cookie finally replaced

As predicted, Cooke's comments in the HDM are quite entertaining. THis week, big praise for FC's organisation and attack, and gameplanning too:

He credits FC with a FC’s players stood up to be counted with an impressive victory over the Crusaders at the KC Stadium.

"I was particularly impressed with the performances of Richard Horne, Sam Obst and Joe Westerman. They each showed some great touches in attack, and made some smart decisions defensively. But for me it was the direction of the team which looked better as the game wore on, and this was down to the two half-backs. Agar’s game plan was based around attacking what are called ‘spot players’ in the game. These are the players identified as the opposition’s weaker defenders, and in Crusaders’ case, that was Michael Witt, Tony Martin and Jarrod Sammut and hooker Lincoln Withers down the middle.

"Looking at all of the FC tries in detail, they all came from attacking the players who will have been identified in the video sessions during the week. I especially liked the Kirk Yeaman try, which was a simple dive over in the end, but came about as the plays leading up to it were top drawer. The first run was at Sammutt, which set up play by the middle players at the posts.Then another run came at Witt on the other edge, making the Crusaders’ defence adjust to help the weaker players out. Then Yeaman smartly kept attacking the right edge for a dive over. This is what Agar talks about when he repeatedly refers to playing “smart” rugby in his interviews."

Whereas a huge dig at Rovers reliance on Dobson:

"Two games without Michael Dobson and two more defeats for Hull KR. As I said in last week’s column, the absence of the Robins’ star man is going to have a massive impact on Justin Morgan’s men."When you take any key player or players out of any Super League team, it’s difficult to keep performances to a high standard. But for KR, the ship looks extremely rudderless without the star Aussie. It is certainly going to be an intriguing situation to watch and see how KR cope over the next six or seven weeks. On the evidence of their last two displays and results, it looks one hell of an assignment and test for Morgan and his coaching staff. It is really difficult for them to try and find solutions, and ultimately it is up to the players who take to the field to step up to the mark.

In my opinion, this has always been a danger at KR as everything has gone through Dobson. They have probably been lucky in previous seasons that he has remained fit and played all games. When you put all responsibility on one player to run the team, there is going to be a significant transitional period within the organisation when he is missing. It will now take time for KR to get their combinations to work, not just in the halves but also between the half-backs and the hooker, second rowers props.

"Dobson was key for directing all of those players around the park, so it is clear to see why KR have not been getting to the end of their sets in the last fortnight. In my opinion, it takes around four to maybe six weeks for players to become accustomed to playing styles."

Miaow, Paul, entertaining read, mind.