TBH i don't see what your getting at??

Holdsworth does do tackling when needed throughout the game. An isn't it right that the SO/SH shouldn't really get tackled. That shows a good SO/SH. (Unless taking the line on, where i agree Holdsworth rarely does but we have Miller for that and DJ for kicking)

Not sure if thats sarcastic, but am watching again having just got in

I did remember some argy bargy early on, plus there was the tread on Azza's ankle, then the minor blow up later in the second half that Elima (of course) got involved in. I thought generally their discipline was terrible tonight and played rit into our hands

I did think that might have been our best defensive showing of the year (was the Menzies no try their only crossing of the line?) and if we can keep that up, who knows. We may need to score a few tries too though.

You see, I don't think it was a great performance. Sure, we defended well, but we were aided in this by Catalans' utterly clueless attack. Their structures are even worse than ours - two passes along the line then an inside ball to a forward. We could have defended that all night.

There was plenty of effort and determination in our performance, but we invited them into our 20 with ball in hand far too often. If we give Hudds/Wire/Leeds that number of opportunities, it'll be an embarrassing scoreline in their favour. The team deserve credit for getting through, but a significant improvement is needed if we are to be competitive next week.

Not read any previous posts.

Outstanding defence won you the game and all credit for that!
I can't honestly understand how you got away with constantly messing around in the tackle and slowing the play down. Laying on, hands on the ball etc you would be pulled up at least twice in every set if you where playing in the NRL but those tactics helped you win the game, not great for us neutrals to watch though.

A deserved win tonight for you boys. It showed that lessons were learned from the Wembley defeat especially with the kicking game ( on the floor rather than in the air) and again great defence.

Mind you Danny Houghton . Is he ever onside?

A very good performance typical of or season in a lot of ways - hard graft, grinding the opposition down, riding a bit of luck, not quite clicking in attack, a moment or two of brilliance.

You've answered your own question. He's very good defensively and can tackle as hard has anyone on the pitch, but he never runs with the ball.
Not getting tackled in the last two games is not an indication of how elusive he is.
It shows that he never attempts to get past a defender, unlike the other 16 playing.

Lots of people do difficult jobs. The vast majority of them to a better standard than SL officials. Of course fans' view of a refs performance is coloured by their allegiance but there are some errors that would stand out anyway. I'm just as critical of performances when watching as a neutral. Maybe me and your dad simply have higher expectations, or are less inclined to appear 'right on' by not criticising the ref.


He did miss stuff for both sides, but made significantly more errors that benefitted Catalan. Some of that will be because we spent more time defending but some were just rank poor decisions. IMO it was a contributory factor in our lack of field position all night and in particular in the second half. However, if you take a look back at my posts during the game I make many more negative comments about our players than about Thaler. You - like a fair few others - fall into the trap of thinking that criticism of the ref must mean that the ref is being blamed for the performance, when in fact it's perfectly possible for officials and players to all be crap at the same time.

Fans of every sport criticise the officials. It's as futile when Premier League supporters do it as is it when you do. People are human. They make mistakes. Or even interpret things differently. How many times do you see the Sky pundits split about whether a decision was correct or not? Or even groups of fans, neutral and partisan alike? The fact is, that all the time we employ human beings to referee games, there will be differences of opinion about whether a decision is correct, just as there will be outright mistakes.



What an odd idea. I'm not sure why it could be considered 'right on' not to spend significant portions of just about every game bleating about officials. Maybe you and my dad are just obstreperous old buggers with nowt better to do?

The only other pro sport I watch regularly nowadays is Cricket, which is impossible to compare. Although I'm not that impressed with Umpires either. But it doesn't really matter. I don't care how good the officials are in sports that I don't watch.

I came to RL in the 80's from watching Soccer and Union mainly. The poor quality of the officiating hit me right away.