I thought our bench players were our 4 best last night. Wilkes and Mariano both hit the line well and Johnson got through a load of work. Wood made an impact which is exactly what you are looking for. Ali was great with ball in hand but i still think we need to spell him more. There was a time just before half time where he was badly blowing and missed 6 tackles on the bounce. Ellis was great first 20 and with regards Mathers, jeez people. He missed a one on one for there first try and from then on was one of our better players. Come on people give him a break if we had managed to wrap Winterstein up in the first place he wouldnt have had to make that tackle, why no blame for the right side defence?

Amor and Cockayne were well below what we have come to expect, but hey, everyone has them at some point and its times like that when you need others to step up.

All in all it was one of those games where we didnt play well and in the past would have lost. Winning these sorts of games is what happens when your confidence is up.
Full credit to Widnes, i thought they were vastly improved on what i have seen of them during the season and they were clever enough to play the ref far better than we did. Defensively they were decent and with the introduction of a few more quality players (Brown etc) i think they could be joining us, Hull Kr, Bradford etc in the battle for the lower play off spots next year.

No arguments with Wood getting MoM. Thought Wilkes had a faultless game and made good yardage in nearly every carry. Mariano, Johnson and Kirmond worthy of a mention in despatches.
Rhys Hanbury is a class player and makes many a fullback look inept. At least with Mathers he can give some input on the attacking front, the run through the gap that eventually led to Kirmonds try being a good example. He'll do for me.

FWIW those who are defending Mathers are deluding themselves.

I have never seen a player turn from villain to hero and then back again as often as Mathers. He's likeable and he tries he really does, but that's not enough - at his age he needs to be better he's a senior player now.

The truth is with his experience he should be better than he is. He rarely starts a game switched on, his concentration is dreadful especially for a a F/B. A position I fully agree is the most exposed, but his lapses in concentration are his fault, no one elses. He's also slow, not much quicker than Blaymire and nowhere near as safe.

He's not the worst I've ever seen, but he isn't good enough long term IMHO. Remember before this run there were 2 games everyone on here was blaming him for losing, Bradford away was one. We'd theoretically be top 8 by now - though I accept it's a team game and one player rarely costs us, but that wasn't the opinion on here.

Whilst ever the lad wears a Trinity shirt I will support him at the game - but I won't be convinced he's the answer until he plays a full 80mins. I don't care how many times he pulls it around or gets a vital try he must cut out letting the ball bounce or the unforgivable soft tackles if you can call it that that let Widnes in for their first try - it was dreadful, under 17's dreadful.

Come on Richie be the player you occasionally show you can be all the time because we will need it if we are to get anything further from top 8.

thought Mathers was poor on a couple of occasions, Cockayne had his worst game of the season and as a team we looked decidedly wobbly!
Ali, Kirmo, and Mariano were the stand out performers.
Any news on Dean "Ronny Gibbs" Collis? Looked well out of it on a number of occasions, before going off.

Correct, for fear of getting another load of abuse from his bestest mate fishcake Cockayne is a liability when in that mood - and for those singing his praises there is your lesson - a leopard never changes it's spots.

I can live with that side of BC but it will always cause him and us problems in high pressure games, as Stevo said "he's got it in him" and like many things in life a persons greatest strength is usually their greatest weakness.

Come on Ben, as the poster says "Keep calm"

A few players, BC included, were guilty of trying too hard - champagne rugby when you haven't earned it never works out.

Mathers had a wobbly start but came good - he never dropped a kick, was well positioned in defence and marshalled the troops well; he adds value in the attacking line and that's something we haven't had for ages. When they do the video this week, I expect that Hanbury non-tackle will feature heavily.

No need to panic - it was a stinker of a performance against Widnes with their extra man, but we rescued it; hopefully the nerves will be settled and we'll be back to our best next week.

Didn't play well and still won,in the top 8,6 wins on the trot,why do we still slag our players off,are you bored ,don't understand the game or not true Wakey fans.I suggest you get behind them or shut up and stay away cause your doing my head in.

That wouldn't be an issue if it were just one game but it's every game - I do believe we pay him as a top pro capable of playing well for the full 80 or am I missing something. I'm not being as harsh as the opening poster but he has a point. The rose tinted specs are out again on this one IMO.

