Our ability to defend out wide is absolutely appalling it seems all teams have to do to score against us is pass it along the line. The worst thing is it’s a blatant issue with our defensive structure rather than individuals making bad reads. Our coaching staff must be able to see it yet seem powerless to address it.
I’d also like to Jowitt back at fullback or Hooley if Max is that out of favour. I like Hampshire but I don’t think fullback is his best position.

Not much between the two sides - which was a big surprise given last week's debacle; I was with my son, and we both said that the best we could hope for was a performance, since Saints would easily overpower us - which they clearly didn't, so that was definitely progress.

Observations:

Hampshire needs some long studs - he was sliding around like Robin Currie; several times he had space in front of him, and ended up on his backside
Saints were never square at the ptb
Danny Brough is Jekyll & Hyde - brilliant kicking game, but his gob let us down again
We spent too much time in their 20 without scoring; sometimes, the halves were passing to people who had no clue what to do next - a bit embarassing
James Roby is a remarkable athlete
We have to sort out the defensive structure - Johnstone and BJB were left with too much to do on several occasions
Saints NRL signings were crap - Naiqama was anonymous and Coote was made to look foolish by Broughy
Poor old Alex Walmsley looks crocked - I winced every time he went into collision
Huby will be out for a while - looked like a dislocated shoulder
Kopczak & King look like a great additions
Matty Ashurst is an outstanding player
It was very cold

Three times Broughy put us in attacking positions. A try from one of them could have won the game.

Indeed - and he voiced his frustration at those around him when they didn't exploit his good work, which is a bit of a Broughy trademark - I haven't always agreed with it, but this group of players should be able to put together a decent attacking move when given the opportunity.

The LMS try at the end is a very simple example - which we could easily have tried on several occasions - but our middle men took the ball standing still.

I went to the game looking for a performance, ended up walking away disappointed not to win. Plenty of positives but I was disappointed that our big men seemed to be getting the ball when standing still especially when we had the huge periods of pressure in the second half. Plenty to work on but plenty of promise.

Pretty much agree with most of what you have said. The problem for me is, on that evidence, we still can't seem to win the close games! Last year we lost 6 or 7 by one score or less. If we are serious about being a top 4 team, our percentage of winning the close ones' has to improve dramatically. Broughy was brought here to win us those types of games, and like you say we saw the best of him and the worst, he still has loads to offer, but he is bloody frustrating at times.

Well I am going to differ with some people and I thought Brough was very hard done by. Right from the start of the game it was obvious Hicks was his usually pedantic self with some of the penalties he blew (for both sides).
The Brough incident unfolded in front of me and again it looked like he said little if anything at all and all the trinity players that were close by also argued with the two officials over the decision.


If he did say something then fair enough award a penalty but a yellow straight away was over the top. I honestly feel that if any other player had said something it would have only been a penalty but brough was punished just because of past reputation. Also lets be honest here, I watch most games on Sky and the ref abuse from some players (usually stars in the so called top clubs) is far worse and nothing ever gets done.

It must be difficult to move onto the ball when you don't know where it is going to hit you when it arrives. Saints showed the benefit of much superior passing accuracy that allows players to take to ball on the move without checking, turning or breaking their stride.

Makinson scored from two stunning passes from Lachlan Coote while Lynn received several passes in their 20 which were so badly directed he had to stop to gather then was forced inside as his only option. No reason at all why this can't be sorted out with intense skills work.

I can't agree - Brough is old and ugly enough to know that backchat is pointless and risky; when has a ref ever changed his mind because a player shouted at him?

He invites this kind of response by shouting and waving his arms around - he should know better - and if he keeps it up, it will cost us.

To be fair to Brough last week the RFL he had no case to answer.... therefore the official made an error. St Helen’s was different but I can appreciate his frustration to be fair after watching Regan’s diving antics to con a penalty instead of a knock on.
Also how many other times do you see players mouth at officials and not even give away a penalty let alone a sin bin. McShane would never be on the field. I don’t agree with dissent but you have to apply it equally and consistently and unfortunately Danny appears to have been singled out.

Completely agree with this, its those split seconds that make or break an attacking play. Saints looked more clinical in that department while we often looked disjointed, especially in their 20 when we need to make it count. Not pin pointing Broughy as he got us in that position in the first place but I felt his attacking options with ball in hand wasn't great yesterday, passes not hitting the X therefore players having to adjust to catch the ball which gives the defenders the upper hand.

Still think if Saints drop kick goes dead we have a pop ourselves and they dont score off the next set. We were pinned under our posts for 5 tackles!