I was going to say that, most of our tries have came out wide and you can see that on the other thread where Richards and Ainscough are clear of the rest in the try scoring.

However if Pat can do what he did on Sunday with Vella then he doesnt have to worry about kicking for the touchline

Did we score all our tries under the sticks last year? Richards was top try scorer from FB last year followed by Carmont at left centre.

Surely most of Carmont's tries were scored out on that left side.

I suppose it's something Bilko touched on yesterday saying we cannot hold our nerve in close games. We have not done as much wrong as we think. We should be in at least 5th with those stats.

We have lost 8 games in the league by 12 points or less most of those being by 8 points or less.

I am pretty sure with someone like Barrett in our team this season we would of come through most of these games with the win, especially games against Celtic, Wakey, Cas, Hull KR.

Just had a look at cherryandwhite.co.uk and it has Pat's goal kicking at 80.1% last season and 69.8% for this.

Surely that is down to where we are scoring our tries and not the reason we are losing games.

-We need that extra bit of cleverness or class e.g. Hull KR at home with the game in the balance Smith decides to run it on the last tackle in his own half and gets charged down. Stupid play

-Warrington away an extra bit of composure needed in front of their line with the repeat set of six’s we had.

-Wakey at home 1st game of the season Tim Smith kicks the majority of ball away.

-Saints Easter weekend we had them on the ropes and couldn’t score but yet we had repeated sets on their line.

Like you said we need a HB to create that spark with a run or magic pass like Trent used to do as well as a HB that can take the right options at the right time.

Our fortunes are easy to turn around next season if the right people are brought in.

I would like to see how many trys have been put past us from silly penalties that the players dont seem to learn from. I think thats why were 8th and not were we should be also the soft defence at times.

Good post but I do not think it is just the creative side of things that Trent would of brought this season, just his leadership may of brought us through some of those games with the win.

I'm not blaming Pat for us losing games single handedly. Just wondering how many of the games we have lost may have been won if Pat was kicking with the same form he had last season.

He's a great kicker and slotted them over from all over the place last season. This year he's definitely off the boil somewhat.

We've lost too many tight games.
Last Sunday we came back from an awful start, played well to go 16-30 and were then close at 28-30 before running out as worthy winners.
The team had great patience, for once, playing good sensible rugby.
No long passes which were dropped, no miracle passes which go to the opposition. Good rugby, complete your sets, good kicking game, attack their line with strike players. All paid off in the end.
Replicate that for the rest of the season and we'll finish higher then eighth.

It was 36-6 with McIlorum on the pitch. Maybe a coincidence.

I don't think it was any coincidence at all. Riddell has been a big disappointment. Not sure if that's down to the way he's being played, or simply a poor attitude on his part - but he should be dropped in order to sharpen his ideas up. That said, with Smith now out of the equation, he probably won't be, because Tommy will stay in the halves.

Play McIlorum for a full game and bring in Flanagan or Farrell.

Riddell has been nothing but shocking other than one or two plays all season.

I do not agree at all.

He doesn't give away penalties, he doesn't drop the bal and his distribution is good. There have been times when we have battered teams and then gone off the boil when McIlorum has come on, the Salford league game at the JJB for example.

Riddel has been average, not shocking at all. He hasn't produced magic, but he hasn't lost us games.

I think what we havent had is both Hookers have a good game at the same time. When Riddell has started games well McIlorum has come on and we have lost the tempo. And other times Riddell has started poorly and McIlorum has came on and played much better.

If they both had good games we would look so much better. We need consisitency and thats what we have lacked all throughout the season.