Quote: ShortArse "
2 he has looked at the performances in the friendlies and picked a team accordingly (eg powell on the bench, thornley in the centres, burke in the squad)'"
The team picked itself IMO. He had few other options open to him giving Lauaki and H's injuries. About the only thing he could have done different last night is play Burke but I don't blame for not doing as I am sure he wouldn't want to throw him an v Wire and will have wanted what will be next weeks team to play.
Had H been fit I reckon he would have played Hughes in the centres given he has the no 4 shirt despite the way things went in the friendlies
Quote: ShortArse "3 80 minutes of discipline
I do have 1 bug bear remaining though. In all the pre-season games we were pinged heavily by refs, and that continued last night. against a poor team its not going to matter, but next week and in the play-offs, it will be crucial. for some reason, we are not able to understand how a ref if officiating and compensating. it was our biggest failing last year, and looks like its still an issue.'"
I agree so I given the penalty count I don't think you could say it was a disciplined performance even if the penalties were for technical stuff.
