When Briers went off we lost a bit of shape and composure. its a major disruption to a teams key position. to suggest Deacon and Leuluia swapping from 7 and 9 was the turning point is absurd.

we eventually coped with the change but it just took us too long to make the right change and settle down, by that Time Wigan had scored 3 times.

had the game been 5 minutes longer we would surley have won as the pressure we were applying without Briers was considerable, so the big worry about missing Briers shouldnt be blown up as much as it has been...yes he's a loss but I'm happy with Grix slotting in at 6 alongside Myler,with Monas and Higham rotating at 9 and Hicks penny clarke cooper mcarthy and vinnie Anderson all waiting to take their chance....

Yeah, exactly.

Assuming Briers is the only injury, we'll go with Grix & Myler as halves, with Monaghan providing quick, accurate ball and Mathers acting as the 'third pivot' as he did for the Riley & Louis tries on Saturday.

You'd have to think whilst it's not perfect, it's good enough.

If we're still in a situation now, whereby losing Briers hurts as that much, to a point where we struggle to win games, it'll make me sad.

Its hard to be critical about the performance on Saturday as it was one of the best in years and should bode well later in the season, but we again shown that the team crumbles when Briers is not on the field. This is something we must get over. We stopped tackling no more no less, why? Somebody should have rallied the troops and steadied the ship. But hey you dont win the SuperLeague in round 3. We will be a real force as the weeks go by.

The issue I see is that Huddersfield are a team you beat by going around their defence. Myler whilst very effective with little drop balls around the ruck and his support play hasn't shown good quality quick distribution out wide. Grix again is very effective at what he does but that isn't 20 metre passes out to the centres. With our ball players, quick nippy balls in and around the play the ball is the comfort zone. Unfortunately that plays straight into the default Huddersfield defensive game plan. Not sure what the solution is but I wouldn't expect us to test Huddersfield unless Che comes up with yet another genius game plan. I have faith.

I agree with this, Richie Myler to me isn`t noted for his long passing game, he likes to drop passes back on the inside or to a support runner on his other side. As you say to beat Huddersfield you will have more joy out wide with long cut out passes and dummy runners, they seem to keep it fairly compact down the middle.

Personally i think Simon Grix is a better runner than a distributor, he has a lot of success running on the fringes and has a decent step. If Briers is out then i`d play Clarke at 7 (If fit) and play Richie Myler at 6 where you can utilise his support play and running game, i just think Clarke would have more control from 7 than Myler.

On this forum there has been quite a lot of talk about Richie Myler not being this or that and not able to organise etc etc
Let us remind ourselves he is only 19 this is his first season with us and he has only played THREE competitive games for us.

I agree.

Grix & Myler should look at this as an opportunity rather than a noose. The only time we've ever, EVER, looked like not needing Briers was the last 15 games of 2003, when Graham Appo gained bionic powers from somewhere. The point being, somebody [Appo] put there hand up, backed their own abilities, didn't try and be Lee Briers and they & we succeeded. I don't recall Graham Appo spinning too many 20-40m passes out to centres neither, but he did what he was good at, he played HIS game, and it worked.

Grix & Myler have ability, have strengths, I'm certain that Smith will spend this week giving them the belief to go with it, back yourself, back your abilities, and use the experience around you and we'll be fine.

Thing is, back to the defence thing, as long as we defend properly, these guys will have it easier. What I mean is, between them, they'll need to create tries, with help from Monas and AN Other bloke that finds some magic but as long as we defend, it might need to be three, or four. Years gone by, you came in, got given the keys to the team and told "Eight tries please, otherwise we'll lose, GO ...."

Be interesting to see what happens for briers in regards contract extension.

I was just thinking that myself... if its a season over injury then.. well would we think about getting rid. Bit OTT there.

Also i havent heard no mention about solomona playing in the halfs?? or can he not do 80 mins?

briers is apparantly out for 4-5 weeks and that was said yesterday

Said by who exactly?

Lets wait for the official news. I wouldn't be surprised to see him running out this weekend or next to be honest.

said by matt king yesterday

Spot on m8 4-6 weeks is wot we are looking at straight from the horses mouth

So he won`t be ready for the stains game

If Briers is out for a period of 4-6 weeks it's going to be interesting to see how Myler steps upto the plate in terms of his organising. I think he can manage it but it may take a little away from his explosive support play.

Top players can mix their games up though and Myler looks to be heading into the bracket as a top player. I really hope he produces the goods in these next few weeks because it'll be a great confidence boost for him and give us all confidence in terms of the national side that we have a number 7 who can pull the strings.