shoving 5 or 6 youngsters in would be madness & probably set them back.

Do think the time is right to retire Josh, he is a joke with a ridiculous & appalling tackle technique - surely BH cant support this ? Non existent in attack too, will rank as one of our worst overseas signings ever.

Do think JJ needs to go back to reserves - Balmforth looks class. Lovodua back to 6 ? Wynn to FB ? Cam Scott centre ?

For me Gale & Shaul running out of time, love Jamie & at least he cares and is trying but sadly his best days are behind him.

Next weeks team will be fascinating, BH needs to put a team out that will win.

For mine, I feel it's an excuse, that we need to recruit better...Other coaches such as Wolff,Holbrook, Maguire, didn't have that luxury, they just improved the basic core skills to an existing squad..
Take St Helens for example, in my opinion, they are well coached side,well organized attack & defence, superbly fit.
World class individuals?? Not for me personally..
Regarding the non selection of Hookem, I wonder if he is under the same fate as Jack Brown was last season...
Brown last season, was in & out of the squad, even though we were lacking a prop, it has emerged since, it was Brown's attitude.
Maybe Hookem is the same??
Reynolds, we all know his defence, is shocking, but ..why do we always play the '6' on the right side??surely on the left he'd get more attacking opportunities.....
Finally Brett Hodgson, in my view, He's an improvement on Radford, he's installed a better defensive system, improved some individual players, and the youth system is looking rosy as well..
The negative is the attack structure, it's no different to Radford.
No backing up, poor passing,etc etc. Is this intentional, to let players manage the attack itself?? Looks that way to me

Since Agar was removed, I've always felt this job is for an experienced Head Coach....
I've not changed my mind..

Seeing as most of the squad now have a weekend off I wonder if they are busy organising their next pi$$ up and team feast at some greasy cafe? Time for another pool tournament?

I’m all for team bonding sessions but we seem to be the most unfit squad in Super League?

This next week is really crucial to work on various things that prepare the team for Warrington and have them ready to put everything into that match.

Another poor performance there surely has the axe hovering over BH?

I've backed Hodgson from the moment he was announced but even I cant help but think the pressure is well and truly on him now. No problem with players having a holiday during the international break, but how will they conduct themselves? It all comes back to the culture of the club. Go on the lash most of the week, come back into training Monday and then wonder why we are blowing out our s come half time on the next game back. Saw it at Saints, saw it again at Wakey, probably will see it at Wire next week.

Big decisions to be made by BH, does he stay loyal to Gale/Reynolds and just hope they eventually click, or does he take the risk and give youth a go.

To give sympathy to the halves, they aren't the only ones who underperformed on Saturday. Shaul is a shadow of the player he was, no confidence, looks off the pace. As for Houghton, I won't go on, I could rant all day.

Is that the team are unfit or down to the way they play in terms of penalties/set restarts that we give away and the rotation/use of the bench?

I must admit that I have often wondered about the training as while I've been out and about with I've quite often driven past the training ground at various times of the day and rarely seen anyone out on the field.

From the outside as a fan it still seems as though there isn't enough responsibility or accountability taken for poor performances and its still cosy, is it that BH is just too nice a guy?
As much as some have said its the players that are committing the penalties and giving away set restarts and yes they are but ultimately its the Head Coach and coaching team to address issues of the play of which ill discipline is one and one that never seems to go away.
One other point of note is that a couple of times when interviewed BH in terms certain aspects of play he has said along the lines of he lets/leaves the players to do that, I just can't seem to find the interviews now.

Judging by his interview in regards to Gale/Reynolds it seems he's going to carry on trying with those two

Shaul I agree looked rusty at FB but I thought he did OK, even put a nice cut out pass for us to score and in fairness he is probably the best option to cover FB.

As for Houghton I thought in the first 20/25 mins he had been pretty good solid in defence as usual but also got us forward with some smart scoots but instead of then giving him a breather especially in that heat and with 2 hookers on the bench we simply burnt him out playing him the full 40 of the first half, after halftime he was effectively done. That's not Houghtons fault it's down to poor use of the bench and interchanges.

I would certainly hope after the poor level of performance again that BH will finally give some of the young players a chance over the next few weeks as we have seen very little this season from 2 of the most experienced players in the side when they've been on the field. I just wonder who is responsible in training and in game situations in regards to our last play options as on Saturday they were embarrassing as we looked to have no idea.

I can answer that one for him now. They aren’t going to click, they aren’t interested. If they haven’t clicked yet they aren’t going to.

But it’s not just attack that bothers me. Reynolds defence is appalling. That must be down to attitude as you don’t get to play SOO if you can’t tackle? Opposition get past him with ease and if not he invariably gives away a penalty.

The thing about penalties and set restarts, and I know I’m biased, but we seem to get pinged for things that other teams get away with?

Catalan were taking an age to clear the ruck but seemed to get away with it apart from just before half-time. I’m sure Mcillorum came flying into a tackle on a grounded player and got away with it. A couple of the penalties for high tackles were not high?

It just seems every little thing we do gets penalised?

Sao in particular seems to have been picked out by refs as somebody who has just got to breathe on a player and he gives away a set restart.

I'd be happy with 2 young players out of Litten, Balmforth and Hookem, I think our team could carry those two and am convinced we wouldn't be any worse off than we are now.

Excellent post

Ben Macs injury really couldn't have come at a worse time for him and the team, it's clear BH rates him and you'd like to think he would be getting selected ahead of Reynolds or Gale.

Cheers Dave

We l see what the next fixture brings in regards to selection. But if Lovoduas not at 6, then the guys lost the plot.

I'd be quite happy if we got rid now, some will saytoo soon, but as u say too many head scratching team selections, its as if he's not learning from mistakes.

Still abit of a holiday camp at hull

Said pretty much the same on the game thread in that there still appears to be little in the way of responsibility or accountability in terms of player performance and all still seems to comfy and cozy for players. Feels like the tail is still wagging to dog and my worry is that BH just doesn't have enough authority over the players or is just too nice a guy.