You won't get the best out of any player if you just let him off when he makes the same mistake over and over. That Bren is not panic, just reality.

Might I suggest you grow up or stay away from forums where debate takes place



Please don't tell me about supporting this club, bar room big mouth like you have no idea the efforts I've gone too for this club - I was at BV when there were 800 on the terraces, iI'm absolutely certain the likes of you were not - I also guarantee when your bored or if it goes bad you will be the first to take your bat and ball home - so excuse me but I won't take lecture from the likes of you.

Something I feel needs pointing out is that whilst Mathers is defusing high balls which aint the easiest skill to perfect he also has to be conscious of Mr Fox who can not defend, granted he is a points machine but any half decent side can spot him a mile off and target him so this in turn puts more pressure on our fullback to perform to a higher degree than even he anticipated.

so lets stop attacking our players WE ARE IN THE TOP EIGHT who would have thought that at the beginning of the season.

1.Mariano
2.Big Ali
3.Wood

Mr Vast man educated debate yes but the dribble on here come on some people call themselves supporters.

supporters

somebody who supports somebody or something, such as a cause, idea, course of action, or sports team.
cant see much of the above from a large section on here.

certain

having no doubts about something


funny how Mr Vast man can assume he is the only one to support the boys through thick an thin can i ask who was the other 799, basic maths.

Can someone name me a full back who hasnt at some point supposedly "cost his side a game"? as i pointed out earlier, what about the defenders who didnt rap Winterstein up and allowed him to get the ball away?? They are as much at fault as Mathers, but no mention whatsoever.
Amor last night, had hands like cows t!ts, the game pretty much passed Sykes by, Washbrook wasnt quite upto his usual standard, Lee Smith was shocking. Jeez it was a bad night at the office, but we won.
RM is a good enough fullback for where we are aiming right now, a regular 6th to 10th finish. If we were looking to break into the top 4 then i would say yes, maybe we need to have a look around but that would also apply to numerous other positions.

If NGB4C had come out with some of the garbage posted on this thread they would be called all the names under the sun by certain posters.

Sorry,didn't realise nobody could reply to your educated posts,I would have taken my bat and ball home a long time ago every time things went wrong at wakey but I didn't,never will unlike some people on here.

Got to go,things to do catch you later.

I'm not suggesting he should be 'let off,' but since we aren't his line manager, we have to accept that the person who is will be working with him this week to point out what was good and bad about his performance; I know the individual who assists with video analysis and I can say with certainty that RA covers this stuff in fine detail with each and every player.

In more general terms, I'm not sure what you're driving at - he's a perfectly capable fb who is safe as houses under the high ball, carries it up well and joins the attacking line to great effect. Like many fb's, he's not the most impactful cover tackler and is prone to the odd brain explosion, but he's added more this season than he's taken away. That's Richie Mathers and he's alright by me - I hope we sign him up for next season.

I'm pretty non-plussed by the Mathers situation. I suppose it all depends on who we replace him with if he doesn't sign. I think 'safe as houses' is pushing it about about him under the high bomb but I suppose as a lower team we always have to accept that something will give somewhere in the attack/defence balance

Mathers is the best full back we have had for quite a while.
Get off his back.

He's not the only player who makes mistakes. Mathers has been a good signing for us this year, I'd be happy to see him stay.

Fair comment - that probably was overstating it a bit.

I maintain however that he's at least as good as the majority of fb's in SL and better than many.

You didn't reply, you accused - there is a huge difference but I'm not surprised you don't know.

Garbage in your opinion, it's that bit you just don't seem to get. If your opinion is the only worthwhile one on here then the forum is dead - thankfully your inane ramblings and inability to debate are not typical.

What a sad vast man you are.Teddy out of cot or what.

Go on, who text who first to offer or request support against big bad vasty



What a load of old crap you write. I was just expressing a fair and balanced opinion on Mathers as I did on Cockayne - you on the other hand are just assuming your way of supporting is the only one and fair criticism has no place - and thus shouting down the opposition.

It would be laughable if it were not so pathetic and transparent. It also won't work, I can do this all day 7 days a week - just try me

Not at all, the only Teddy I picked up was the one next to your dummy that you spat out when I dared to criticise you fave player of all time.

Would you like your dummy back?

Any chance of doing it by PM? Just that it clutters up the place.