Aggression has been replaced with apprehension.

it might just be a confidence thing, give a player the ball who is happy and confident he will do what comes naturally and usually succeed, give it to a player who isnt sure about himself and by the time he has thought about his options he is tackled and going nowhere.. how to regain the confidence is the one question that nobody has the answer to

Think that statement is spot on.

How did Broughy cope with the big game? I said in March last year on your board that " bear in mind that I've seen him in two big games (once for Cas against us, and once for us in the semi against Hull) and neither time did he rise to the occasion - quite the opposite, he choked."

If he can sort that out he will be a great player instead of just a very good player (who I'd have back at BV in a heartbeat!)

Brough is still not fully fit IMO.

Unfortunately he was playing behind a beaten pack who were out-muscled and bullied unfortunately. ATEOTD it is a team sport and the team needs to work to win, and on Sunday we fell short of that - not by a country mile, but definitely short. Broughy's effort on Saturday to get the team down the other end of the pitch was spot on for me, some brilliant kicking and he made some good tackles in defence (an area I always considered his weak point, however he has done enough this year to prove me wrong).

He played in a pretty big game for us against Wire last year in the play off's and got MotM. Nuff said.

his fitness is, its just the ankle is still not 100%

Can't say I ever thought defence was a problem, he always pulled his weight there. Its just every now and then you feel that something just isn't clicking with him,whether its temperament, confidence,composure, attitude or just trying too hard - I'm not sure which - but more often than not its in a key game. Compare that with someone like Briers, who seems to be able to raise his game a notch in similar situations.

Am I being too harsh on him, is he allowed an off day like everyone else?

I know where your coming from to be honest, I think he has worked very hard in pre-season to get some consistency. That is what I feel NB has added to his game, as such I don't think he has had a bad performance this year. I'm sure someone will correct me though

There are games when you can level the same accusation against Brett Hodgson too.

Also there are key games when Brough has been simply brilliant

But never at cas...

Million Pound Game?