Quote: Pat Bateman "Watched the game on Trinity Tv this morning. A few things that stuck out to me were.
Our defensive line speed and kick chase speed is well off the pace, like last week. We look really sluggish with no intensity. We look like a team that’s backing up from playing a day before compared to Wigan who looked fresh with real purpose and intent.
Kicking game is still really poor, we fail to find any momentum, which is also heightened with our poor kick chase. Wigan constantly starting out their sets in their own 30 where as we were pinned down because of their excellent kick and intensity. We didn’t have a set on their line until the 50th minute which is abysmal. The poor kick chase intensity is suicide against a team containing Field, French and Marshall.
Wigan were clinical but they simply were made to look excellent due to our own lack of intensity and real issues outside in defence. The blow out score was simply from individual defending errors and clear lack of communication from Wigan throwing pretty simple attacking shapes at our edges. Hall and Taufua constantly jamming in leaving Lineham and Murphy 2 on 1 for easy walk ins. Really really poor.
Proctor was immense in the middle, as were Pitt’s and Whitbread. Battye carried well as did Butler. Proctor just looked bemused at the calamity that was happening outside of him as did Pitt’s just constantly shaking their heads after they just strolled in time and time again.
For me it’s our intensity that’s the real worry. Apart from the odd few, we look knackered and lethargic especially our line speed and kick chase. Wigan was always going to be a tough place to go, but a lot of championship teams would of scored and conceded less than that on the day.'"
That is bang on. If you want the ball in good position you have to do the tough stuff in defence and roll up sleeves! The intensity and aggression isn’t there and it needs to be. It’s not as if the players can’t do it. That second half against Fev we came out and the intensity was excellent and we completely snuffed out Fev in defence and Fev had no answer at all for it (just like we don’t).
Sometimes the best way is to just copy what others are doing right! If the defensive intensity and line moving up is causing us issues then let’s take it and put it into action and use instead of the hang off approach to defence we currently have.
Right down to every player they should want to be stronger and better than their opposite number and dominate them, that’s all about bringing in a competitive nature too.
It’s not unfixable but there’s no substitute for rolling the sleeves up and making sure the effort is directed at the actual issue.
I agree about Proctor, Pitts etc and Langi too. They were very good in defence and it must be disheartening seeing it collapse outside you. But it’s pro sport and they are adults, get it sorted.
We don’t need to try fix everything in one week but let’s fix 1/2 things at a time starting with the intensity and the edge defence. Then when we are putting ourselves in better positions we can look at improved kick chasing and ending our sets better.
Sometimes though you copy what other successful teams are doing right.