very good point. after semi descent first half to the season things look to be going a tad stale. cue the return of Herimia to breeth new life into the team (hoping)

Nice piece of research, thanks.

I was trying to figure this out on the way home, I came to the same conclusion, 6 competition points thrown away to avoidable scores, almost exclusively in the last minute or so.

Although it has happened far too often for it to be a coincidence I do think some of the penalties that have cost us points have been harsh, the one at Salford and the one yesterday were both dubious. Given that awarding those penalties was almost certainly going to change the result of the game the referee has to be certain when the award them.

No excuse for the wire and rovers tries though, fatigue and lack of concentration cost us there.

Phil Clarke won't be happy about this thread

Seriously though its quite interesting to read, interesting comments about making players play the full 80, in close games you'd wonder if this played on the players minds.

I'd be interested to see the same research into the last 5 minutes before halftime as well. It seems that we've always been a team that ships points just before half time , certainly in the SL era anyway , regardless of who the players or coach has been but I don't know whether that's supported by the stats. Perhaps more points are scored at the end of each half in general because of fatigue? I tend to think that good coaches improve the chances of avoiding it by rotating players just before fatigue sets in rather than when it noticably has. One thing I agree with Phil Clark on is that the best players don't switch off for a second and it's probably a major factor in winning games which then builds confidence that the players need to have in each other.

This is nothing like PCs stats they are relevant, interesting and illustrate a real situation.

Excellent point.

It drives me mad the minutes the are playing week in and week out and must play a part in our finish to games.

I also am concerned that they will be completely burnt out by the time the play-offs come around or that fatigue plays a part in them picking up a costly injury.

It's no coincidence that Manu and Tickle have the most missed tackles of our players. They need to be spelled to keep them fresh.

We must be the only team that gets tired eh

Dont think Sharps injury yesterday helped the planned rotations though

Can tell it's half term, Wellsy

You've made some good points there though mate. It is frustrating that we rarley seem to see teams off and there's usually a feeling the team can threaten towards the end of the match. 6 points dropped from the last 10 minutes of our matches is incredible, I'm sure it must be something they are working on.

It's especially frustrating that Tickle and Manu don't get spelled when we go into games with 3 players who are comfortable, natural back rowers on the bench, and then play 3 different players at loose forward with the same second rowers.

I wonder if Sharp hadn't got injured what the plan would have been with rotation, since O'Carroll only did 15 minutes in the first half and was sat on the bench til minute 75 in the second.

Turner certainly switched off when he dropped the easiest interception imaginable with 5 to go. He catches that, he scores, game over. Mistakes like that are inexcusable.

It's interesting to see that people are suggesting the use of Manu and Tickle for 80 mins could be contributory. There is certainly an issue here. When a third of all your points conceded come in the back end of the game, it shows there's a fatigue issue. Either physical or mental. Trophy winning sides don't die off in the last 10.

We've had a mentally weak squad for years.