We will need to play a lot better than that to beat Leeds. Granted the late withdrawls caused a lot of reshuffling, but there were several worrying aspects to our game. The kicking was poor, we looked clueless with the ball when attacking 10 metres out and our defence on the right simply leaked tries for most of the game. I couldn't figure out why we were constantly a man short on the right with Penny sprinting out of the line in a desperate attempt to stop the move - that must have happened 4-5 times.

To be fair to HKR, they showed a fair bit of flair in the halves and had a good kicking game. They also brought a reasonable number of fans. I did a rough count on the West terrace and reckon it must have been around 200, so to say they had less than the stewards is disrespectful. We didn't exactly pack the ground out with under 10k. What saved the game for us was their leaky defence and our willingness to move the ball.

who has a worse one?

i honestly cant think of one... i was going to say Hull.. but they have Sneyd now, who is a decent kicker.

There really is no one with a worse kicking game that i can see.

Is it me or is Wheelers defence a massive weak link for us? He is too easily beat and so soft in the tackle.
Our kicking game needs to improve massively and the magic of Ratchford saved us yesterday. We are only 4 games in and lost a game many thought we would anyway we will improve and I have every faith in TS to sort out our game.

Very happy with the win yesterday, the game had one of those horrible feelings (similar to Wakefield at home last season) where we were going to get beat and beat comfortably. We didn't play well but won against a decent side (HKR are in a false position IMO). We would get battered against Leeds if we play like that but I think we will up our game on Friday. Ratchford was class yesterday and thought King went well when on.

Was he defending next to Joel? I'm sure he was at times because that's probably why Hull KR had some success down our right side; Joel kept having to move in to cover Wheeler, leaving Penny to deal with their overlap.

Penny defends well, he catches well, stick him at fullback for the foreseeable, with Russell being a bit tentative, leave him on the wing, move Ratch into the halves, Wheeler at centre to cover Bridge.

Well it sounds as though Harrison and Bridge will be back this week after the Guardian report. Don't know about Atkins, I suppose it depends if he had man flu or the real flu. So that should strengthen the side considerably if all three return. I though Ratchford played well, but was lacking a bit of sharpness, so he will be stronger for last nights game. I think if we play GOB, then he should be the goal kicker - it sounds as though TS virtually leaves it up to the players to decide though.
Interesting comments about Wheelers defence on here, I would love to see a video of the game to look at the defensive structure and individual players, without the distraction of watching the ball. I am pretty certain that Leeds will be doing exactly that this week, and with their flair in the 3/4 it could be the deciding factor unless we sort it out.

Did GOB show a lack of inventiveness with the ball in hand, or were other players not giving him sufficient options ?

Both to be honest.. GOB doesnt ever really show much inventiveness with the ball.. for me he does a steady job, no more, no less... I'm yet to see anything from him that indicates he will be a mainstay HB of this side for the next 5+ years.... We are desperately short at HB, as seemingly are most clubs. I've come to the conclusion that either

a) We have a HB coming through from the U19's that Smith has earmarked as a regular for the first team.. probably from next season... maybe Patton, maybe the lad we signed from leeds (forget his name)
b) We have an NRL HB lined up for next season and we are just making do with what we have this year.

or my favorite one

c) both a and b which would give us a brand new pairing at HB next season.. because in all honesty, i don't rate any of them that highly. (that might be a little harsh on myler, who can do a decent support job in a strong side)

* i dont include Ratchford in this, who is excellent and should be our first choice FB

I must say I'm not a doom merchant who often comes on here full of negativity or to criticise, but I do have to agree, it was our big weakness last year and hasn't been plugged. And while on one hand it's very pleasing to have English playmakers in the pivot positions throughout the team it is quite telling how much impact a surplus to requirements Aussie half-back can have compared to home-grown players at the moment.

Different question from me.
How did TS manage to bring players into the team when not named in the 19?
Is it a case that as Atkins dropped out because of flu then we are legitimately allowed to bring in a replacement (King)?
If that's the case then I'm still suprised that there were 'lots of changes' because it would appear that TS's plan was always to leave Bridge and Harrison out.

Regarding yesterdays game - sounded like our kicking was very poor.
Actually I thought that was arguably the biggest difference between us and St. George.

We are def two half backs short IMO. Michael Dobson specifically is a missed opportunity in my opinion personally. Good proven SL half back with vision and a kicking game too.

Bridge, Ratchford and Wheeler are hybrid half backs for me (ie. all can do a job but they are just special talents either in terms of step, pace, or doing something unusual that creates a try, but all are not consistent enough for a perm role)
GOB is steady eddy and no more.
Myler is simply a support player. With no class around him he looks extremely weak in attack.

It's a clear weak area. Not really sure why we haven't plugged it as with Clark for Monaghan. Perhaps we tried and failed?

Fear not comrades.

Yesterday's game was all about this Friday's game against Leeds if you get my drift.

I would expect all the missing players back ie, Harrison, Bridge and Atkins.

I would also expect the rest of the boys to be playing all out rather than just doing enough as was the case yesterday.

It's very difficult to back up in RL especially with such a short turnaround. There was no way we were gonna play all out against the Robins when we have Leeds round the corner.

Tony did such a great job of interchanging the forwards yesterday. They should be fresh and raring to go for Leeds.

Strange game yesterday. There seemed to be no dummy runners when we had the ball, simply passing along the line to little effect for most of the game. I commented at the game that we seem to have lost that flowing movement in attack, and lost that ability to play with a smile on the face. The passing needs to sharpen up and the kicking game wasn't good enough. Impressed with HKR's effort. Thank the Lord that we had enough in us to win.
Is Agar's presence having a negative effect?

OMG.

You guys don't get it do you.

Judge Wire in the games that they need to play well in, not the dead rubbers like Sunday.

If Wire played anywhere near their best against Hull KR it would have been a cricket score. What's the point in that when we need to conserve our energy and plays for the tough encounter against Leeds.

Let's see what happens on Friday before all you doom mongers and nay Sayers start bellyaching.