Was he wrong on Pauli though?

When he first signed he really looked the part but towards the back end he was pathetic. I’ve watched him closely 2 or 3 times since for Salford and despite some saying watch his Ian Watson and Salford will transform him he’s still the same overweight, lazy, heartless, under achieving player he was for us.

Also think he’s handled the Fifita thing the best he can...Dave is obviously a fantastic player when on song but with that will come a difficult person to manage and handle and I honestly think in his time overall Chester has handled him really well...we don’t all see what he’s like to manage day in day out.

Yes, the performances of late haven’t been good. Huddersfield was a poor result but I’ve a theory behind it and it’s something that’s blatantly obvious to most people what changes ‘on the field’ need to be made. Chester knows this himself and said as much in his interview after the game.

1) We need a midfield general.

Some use the Kear factor, some blame assistants, conditioners etc...but it’s plain to see where our biggest problem lies. Finn, though at the twilight of his career was a great signing for us and managed us through games...I’d also add Grix into that...not because I thought he was the greatest individually but as an experienced older head in a crucial position he was massive.

Finn obviously couldn’t go on forever and we needed to replace him...Brough looked a perfect replacement (even if arguably a few years past his best) but working with restricted budgets, unfortunately those are the type of players we end up with.

To begin with it worked...despite fans saying we’ve been garbage since those two good 5th place finishes and since Kear left etc...with Brough and Miller playing well together we were sat 3rd in the league after 14 rounds and had chalked up some excellent wins playing some fracking stuff...the injuries then hit and in truth we haven’t recovered. I did think Brough did have an impact towards the back end in saving us though, playing and kicking well in crucial wins over Huddersfield/HKR and London.

The fact is we haven’t replaced got a Finn/Brough type player and it’s killing us...it could not have been made any clearer in the loss at Huddersfield where the clear and plain difference between the two teams was Sezer for Huddersfield. The forwards actually worked pretty hard and as a whole defended pretty well overall...there was 5 or 6 players who made over 100 metres in carries and a couple just short so in terms of field position we had plenty just no execution or smartness on last plays and that’s what’s killing us.

2) The forwards...

Another thing we can all see and CC has said it himself...prelockdown overall the performances and results weren’t too bad...since coming back though we are certainly one of the teams who has really seemed to struggle with the new quicker game and the set restarts etc...

When looking into it though ask yourself this...we make our pack up of predominantly ‘past it’ players or loan signings that very few other teams want...maybe pre lockdown these players and us as a team maybe benefitted from slowing rucks down but now everything has quickened up it has caught quite a few players out...I’ve heard CC mention this a few times about what’s now needed from forwards...maybe he knows what changes need to be made? Like when he first took over he identified quickly that we were getting bullied a bit so went and signed big players...that worked back then but now it doesn’t and changes have to be made.

For all the criticism of the forwards just go look at the tackling stats from the game...

It’s blatantly clear where the weak links were defensively...bit of an eye opener...

I think that's a pretty fair assessment

To save anyone looking I’ll put the tackling stats from Huddersfield here..

Crowther - 48 tackles - 1 miss
Battye - 48 tackles - 4 misses
Pitt’s - 45 tackles - 2 misses
Westerman - 36 tackles - 1 miss
Kopczak - 33 tackles - 0 misses
K.Wood - 31 tackles - 1 miss
J.Wood - 31 tackles - 1 miss

So most of the middle guys, plus Pitts added in (though he did a poor miss for a try). That’s a combined total of 272 tackles with 10 missed...nearly half of those from a new guy playing his first game in about 6 months...Battye also took in 21 carries so for a new player he easily gets the benefit of doubt and with that work rate can see why CC is so keen on signing him!

Now look on the problem area...left edge...

Bailey - 21 tackles - 9 misses
Gigot - 14 tackles - 5 misses
Tanginoa - 26 tackles - 4 misses

Combined total 61 tackles with 18 misses...

There is genuine reasons there...Bailey is a young lad on only his 2nd start but this is the difficulty in playing the kids in a team short on confidence and in a bit of a rut...Sezer and McQueen certainly targeted Connor and that’s something he will have to learn going forward...is any fan going to hang him out to dry? Likewise Gigot...I’m not the biggest fan of this signing...think it smacks of desperation, but that probably come from the pressure CC is under...he played an unfamiliar role to him though alongside a teenager in only his second start and up against a very experienced and quality centre in Cudjoe...

Calm down piggy

Wow.

Rocky and Reynolds were the halves when we went third

I started watching the post match interview with CC but turned it off when he said we had a fullback playing in the halves!

I also thought it was bizarre. If he's a full-back then why play him scrum half, sign Gigot a full back also, who he said was an option for half back then play him centre. The recruitment money has been squandered on players we don't need. His tinkerman approach to team selection is shocking. I'd hate to be a fringe player at Wakey I'd be tearing my hair out.

You are Dickie Hampshire and I claim my £5.

yoj can have ten if you want x

Yes they were but Brough and Miller played the first 10 games together and were playing well together! We scored over 30 points 5 times...good wins at Leeds and Hull and at home to Wigan and Salford.

They both got injured in the Wigan game and Reynolds and Rocky played the next 4 where we won 2 and lost 2. The difference there though is as two makeshift halfbacks at least they came into a team 4th in the table playing well and full of confidence.

I do completely agree with you on one point and that’s playing Rocky at FB...he played all his best stuff there last season.

It’s been a complete mess the situation in the halves...brought on by pressure to get results in my eyes...

To be honest he’s got to move him back there he’s the only one with genuine pace to make breaks and go the field. All he’s doing at moment is hand on and hand on. We need some grunt bad I see the calls for a half back but we can’t win the forward battle we’re up against it every game, it’s pressure after pressure. He’s got to try something different a different style or shape and maybe move the ball or he’s a gonna

Would not disagree with your post, but all our weaknesses you have exposed you have highlighted that Chester knows all about them as well, if that's the case then why hasn't he done anything about it, we need a midfield general where is he? certainly not Kay or Gigot, and no I don't have the answers but I don't need to, Chester doesn't either imo but he should do and if he does why are we so clueless?

Agree on every point.
And for those still blaming Chester for not doing something about it, there isn't a midfield general to buy. Certainly not in our price range.
To be honest you could probably put Finn in the team now and it would improve it a little bit in attack. (not suggesting we do of course)

So what exactly is our price range.