Whitehaven have proved this year that all you need in Champ 1 is basic rugby ……………, nothing sparkling or flamboyant just hard running and strong defence.

Countless times this season our game management has been severely lacking.
One minute we are 20 points up and cruising, then we force a pass, make an error and give the opposition impetus.
We are a poor side under pressure and once we start shipping points the writing is on the wall.
Yesterday was a wake up call.

When i saw the squad i was very optimistic as i think bar one or two that was our strongest 17 but twenty minutes in the wheels came off.
I cant fault the boys efforts but better game management must be RH's priority

A great run from Chrimes got us going forward for the drop goal but we need to be smarter from 1 to 17 come the play offs

I think Beryl stood back a bit more this time for the field goal,learning from his absolute gaffe at Fev which cost us the game.
Sorry Beryl but it did!

Let's also remember London missed a kick to probably win it before Chrimes' and Beryl's heroics.

Boy were we shouting 'DROP GOAL!!!'
Louder than 'Attack the winger!' when he was injured.

just read RHs comments on the Dons website,,,, laughable to say the least ... if hes happy with that performance yesterday... then he is in the wrong job

To be fair to RH ,I think he was happy with the character the side showed in winning it . No way should he be pleased with the performance .

don't think character won the game either weighman by a long chalk

I honestly don't think defence is our problem, the table alone shows we have the lowest points against in the division. Sure some aren't as good at tackling as others and they may be targetted, just as some are faster, some are stronger, some are better passes etc. I lost count at the number if sets London had in our 20 in the second half and only managed to squeeze over a couple of times after very long periods of being shut out. Our defence was snaffling most of it out but eventually a ball drops or a tackle is missed, it's just stats.

The problem is why they were allowed to be there so often, and that comes down to us not respecting the balls when we have it. It's a cliche but true; the best way to stop the opposition attacking your line is to not let them have the ball, we coughed it up too easily. Then after we have dropped it a few times we clam up and the creativity goes and the situation worsens.

Thought the guys returning from injuries put in good stints, particularly Douglas who I'd have been tempted to give MoM

Agree about Douglas he went well after being out for such a long time. He and Frankie will come on for that game. As for the defence I concur regarding the defence (points against) as a whole what is apparent is that our left side (JT's channel) is getting targeted by opposing teams.

It's RC they are targeting now he is in the team, along with JT's erratic line-jumping, bouncing-off style of defence that has always been problematic.
But JT did a great job on Lilly Langtree when we nilled them by rushing him and making him drop everything.

What is not clear is what RH did when Guy Armitage scored 3 tries, 2 of them soft and threatened to make us look like amateurs.
I will never know.
But if he could let me have a radio link for all his reactions and instructions, my mind might be put to rest, if not the rest of me.
Cos, I am not sure exactly what he does when things are going tits-up, he seems happy just to watch.
I thought that was my job.
Anyway enough until after the Oldham game ....

Correct, different mindset for that game from the squad I guess.

Guy Armitage on bench for Broncos this afternoon.

What you need is a hand held scanner multi band receiver you will then be able to listen in to RH reactions & instructions.
Plenty of these for sale on e-bay the Yupiteru MVT 7100 is an excellent piece of equipment.

Thanks Geoff, are these the things that plane nerds have?
I suspect that I wouldn't know whether it was working or not, if you see what I mean?

Quote: Stand-Offish "Thanks Geoff, are these the things that plane nerds have? I suspect that I wouldn't know whether it was working or not, if you see what I mean?'" Yes its a similar device that aircraft enthusiasts use but some of there devices only pick up aircraft & airport frequencies a multi band hand held scanner will pick up various different frequencies. You can purchase a UK scanning directory which list over 80,000 contacts that you can pick upon a multi band hand scanner I would assume that the frequency number the Rovers & Dons use will be listed in the directory. If you have the frequency number all you do is manually enter it to your scanner & start listening I think you maybe able to download the Scanning Frequency directory from the internet. Visit the link below to see a list of different things you can listen in to. https://ukscanningdirectory.co.uk/

Quote: Stand-Offish "Thanks Geoff, are these the things that plane nerds have? I suspect that I wouldn't know whether it was working or not, if you see what I mean?'" Yes its a similar device that aircraft enthusiasts use but some of there devices only pick up aircraft & airport frequencies a multi band hand held scanner will pick up various different frequencies. You can purchase a UK scanning directory which list over 80,000 contacts that you can pick upon a multi band hand scanner I would assume that the frequency number the Rovers & Dons use will be listed in the directory. If you have the frequency number all you do is manually enter it to your scanner & start listening I think you maybe able to download the Scanning Frequency directory from the internet. Visit the link below to see a list of different things you can listen in to. https://ukscanningdirectory.co.uk/

Blimey!