All these signings were made for this year everyone in the RL media was fawning over haven’t really worked out bar Thomson of course.

Keighran - been pretty average

Walters - limited game time but looked really poor (not a backrower?)

Leeming - poor imo, he’ll be a target in defence all season with Brad out.

Eseh and Chan - not looked good on loan at struggling clubs imo.

Obviously new signings need time and sometimes struggle in their first year but I’m glass half empty of last night.

Firstly Wire look the real deal, good mix of established stars and they are finally giving the youth a go and are reaping the benefits. Yates was immense last night and I’m sure Bateman will add something, could finally be their year?!

On us the only long term issue is the O’Neill potential ACL, he’s in our top 5 most important players and the best 9 in the comp.

Think we need to look rethink the young lads player as they seemed to really hit us down Farrimonds side, Juniors been out of sorts for weeks too and Eckerlsey doesn’t look to have the passing game currently to be a modern day FB.

Not that it would have made a difference last night but this 4 props on the bench thing needs to stop, I know he’s not the best but surely the option of Hampshire on the bench incase of injury is better than 10 mins of Harvie Hill.

That was downright poor and shows that some of the youngsters are ok when they can be hidden amongst a larger group of experienced players playing well, but when you increase the amount of youth and add it to a mix of underperforming experience, you get a walloping.

Bad news all round....trying not to go overboard but there are some constant niggles.

Nsemba made his name with strong running out wide for reserves/academy - we don't use him like that in the first team, same is true of Walters to a lesser extent.

Generally playing a power game with the finesse coming from F&F

Some players getting limited game time when they really need long minutes to get fit/find form

Added to a dip in form for some we are in a tricky spot.

One possible positive is that Forber gets chance to show his skills, ironically his style suits playing behind a very strong pack.

The most frustrating thing about last night was we handed dominance to them on a plate. Too many errors helped put them on top, from there they played well and didn’t give us a sniff.

Just before the first intercept try I felt we were starting to get to grips with the game and building, the intercept try knocked us for 6.

I feel for Smith, it looks as though he’s taken on (or been given) sole responsibility for the attack, he’s trying to force it and coming up with poor plays as a result.

It’s easy to use injuries as an excuse, in reality though Field, French and Leeming off the bench offer us most of our attacking threat. Take Dufty, Williams and Walker out of that Warrington side & we have a very different game.

Don't think Field/French would've made much difference last night, score might have been a bit more respectable but Wire were really good last night while we're in the inevitable slump after the first half of the season, just need to build now for the play-offs and hope we're reasonably healthy come September.
Don't know where it's come from but on one of the fb pages they were saying Keighran was out for six weeks which is leaving us awfully short in the 3/4ers if true, having said that I'd definitely give Douglas a game next week, Miski who's never been the quickest seems miles off the pace at the moment, he really does look like he's dragging a fridge around with him.

Think we need to take a step back and in the words of Brian Noble “let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.”

I didn’t see how we won the game last night before kick off. Missed the first 10 minutes so can’t comment on that but with a spine missing 2 key players and lacking a fit bench 9 we are always going to struggle.

I feel for Farrimond I think the worst thing he could have done was make that break and try against London because it’s raised expectations. Fact is he is a kid learning the game and still 2/3 years off first team. Eckersley has papered over the cracks at 1 but he is a centre and it showed last night.

I feel for Josh Walters. We signed him pre revision of the tackle height laws and he’s not now mobile athletic enough to adapt when he signed I was looking forward to see him in the second row but now I feel he needs to play as a prop.

On nights like last night we missed Willie Isa just for his toughness.

If we won last night they may as well have given us the title. We will play Wire again in the final and we will win assuming we have one of our 2 key players back, hopefully both.

My take aways from last night are we need to recruit a secondrow for 25 and we need to manage expectations about the youngsters.

I’m confident we will be fine come October.

Apparently the roads in are closed in Warrington as there is a open top parade today.

On a serious note Wire played very well we didnt,there are reasons for this but I am sure when we have the missing players back who happen to be the best in their positions we will be fine.
No trophies are given out this early in the season (WCC and CC excluded,which we already have and beat Wire for one of them) so nothing to fear yet fellow fans.

Eckersley should be playing centre not Faz, the coaching team need to take some blame as well.

The experienced players were awful last night, it is their job to guide the youngsters. Wire had no problem with Lindop and Nicholson defending together down their right side! We need to get back to doing the basics well, a bit of Waney reality wouldn't go amiss. One example is the first hit up, it put us on the back foot, Byrne needs to treat that ball like a bar of gold and hit the deck before contact. It's simple stuff that is killing us.

The problem is that he is injured. Time to give Ratchford a game?

Keighran has been suffering with head pains and sickness after getting a knock at Hull, hopefully his absence will be short lived. In the interim let's put Eckersley in the centre where he is far more effective.

Jon, I think that is an excellent summary. Three things I would add is that we need to stop selecting players out of position, treat that ball like a bar of gold, and we may need to sign a hooker as well if O'Neill is out long term as, I am led to believe that Forber is going to Salford.

And who at full-back? Hampshire?

I think Jonh's post covers pretty much everything from last night but I'd like to add a few more general points that are not necessarily to do with yesterday's game but can equally apply to it.

Firstly, our right edge doesn't work. Moreso without French. I don't think the AK/Miski partnership works as it stands as there is no disruptor. That's not a pop at either player individually but I think it's showing up in Miski's indifferent form. King, whatever his limitations, was a disruptor. His strong carries meant that he and Miski together were able to put us on the front foot and often attacking an unorganised defensive line. We have lost that now and Miski on his own is struggling to make an impact. King's offload, or even the potential to offload, also commited defenders and often caused broken field play. We see the same on the left with Wardle's footwork. Last night we had Faz there which just compounded the issue. Without French there is no one on that left edge capable of disrupting defences. We can be nullified on that edge through simple defensive systems.

It's not a lost cause though. Nsemba getting back to making his offloads, allowing Farrimiond more latitude to run, Eckersley to centre, Fields return and, of course, when French comes back all negate the problem there. I also think we need to use AK differently. He doesn't have the power or offload of King or the footwork of Wardle but he's played regularly at 6 so has hands. We need to utilise this more when he's back or, alternatively, a Eckersley/Miski or Keighran/Douglas partnership is a more balanced fit in my opinion.

Apologies for the long post on a single issue but I think it's been a problem that a winning team hasn't perhaps needed to address but, with French a long term absentee, it needs to be sorted now or we'll remain one dimensional with the threat only coming down the left.