...we lose.

First of all, i’m going to count some of our blessings and acknowledge some current difficulties.

The last couple of seasons the team has achieved its main goals, and we’re up and running this season with a couple of wins, including a dramatic last gasp victory in the derby. Also, we are missing a few and we’ve got a few still settling in. Plus we know we’re unlikely to be challenging at the very top of end the league, so defeats are going to happen. This, isn’t all woe is me.

But what the poop is it with us chucking away big leads quite as often as we do? It’s like it is in our metaphorical DNA, the flip side of the coin to ‘never write off the Saints’, whoever is playing or coaching. ‘Never bank on the Rovers’. Does it just feel like it happens to us more than to other teams at our level, and much more often than we do it to others? Or is it a real thing?

Has it happened so often that the crowd gets tense when we go 14 up, and that transmits itself to the players? Or something like that?

Bloomin’ heck.

It’s early hopefully the real rovers will turn up I hope

My daft thick Rovers mate has just texted me to say it was all the refs fault.

He's as mahogany as you.

are you a hampton of withernsea or gisumville

Sau should have seen red. Again we are on the wrong side of it Tomkins perfectly good try wiped off. Lack of speed at PTB.Missed tackles and poor end to sets. Should have won that but until we have our key men playing with heads up and controlling things we invite teams back in. Hastings milking penalties and being generally grubby doesn't mask the fact he's the best half in the league

We'll always be perenial under achievers untill we sort out our defencive problems, missed tackles, dropping off tackles, shooting out of the line.
We never improve in these areas year after year, no matter who the coach is.
Last week half time came at the right time, unfortunatly it went against us today because we went in thinking the job was done and we never got going again. Credit to Salford for jumping on us as we dozed off

On the one hand Rovers could so easily have won - if the Tomkins try had been allowed (and Joel is adamant it should have been) it would have been all over at 28-14 yet a minute later it was 22-18.

Then after repelling some very good Salford play with resolute defence we give away the softest of soft tries to go behind and lose. Very frustrating and annoying.

On the other hand Salford were the better team for the majority of the game and deserved to win. Rovers seemed to have a strategy of hanging on to the 22-8 half time lead but handing over the initiative like that is asking for trouble and trouble eventually came.

For me the warning signs were there when we were so pleased with ourselves for losing 28-14 at Warrington. At half time today at 22-8 I said that I just hope we aren't too pleased with ourselves. We probably were not , we didn't give in by any means but we did try to shut up shop and hang on. It might have worked but it didn't.

I hope very sincerely I will be proved wrong but I see us in the bottom 4 again this season, with away games at Cas & Wakey next up we are looking at a likely 2/6.

We were totally dominated in the second half another try after half time would have closed the match out but you could just see what was going to happen

Not seen the stats but it feels like we had enough chances to score fair few more points. Hooker and Halves ain't firing and poor game management in the 2nd half let Lui and Hastings run riot again. If I was Sheens I'd be getting a new hooker in this week as a priority and then thinking very hard about dropping McGuire for Atkin. Atkin only played few minutes and was a waste of an interchange when Jewitt may have helped us front up a bit more? Can't rely on Garbutt doing it on his own every week. The whole lot of them need a rocket up them.

FWIW, having watched it on on Hull KR tv, I don’t think many neutrals will have much pity regarding Tomkins disallowed/unawarded try.

I remember Liam Watts getting one vaguely similar for us after a video review a few years ago. But at full speed it looks like a knock on. If he was grounding a kick, he might have been in with a better shout.

I'm surprised and disappointed we bottled it but in truth we had the game sewn up and just took our foot off the gas. I'm happy with the forwards and we will only improve when Jewitt returns. Mulhern, Garbutt, Masoe and Jewitt are a top half set of props without a doubt. Main worries are hooker. Especially next week as McShane is quality. It's also looking a year too long for Mcguire but I think he will come good and next week we should be bossing their halves because of the experience and quality advantage we have. I actually feel confident going into the Cas game. Today they fielded Jordan Rankin, Egodo, and Claire - hardly world beaters. We should have a good idea regards Top 5 aspirations after the next couple of rounds.