, how did Russell go in the second row, any improvement seen?

[quote="Kevin Turvey":ybglh9jh]Couldn't go or watch on TV due to a family event. For those who watched it, was the move to put in Ratchford instead of Leyland successful? And secondly, how did Russell go in the second row, any improvement seen?[/quote:ybglh9jh] Not so sure about Ratchford, he was not the worse but it was not great. Don’t know who this Russell is you talk of, think him and Musgrove went out for coffee somewhere. Williams was miles off. Lindop was good Vaughan looked good making good metres, Dufty got going in the 2nd half. It is only the first game of the season so a lot to work on and can’t really get down on them since we got the win and that’s important.

Only watched it in bits. Scored a couple of decent tries but we looked off the pace. I don’t think the result was ever in doubt though. In a way im glad we had a tough grind as it’s probably what we needed.

[quote="karetaker":17z9i64e]Not so sure about Ratchford, he was not the worse but it was not great. Don’t know who this Russell is you talk of, think him and Musgrove went out for coffee somewhere. Williams was miles off. Lindop was good Vaughan looked good making good metres, Dufty got going in the 2nd half. It is only the first game of the season so a lot to work on and can’t really get down on them since we got the win and that’s important.[/quote:17z9i64e] Yep. Russell ... played... but I hardly noticed him. Musgrove ... did a couple of strong runs then he's taken off. Why? Powell looked completely off the pace. Williams ... I'd have a chat with.

Competent display, but we lacked some sparks of creativity. The games crying out for some entertainment in it.

[quote="MorePlaymakersNeeded":3u1oj0fs]Competent display, but we lacked some sparks of creativity. The games crying out for some entertainment in it.[/quote:3u1oj0fs] Defences are too much on top for me.

I'd say we learned far more from today than Saints did by walloping Salford Lads Club yesterday.

Still got big question marks over Vaughan and Russell for me.

It's round one. We needed a test like that. Sam knows we need to improve, but it shows where we are. From this weekend I thought Wigan and Leigh were hot. Glad we didn't play them. Blown off a few cobwebs and got 2 points with no injuries from what I could tell. I'll take that. Any reason for the Ratch v Leyland call? What about Tai and Lindop?

[quote="Smiffy27":2m4x56q7]Yep. Russell ... played... but I hardly noticed him. Musgrove ... did a couple of strong runs then he's taken off. Why? Powell looked completely off the pace. Williams ... I'd have a chat with.[/quote:2m4x56q7] Powell as likely not trained as much as the others coming from shoulder surgery. Williams has i said was miles off. Already said what I think of the other 2. Catalan were poor against Hull but we will have to step up on today’s performance. I also get it’s the first game of the season but if you put in to perspective of the other games played a few of them were a much better watch than our match. But a win is a win and we are on the board.

Also if he does go with Leyland and Tai next week I would not take them as knee jerk decisions. I would like to see Leyland given the chance though.

Not having the "it's round one" brigade. That's why we have friendlies, the intensity of Wigan, Leigh and dare I say, Cas this weekend disprove that line of thinking. Anyway a wins a win and we've got off to a winning start at least.

Also, pain in the neck to suffer from another "I have a try" call, whys it always us? No way you could tell if they'd got that down. Good job it didn't cost us the match.

[quote="matt_wire":1x1edf0o]Also, pain in the neck to suffer from another "I have a try" call, whys it always us? No way you could tell if they'd got that down. Good job it didn't cost us the match.[/quote:1x1edf0o] Yep ... once the ref says "I have a try" it is hard work. The video ref. should have looked a bit more though ... cos it was not a try.

[quote="matt_wire":21w0gwb8]Also, pain in the neck to suffer from another "I have a try" call, whys it always us? No way you could tell if they'd got that down. Good job it didn't cost us the match.[/quote:21w0gwb8] Said that earlier in the thread. What really annoys me with it if he sends it up as a try then he must think it’s try so why not just give it. In that instance he is clearly unsure so it should just be left to the video ref full stop and not then having to go with the ref if he can’t make a choice. I’d say go back to benefit of the doubt but thinking of that while I’m writing this I’m not sure what the answer is.

A few tough buggers on here to say there are question marks over Russell - especially as he is a guy we had almost zero expectations of going into the season. Did he have a rampaging game? No. Did he miss tackles and let his opponent dominate him? Also no. He made quite a few decent tackles and looked willing to take the ball up. He's a good size so, if he gets a bit better ball from the halves he could grow to be a bit of a threat. We will see. On the match, I thought it was a 6/10 showing against a limited team but we did find a way to wrest the game in our favour and ought to have put a couple more scores on in the 2nd half. Crowther and Walker were excellent I thought; Dufty had a very patchy first half but showed a bit of class in the second.

[quote="Smiffy27":xobijjua]Yep ... once the ref says "I have a try" it is hard work. The video ref. should have looked a bit more though ... cos it was not a try.[/quote:xobijjua] It was clear the ball did not reach the line, I honestly don’t know what the video ref saw that we didn’t.

I didnt think it was a terrible display...... we did look a bit rusty, but you have to give Hudd's some credit.. i thought their defence was excellent first half. But when we needed to, we stepped it up and won the game. So that's a positive. There was plenty of effort... Just not a huge amount of end product. We do look slow and laboured with ratchford in the halves though... as many have said, be nice to see leyland get a game soon... Russel i thought got through alot of work defensively.... didnt really do anything with the ball... got to give him time to settle though. main thing i took away from the game was 'YES THE RUGBY IS BACK'

There is no perfect solution. But i do not believe the ref. really thought it was a try ... but his best guess was that it could have been. The video ref. just seemed to give it without really looking at it closely. If the on field could send it up with... "Not a clue so it's up to you" we might get some better decisions.

[quote="karetaker"]Not so sure about Ratchford, he was not the worse but it was not great. Don’t know who this Russell is you talk of, think him and Musgrove went out for coffee somewhere. Williams was miles off. Lindop was good Vaughan looked good making good metres, Dufty got going in the 2nd half. It is only the first game of the season so a lot to work on and can’t really get down on them since we got the win and that’s important.

Playing Steph and Aaron gave the team a little more size over Leyland and Tai that was lost in our pack. They probably made the difference of a much closer scoreline.

[quote="matt_wire":g7vmubtr]Not having the "it's round one" brigade. That's why we have friendlies, the intensity of Wigan, Leigh and dare I say, Cas this weekend disprove that line of thinking. Anyway a wins a win and we've got off to a winning start at least.[/quote:g7vmubtr] It is round one it's like your 1st day in a new job get the 1stfew rounds out the way then normality resumes

Currie and Russell in defence, and Musgrove in go-forward were the best of our lighter pack imo.

On a more positive note, we looked pants early last season by scraping wins against poor teams. We got more into it as the season went along. I know the pre-season should have been better this year than last as we know the structure, but at least we know we can stay in games. Let's see where we are after Vegas.