My view of it was that it didn't bounce until after he got hands to it. The drill is pretty much the kind of ball he received, just slower. They plop the ball around shin/ankle level as players run past.

I did actually say that I wouldn't criticise him for it, as I do think that it was a very difficult take. Not impossible though, so it's not wrong to say that he also made an error, it was just more understandable and shouldn't really have been necessary as the pass should have been both earlier and better.

I do agree with east hull fc fan and others about the level of criticism being thrown at Yeaman over this, though. I don't think enough people are being fair and giving him credit for what a good game he actually had overall, and especially with the additional responsibility/difficulty Briscoe's injury caused him.

I give up. I'll maybe come back when it reach 100 pages.

It's easier to catch a ball around your ankles if you're expecting it to be delivered around your ankles. Like when you're doing the 'catch a ball around your ankles' drill.

If we drop Yeaman for Arundel we lose a lot in defence and probably get no real gain in attack.
I don't even think Yeaman is out of form, his defence has been very good as usual and we don't tend to use our left as much anymore so it's obvious his try tally will diminish.
Yeaman isn't the best centre in the league, but he's better than most.

What a rubbish excuse that is.

I'd expect goal kicking in training is a lot easier for Holdsworth too.

You can be quite silly sometimes.

Of course it is. Pretty much everything is easier in a practice situation than a game. The reason that techniques are practiced is still with the aim of improving their execution in a game though.

I'll reiterate that I personally don't blame Pitts for not taking that ball, but I don't think your above comment really has a point.

The point is that one poster is saying that Pitts should have been expected to take the 'pass' because the team practise the technique in a training drill. This is obviously nonsense. The drill is practised to increase the chances that a player might collect a pass that is extremely difficult to take. This does not mean that a player can be 'expected' to take an ankle-height ball in the same way as they do when they're doing a training drill where they know such a pass is on the way.

I reckon Whiting would have took it, no problem.
What do you think RGX ?

Without question. And if he'd have been in Yeaman's position, he'd have easily have had the pace to score.

Watch it again. The ball was ankle height for Pitts and thigh height for Westerman. Westy was far closer to the passer and had the ball popped at near zero relative speed; Pitts was much further away and had to deal with a ball that reached him after bouncing well short.

Anyone seriously comparing the two cases is clutching at straws.

The ball bounces well short of him and barely clears his laces. Hence why I said he'd have been better off hacking it forward than trying to catch it IMO.

Fook me!
We'll be calling in 'scenes of crime' shortly.

Not really, everything's easier in training. You could apply that to anything.

Do they not practise these things as a just in case? I've seen prop forwards have to catch bombs put up, just in case. Just because it doesn't happen that often isn't an excuse when you're trained to do it.

You're being stupid. Training to improve certain techniques doesn't mean you can be expected to execute that technique faultlessly every time. Just as a goal kicker has an 'excuse' for missing a conversion from the touch line, so any player has an 'excuse' for failing to collect a ball that is slung at his ankles.

Who cares? You won easy

Well put, but until someone else cocks up this will run for a little longer.

It's fairly stupid to think that I said he should take it faultlessly every time, but there you go.

That incident replayed I would bet 8/10 times Pitts takes that ball, because he's trained to take it. If you're too stupid not to realise that's what I said, then that's not my fault, is it?

You're right, it did bounce first. As I have said, I don't blame him for being able to gather it at all, I was just pointing out that ehfc is not actually wrong to say that Pitts did also make an error and that we do specifically practice low pick ups.

You said there was 'no excuse' for him not to have taken the pass. You're obviously being deliberately obtuse. Again. Enjoy yourself, but I've got better things to do than be dragged down one of your weird little cul-de-sacs.

I still think your point is invalid. A fullback will practice receiving bombs a lot. That doesn't mean that they will take every bomb faultlessly, but nor does it mean that if they drop one it's not an error.

The difference is, a full back is expected to take a bomb. It's their job to do so. One could reasonably expect a full back to collect a very high percentage of the bombs that come his way.

The same cannot be said for a forward running at nearly full tilt and trying to pick up a bouncing ball from his bootlaces. No one could reasonably be expected to catch such a pass with any degree of consistency.

I don't think it's as simple as that, it depends on the player in question. On another day, I do think Pitts probably has the handling ability to gather that.

I wouldn't expect it to be taken the majority of times though, I agree, but then I don't honestly think that that was what ehfc meant, either.

I think you can come out of hiding now Yeamo. It appears it was possibly Jay Pitts fault.