Whatever the reason, the improvement is there for all to see and exactly when we need it. I'm more than happy to give all of the credit to SW - and the players, of course. Perhaps, after all the wailing and gnashing of teeth (not least by me, I admit) over how we have played all season we have pulled something out of the hat that our rivals don't expect?

When I saw the tries scored on Saturday I was intending to put on an article entitled "the Joel and Matty show", then when I read this thread I decided to post my thoughts on here.

I don't think some of the the subtle changes seen are down to Tommy, due to one particular move which has happened twice during the last couple of months and I don't think Tommy has been here that long.
On Saturday Joel put Matty Bowen over with a sublime pass on the inside, this was a duplicate of a try Matty scored at Hull on the 23rd of July, again Joel was the provider.
The same type of clever pass has been given to Matty by George Williams a few times in the last few weeks, so I am wondering if some of it may be down to the tremendous form shown by Bowen during the last couple of months.
Also I am asking myself has Matty had any input in the coaching by getting over to the other players the lines he runs and were to look for him when he comes into the line.

I forgot about the Hull try!

We also ran the same play for Clubb's try vs Wire.

Good to see!

The attack is looking good, though a lot of that stems from the forwards denting the line more over the last few weeks. Flower particularly seems to have got back to his barn storming best. We had to do something, as the same moves which brought all those trophies weren't going to be effective forever. There are a couple of key factors in the "new" style to my mind - Williams is a running threat, and coming on by leaps and bounds, and Lockers is playing so well close to the line, and so we can play right on the line rather than a fair way in front of it.

On Leuluai, of course he won't be responsible for coaching the first team, but I do wonder whether his presence is perhaps a sign that Smith's days are numbered? Just saying...

That inside ball running at an angle was perfected by Lockyer and Minichiello about 10 years ago. It's a quality move and good to see we are working on different set plays.

I think the form of Bowen is a big part of it. Fullback is an important role in our attack, one of the most important probably, and in the early parts of the season he was in poor form. Since Leeds he's been in great form and we look a lot stronger from it. Also worth remembering we had a pretty decent run with Hampshire at fullback too.

Deacon leaves and we start scoring for fun in 2 away games.

Might be a clue for you.

I put it down to confidence however, we are still very vulnerable in defence and we give soft penalties away too frequently.
Good to see but let's see how we perform at Saints in a week or so when we will see how good our attack is against a well drilled defence.

We are nowhere near as vulnerable in defence as we used to be.
Nilled Wire at their place and only conceded 3 tries v Catalans.
We now have the best defence in SL.
Our attack is looking better by the game.
Saints defence hasn't seemed all that great in some of the TV games I've seen.
They looked a shambles at home to Hudds although did appear better at Headingly against a hungover Leeds outfit.

I accept your points Ted but the defence and attack against Leeds which for me is the current yardstick were not that great.
I'm not being negative just cautious.
I am hoping that the club have got it right again and that we are hitting form at the right time off the season after a very sluggish start.

Thinking more about this the return of Lockers must be a huge factor.