At the time I thought Barba had committed to tracking Ashurst as he knew Horo was getting caught. Was hard to tell from the Northstand though so will have to take another look on Trinity TV.

As mentioned at the start of the thread I had a funny feeling we would beat the Saints - Shame I didn't back my word..

I find it a little harsh on Finn. Agree a couple of his kicks weren't great but its difficult kicking from inside our own half under pressure from the Saints defence. He's never had the most powerful kick and he soon realised that rather than just hoofing the ball it was a better idea to try a lower height kick and find the floor. The Grix kick on the other hand was a frustrating one, especially after they scored on the hooter.

From an attacking kick perspective, I do agree we need to fix up. Our high kicks are never contested and there were plenty of times yesterday in the second half when a simple grubber to the in goal to force a repeat set was ignored and we ran on the last. Granted its not a bad place to turn the ball over but that's a key attribute the top teams usually have.

One play that sticks out in my mind was the BJB catch over his head after I thought he'd initially over ran the kick - Fantastic take.

Thought our forwards stood up well yesterday, all having great games but one thing I noticed Saints do well is run onto the ball. Something so simple but is often not executed, Pauli Pauli is a beast of a man but often catches the ball at a standstill.

Hopefully move onto Salford for another win. Although they are below us in the table it will be a big test. Reading the LE they are carrying a few injuries from the Hudds game. Closeout Lui and it should be another win under our belts.

Roll on Friday!!

At 24-20 with a few minutes to go, we thought we'd read the script and were prepared for Saints to do the usual smash and grab and for it to finish 24-26. Had that have happened, I'd have been disappointed with the result but not the effort of the team. The likes of Ashurst, Lyne, Kirmond, Arona, England, Huby, Horo were absolutely exhausted at the end. They'd given everything to win that game.

Finn has never shown he's capable of putting high kicks up,nothing to do with the pressure from defenders.
But his kicks yesterday were woeful,i can only remember a couple that actually put Saints under any kind of pressure.He may as well have just passed the ball to Saints on the last for all the use his kicks were.

Cracking two points, thoroughly deserved! A great team effort with a couple of stand out performers!

Interesting that Saints have done a highlights video yet showed nothing that went their way? At the game I thought the Randell challenge and yellow card could have been a penalty try but definitely wasn’t as it was further out than I thought...don’t think there was any malice either just badly timed...Percival tried milking that penalty too, looked far less in it than I thought at the game...should have been a red card in fact for foul and abusive language towards an official...

The Miller one where he tackled the player without the ball was very marginal too and there was plenty of cover so again just a penalty correct...don’t know what Saints have to moan about? Saying that though we can moan about refs with the best of them!

Very deserved two points in my eyes, best team won no doubt about it!

A good win for you guys, it's hilarious Saints fans moaning about the referee, hope Wakefield can keep the form up now (just not against Hull FC!)

Seem to remember Percival milking an important pen last season, then making a miracle recovery when it was awarded.
I think he is argubly the best centre England have, but I have lost a little respect for him with his antics.

This was also my impression.

Mine too.
The ball was just as likely to hit the ground or be intercepted.
He did the right thing if it wasn't on.

Agreed, we really deserve to be on 16 points imho but looking at it another way perhaps our luck this season will come later in the year when we need it the most i.e. cup semi finals that kind of thing

I thought after our fourth win that we had won the games without being in top gear at all, in fact we played better in some of the defeats.
I maintain we're not far away, just need a little better management on the field and belief.

I think the Finn/Rocky thing is gonna stay a subjective "thing".
I've got a lot of time for Rocky, he's full of energy, quick in the line and pacey, everything that Finn isn't, Finn is solid with the skills his position requires, he's where he supposed to be when he's supposed to be there and puts the ball where it needs to be, he moves the team about with purpose...consistently well.
Its not lightening fast, its not eye catching, its not headline grabbing, its subtle and imo our best chance of winning most games.
At the same time, we can't leave Rocky in the dugout, we need him fully in the loop because we will play differently with him at 7, he is gonna play and we still have to be effective one way or another.

I agree entirely wildshot, Horo didn't even appear to look to his right hand side where Ashurst was with him all the way. However Horo's game otherwise was spot on.

From my position Ashurst was clear if he had received the pass but we won so this is now a mute subject. With regards Finn I though he missed quite a few tackles which I am sure one of you will be able to confirm.
I understand why PP was dropped and to some extent Johnson but I thought Hampshire’s performance against Leeds did not deserve him being dropped.

According to the stats Scarlet, Finn missed 8 tackles...that’s one more than Hampshire missed last week...thought at the game Finn didn’t do too badly but when the likes of Barba are buzzing about it’s easy to rack up a few misses...thought Reece was terrific on the right edge, time after time he came up with brilliant defensive reads to snuff out danger...

Stats can be funny sometimes and maybe be misleading? Every Wakey fan in the ground must have thought Horo was outstanding and pushing Lyne/Tupou for mom, yet he only made 18 tackles and missed 5! Still thought he played well though...and as for Ashurst...well, the mans a machine pure and simple...48 tackles no misses...unreal effort against the best and most dangerous side going forward in the comp!