Quote: Sesquipedalian "1. Mathers - 5.5
Tried hard and ran the ball back with more venom than usual but dropped a couple of kicks that put us under pressure, ran a ball on the last tackle, worst of all he turned his back and left a huge gap for the O'Brian try which was a schoolby error. Overall he just doesn't threaten anything with the ball in hand and doesn't make the metres we need to start a set in a decent field position
2. Fox - 6
Took his try well and made some strong runs out of our 20. In a forward dominated game he didn't face much that would test his defensive abilities.
3. Collis - 7
Created a couple of chances in the opening half, one of which Fox scored from. He troubled the Bradford defence when given a decent ball and he tackled well throughout.
4. Ryan - 5
Looked slow, ungainly and cumbersome in his second outing. Lacked the same energy that he showed at Salford and didn't contribute much either as a centre of a second rower.
5. Lyne - 6.5
A better showing than normal from Lyne, ran with a little more conviction and made some hard yards. Rescued Mathers by getting himself in a good position to clean up. Only real error was the spilled ball but that happens.
6. Sykes - 5.5
Poor game from Sykes, some bad field kicks and missed a very kick able conversion. Didn't get the three quarter line moving and didn't contribute much when he himself went into the centres.
7. Godinet - 6
Nowhere near as sharp as his first outing, looked hesitant and often got caught in two minds with ball in hand. Tackle well and tried hard but it just wasn't working tonight but possibly not completely his fault.
8. Anderson - 5.5
Worked hard but got dominated in a physical forward battle, looked to be struggling in the collision both as a defender and a ball carrier.
9. McShane - 7
Average game at best, made some strange decisions like the long pass out to Collis when it was never on and kicked early in the tackle count when we were inside the bulls half. Tackled his heart out but overall he failed to have the same influence as Sunday.
10. Smith - 7
Ran hard and made a couple of busts or half busts, got a couple of offloads away and made a lovely break in the second half. Spilled the ball on a couple of occasions and got pushed back by the more commited and bigger Bulls forwards.
11. Kirmond - 7
Wasnt involved enough in the first half but did his best to rectify that in the second however it was all blood and thunder and no finesse. At least he showed a bit of fire and desire.
12. Lauitiiti - 7.5
Took his try and I mean HE TOOK IT because no one was stopping him. A real handfull again but the Bulls had done their homework and bottled him up with some massed defensive work on him.
13. Washbrook 4.5
Not sure what he brings to the team apart from tackle numbers, I'm beggining to think his high tackle count is a result of teams running at him rather than his work rate. Guilty of giving penalties away and throwing a couple of mindless passes, too slow with the ball and offer absolutely no threat to the opposition at all.
14. Sammut - 6.5
Tried hard when he came on but had very little to work with. Forced a couple of repeat sets and almost got over for a try that would have brought us level.
15. Walshaw - 5.5
Little if no impact when coming on mid second half, fresh legs in energy sapping game and conditions but failed to make any difference. Lost a ball on the 1st tackle by running too straight at defenders then compounded the error by giving a daft penalty away. Made a couple of nice tackles.
16. Tautai - 5
Tried to bring some physicality to the game but it too often ended up with an error.
As bad today as he was good on Sunday. Knock ons, penalties and poor focus. He made a couple of strong runs and some hard tackles but was a liability at times
17. Raleigh - 6
Made very little impact and often lost the collision, he made no errors that I can remember but was ver non descript.
ATTITUDE
We looked like we expected the Bulls to fold up like an old Bridlington deck chair and when it didn't happen we were too fixed in the wrong mind set to get out of the hole.'"
Don't agree about Walshaw, looked sharp apart from the knock on - I'm not one of his fans tbh but I really didn't get the substitution or the choice of position. I'm beginning to think Agar doesn't like this lad.
As for Lyne, not convinced...
