End of the road !!

Quote: El Diablo "
There is a big mystery in the team though. Perhaps you can help me with it, as I see far fewer Huddersfield games than you

Very fair observations.

Going on what I hear in the stadium and what I read on here, Grix's praise is garnered by his support play and his ability to organise the defensive line. Regarding the former, I readily sing his praises, but don't take as easily as some to the assertion that his organisation is paramount to our defensive successes. Important? Yes, but we shouldn't over-egg his omelette. His ability to organise the defensive line is unquantifiable unless Grix is the only one instructing players, which is patently not true. To some it appears his organisation is not unquantifiable but unquestionable, a universal truth. However, just as the Sun does not revolve around the Earth, nor does our defence solely, in my opinion, revolve around Grix, and to suggest otherwise would do the other 12 players on the pitch a great disservice. Yes, he plays an important role in the defence, but so do the others: our tackle success rate must be comparable with any other team in the Super League considering the number of tackles we make and the points we concede. Our increasingly stoic determination to defend our own try line (see matches at Warrington, Hull, Salford etc.) has, with a few exceptions, been another key factor in ensuring we have (at the time of writing!) the best defence in the competition. Grix's line organisation is important but, in my opinion, it should be seen as a contributory factor to, rather than the reason for, our defensive successes.

An organiser and good support player. Usually solid under the high ball. And as El Diablo suggests, a likeable person and good club man. Good attributes, but like the goat and the goatherd, you cannot hide things which cannot be concealed, and these do not mask the issues which lead me to believe that if we are to move to the next level we need better.

As has been mentioned before, Grix's one-on-one defence is poor. Excluding Hull KR and Wakefield, who have both switched their fullbacks around, he is the only out and out fullback to be in his side's top ten for missed tackles. This from fullback, where he has to make fewer tackles than virtually everyone else. Yes, the fullback role is unforgiving in that most of the tackles will have to be made one-on-one, but this is a team with the best defence in the league, not a revolving door.

The team's creativity is somewhat hampered by Grix's lack of pace. If he could join the line at speed and deliver a killer pass we would have another (second?!) string to our bow, but too often he gets caught running laterally ball in hand with our attack fizzling out.

Our creativity is largely limited to Brough, which is not Grix's fault, but we need someone to share the role. As El Diablo suggested, our spine is not strong enough. 1, 6, 7, 9. Leeming is developing, but Brough is the only one who is top quality. We have a quality three quarter line and a good pack which should look even stronger next year but the spine is not quite good enough for a team challenging for the title.

This post has largely been in response to the comment about Grix, and I agree with El Diablo. I think we need better at fullback. However, I would not wish to single Grix out. I also think we need better at halfback to complement Brough and maybe a better hooker (as long as it doesn't impede Leeming's progress). Clearly we won't be able to get all of these, but I think that some improvement in the spine of the team is required if we are to be true contenders. In my opinion our lack of creativity is holding us back. We have a good side, but like Tantalus the fruit is just out of our reach.