according to the report on the engage site it was raining persistantly!!! did I miss something??

Bit worried about Danny Ward, does a lot of the donkey work, but is playing like Karl was early last season and hesitates just before he hits the tackler rather than going in a full pace, is he carrying an injury i wonder?

Maybe not but Clubby single handedly was responsible for 2 tries-One where Sammutt ran over the top of him and one where he ran forward from the defensive line and marked a hole creating another for Sammutt to walk into.

Do you not think Cru attacked his side repeatedly both with ball in hand and on the foot- that isnt a coincidence-Every club will do it- keep watching, as they did last season.

Not the most flowing of games but more to do with the conditions and pitch, not so sure on the attendance as there were a lot of spaces in the stand I sat in. Funniest thing heard today has got to be Quins fans singing your just a team full of Aussies (given the amount Quins had at year three!) All the best for the rest of the season.

Traffy-Irony maybe

I think some of the criticism of Clubby is getting silly now, there's a lot of confirmation bias going on with comments like that, people who've decided in advance and are just singling out things that suit the argument. I think he had a solid game, he was far better today than Howell, he put in some good passes and in particular made some hard yards up the middle when we needed it, especially towards the end when ball retention was crucial.

We played above our weight today, Burnett, Bailey,Temata and Ellis were my pick of the pack. Particularly good to see Karl driving us forward again, there was one run in the first half when he drove 3 Crusaders defenders nearly 10 metres down the field after they'd grabbed him, that's the sort of thing that raises a side. Another good performance from Krasniqi who is looking every bit a first grade prop, he's out playing Ward who is a seasoned pro.

What is encouraging is that we're holding back on the brain farts, those moments where in the last couple of seasons we'd have done a crazy offload or a panic pass, we're thinking about it and then thinking better, so where we'd give away easy possession we now retain. The kicking game was also decent, nothing special, but just solid percentages, Sammut may offer plent of creativity but today or halfbacks offered a solid work ethic and it paid off.

Have I missed something???

was thinking the same thing myself......at least ours were here with all paperwork correct

Apology accepted
I agree with you about Ambler, looked very good

:p8czjl1v]

Extract from Powells post match comments- Little dig at Mac maybe "There is no doubt in my mind that over the past few seasons we would have lost a game like that.

"That is no disrespect to what has gone before me - it is just a reality.

'"

Kelvin-Ive just watched the match tries 3 times on my sky-Clubb was at fault for both Sammutts tries-take a look. Howell was responsible for no tries conceded.

Howell might not have been at fault defensively but he was bloody awful in attack - It is so rare that I see him have a good game these days. Dare I say he has been one of our least succesful signings? He never stands out. He certainly had an absolute shocker today.

Clubb improved on last week and gave O'Callaghan a bit more ball. JOC impressed me with his willingness to take the ball in; He wasn't given much in the way of opportunities but he tried his heart out. Burnett looked good again, made plenty of yards down the left and often needed three tacklers to stop him. I thought Dorn and Gale were also impressive - perhaps this will be Gale's year.

We should have been out of sight in this game, Sammut apart Crusaders were terrible and offered so little, yet time and time again with their line in sight we either coughed up possession or couldn't find a way through - better sides will punish us for this. Having said that, I thought we once again defended pretty well and looked a damn sight better organised than under the McDermott era.

And as for 1700 - that simply can't be right. There was 3,000 there - not that that is anything to shout about in itself.

Not sure how many that stand holds but it was 2/3rds full at most.

Wasn't Howell our top try scorer in his first year.

Didnt he make the break for Melling to get away then Dorn to finish

Ive got a feeling Howell and Burnett will make a good strike partnership on the left