Quote: PopTart "The Salford game is a nightmare to watch whether at the game, highlights or just reading the scoreline.
I don't however buy into the trend that all the players couldn't be bothered or that they are all rubbish or that the coach is rubbish.
I think the stats show us where the problems were quite clearly
Of the 13 tries scored
3 from kicks that could have been fielded, positional play from fullback was key to one, from wing for the others
1 was a well worked overlap that was just a good try
5 were direct one on one missed tackles by Minns
2 were through the gap left by Croft and Lineham
2 imho were referee errors.
When you look at the stats
Minns attempted 20 tackles, missing 5. All led directly to tries
Croft attempted 18 tackles and missed 7.
Most telling for me is Lineham. Attempted 1 tackle and missed it - yet 4 tries were scored on his wing
In the forwards, Butler did not carry the ball once!
However,
Whitbread made 28 tackles and missed none. 8 carries with an average gain of 7 and was unlucky not to score.
Batch made 25 tackles missing none
Pitts made 23 tackles missing none
Hood made 21 tackles missing none.
Fifita made 27 tackles and missed one.
Not everyone on the field was giving up the ghost. Some were working hard and being let down by others.
Clearly we didn't have much ball so the carries were low numbers but to me it was a mix of players trying hard and players just not good enough.
We are clearly not going to beat Wigan but if we can get Hall back and put Batch back to centre (and probably put Max at 1) I think it makes for a much better chance at magic.'"
Terrible stats. The only stat I don’t feel is a fully fair reflection of the game is Butler. Watching the game, it was clear he was putting himself in positions to receive the ball and make a carry, but nobody bloody passed it to him.
I’d be interested to know what the possession stats were for the period of the time he was on the pitch… also - what were his stats for tackles?
