Quote: "Lets get over the knee jerk stuff and look at it in the cold light of day.
In my opinion there are several key reasons why we lost the match last night and it had little to do with the coach.
Our pack is taking a lot of criticism but it personally felt out Props and the prop rotation was excellent. Our issue in the pack is the lack of size in the Secondrow caused by Tomkins covering the centre. Patrick is one of the worst signings we have ever made and in truth he needs to not play again for us regardless of injuries. Faz and Bateman are both very good players but too easy for defences to cope with if they are both in the field.
A major element of the loss can clearly be put down to individual errors however our spine and leadership came up short yesterday in my opinion at crucial times. 9,13,7,6 and 1 really failed to take the Gabriel by the scruff of the neck and offer a composed response to the Saints pressure. Clearly Bowen has a stinker on a couple of occasions but we lacked control throughout which is more worrying. Williams did reasonably well but Lockers and especially Smith were below par last night when we needed to be calmed down and controlled in the face of Saints pressure.
Final thought is on Charnley. I don't know what is wrong with him and it is a real shame to see at the moment but he is a shadow of the player he once was. Offers nothing in attack and is poor in defence. Not worth a spot in the 17 for me even without Manfredi.][/'"
Mostly spot on.... And I can't disagree Bowen didn't play at his best, one cock-up and one almost impossible to catch spiralling bomb. But the thing is how can we forget how good of a player he is and more importantly can be? Remember the Leeds game? you don't go from world class to sh _ _ e overnight!!!
Let's not forget this is a team sport and requires a team effort! I could go on for ages picking out the best & worst in the players on the night but there is little point, we just have to take this one on the chin.
Final thoughts John.... I think Williams is brilliant and an outstanding prospect for the future. Smith was too hyped up and desperate stick one on his hometown club that dumped him. And as for Charnley I think its sometimes as simple as a lack of confidence due to some horrendous injury's he has suffered in the recent past.... thing is on paper he is still a top try scorer!
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