Both our attack and defence at the line was awful and cost us the game. In attack we wasted plays on first receiver drives at the line, and in defence we had no line speed and missed one on one tackles far too frequently.

Ikahifo was an absolute beast , unstoppable at times, taii not far behind.

Kruise has come a long way in terms of his scooting ability, but his passing and options on last tackle plays really needs work. Twice he ruined a move on the 5th with horrible passes and once he passed on the blind on the 5th to ruin another 5th play. All this needs work, but there are some promising signs in other areas of the pitch.

Wakeman was truly awful in attack and defence, offering the least of any of our forwards, giving away penalties and missing tackles near the line. I hope this is still just down to him adjusting to our climate, or Oldham may soon beckon.

I thought in the post match interview Stone saw pretty much the same shortcomings and this is encouraging. Hope he doesn;t revert to meaningless platitudes like most coaches in the future.

We do need another kicker- because it's obvious to the opposition where the ball is going!
Wakeman and clough meh. Rapira at 13 is an awful decision. Mason must play next week. He deserves a chance and wakey have a big pack so we need to match their size.
Hinchcliffe and ferguson weeent a patch on last week.
Leeming was great in that second half. Although you can see he's still learning.
Never got our noses in front and when we had the chance we blew it.

Agree , the one thing that hasn't changed yet, is our line speed, we are so slow to move up, no wonder the opposition makes a lot more ground than we do, Onward and upwards.

Lack of composure, we threw 4 interceptions when in good attacking position, Brierley, Ferguson, Brough and Hinchcliffe.

Gaskell looked good going forward but dodgy in defence - nowhere near the bomb he let bounce and often out of position such as the Johnston no try.
Run on props were great, thought Clough was ok actually, Wakeman needs a pre season and Rapira was awful, carries well but never makes first hit in defence.
New place kicker needed also, Broughy has had leg injuries that have been nursed for some time now, he used to be as good as they come at goal kicking, but I suspect he now has a mechanical issue due to injuries.
I would have Mason and Smith in for Rapira and Wakeman, hopefully Symonds and Mamo fit soon.
To conclude, I saw signs of encouragement we scored 4 trays to 4 of theirs but bombed a lot of good position. We do though need to beat Wakey next up or the doubts will grow and confidence drop.

I thought possibly Gaskell lost that ball against the floodlights.
Same problems seem to be in evidence. That's worrying as stone has had plenty of time now to sort these issues.

dont every full back have the floodlights against them and most others dont let it bounce

A worrying sign for me is Stone playing players who clearly are not fit when we have players who are fit.

Wakeman and Rapira are about 70% and you can see that, I could understand if a rapira was still an international but he is not anymore and far from it.

Expecting to see Mamo in the side half fit too in a couple of weeks.

Same team next week except I'd like to see Mason and Smith in for Rapira and Wakeman to try get them fit for the Hull game and I'd like to see Darnell on the wing for Murphy.

Wakefield have the quickest back line in SL apart from Grix with Caton-Brown and Johnstone as well as Reece Lyne and Jones-Bishop

agree with the comments on murphy wakeman and rapira.

someone on here that knows a bit about rugby is very refreshing.

I'd be worried if Gaskell is in the centres. It was comedy gold watching him trying to chase the 50 year old Welham when he took the interception.

It so frustrating to watch the ex Bradford lads in your team. Where the bloody hell were these performances last season??

Mellor is class and has a lot of potential. Going forward he is great. Runs great lines, always puts the effort in, is strong etc. Lovely to see him score a couple of tries too. Defence is great too. However that's at second row which he is. At centre there is a lot more thinking and positional defence than in the back row, something which Mellor hasn't got yet.

Gaskell is a class act. Our nest player in 2015 and at the start of 2016. He's not a fullback by trade but he isn't half doing a great job for you. His backing up and breaks in play are class and he seems to refound his form and passion for the game with you. Composure is key too. He ripped Salford apart on those inside balls and on the 1st one he kept hold rather than throwing the pass like Brough etc did. And that led to the Mellor try.

Clough is solid if unspectacular. If it helps we didn't notice he was on either when he played but he makes his meters and is a workhorse. And Ferguson always gives 100% anyway.

I am shocked your not playing O'Brien but to be fair Leeming has been class so far for you.

Good luck for the season and I am looking forward to seeing how you go this season. Strong Yorkshire teams are good for the game!

great post mate, i hope the bulls go well this year its a shame we couldn't send O'Brien to you but you've just signed Scott Moore
.

I thought you showed glimpses of what you could be further down the line last night. You controlled the ruck most of the game and we struggled to slow you down. Tai, Leeming, and Gaskell in bursts were difficult to handle. It surprised me that at the crucial times you came up empty in attack, especially close to our lines but maybe just down to rustiness. Apart from the try, I thought you criminally underused McGilvary who is dangerous whenever he gets the ball.

It was an interesting game that played out very much like one side playing off-the-cuff and the other playing more structured. Our side has been mostly kept together from last season, and the link play between Lui, Dobson, and O'Brian was in sync and caused you problems all night. On the night I think we were hungrier and more clinical when required, but there wasn't a great deal between us imo.

I think you'll cause teams plenty of problems this season when you get it to click, and like us, the big challenge is consistency.

The mini league of Leigh, Hudds, Salford, Wakey and Widnes are all 4 pointers

Have to admit last night after the game I felt rather flat. Although some good performers in the group the whole didn't seem as good!

Having watched it back this morning I feel we have a load to build on. Ends of set options and line speed being hit and miss for one! With the changes we have had perhaps it may take some time for it to completely fit together!
Another game next week that is one of vital ones even this early in the season! We want wakies 8th spot fro last year and the best way to do that is take the points off them!

Would have Leeds in there too