Milking? He clearly got hit hard in the head by Wheeldon, then two players jumped on him, I'd bet most players would would have stayed down after taking a hit to the head off a prop, it should have been 10 minutes.

Nothing to do with Connor, he was doing it all match, as soon as we went 20 points in the lead in the 2nd half, they gave up playing rugby, the ref took too long to get involved and we stupidly got dragged in.

Connor does need to control himself a bit at times though I agree, as he is getting a reputation and will be targeted my refs, he has been sinbinned twice recently and if it had been another player they would have just got spoken too.

Any other game though and Connor wouldn't have been sin binned last night. He got a yellow for a push, after sticking up for his team mate who just got dumped on his head. Holmes pushed first and Connor just pushed back. Understand why he was sin binned,the ref was just trying to defuse every situation,but under normal circumstances Holmes would have been binned for the throw and Connor given a bit of a telling off.

Reckon we're gonna be having an academy v academy derby next week, and I don't expect it will be a match that neutrals are now planning on sticking around for.

You see the issue with that?

On simulation, I was impressed with Carney saying we have to admit that it exists in our game and it has reached a point where the players (and by extension their coaches) have to decide where it goes from here, not the refs.

Nearly every tackle the players are looking to the ref for a decision, chucking themselves on the floor, or holding while claiming they’re being held, and the like. It doesn’t make for an edifying or entertaining spectacle.

When the ref fails to protect players they will only take so much before responding . On connor if he put as much effort into his game as he does his mouth what a player he would be .Onto the derby do you have any half backs we can borrow , looking forward to a lot of local lads playing for both sides and as Radders said last night the ones who get picked will be bouncing !

Harris

Limiting the role of videos refs would help. Players are staying down cause they know it will give the video ref chance to look at it again, and also the on field official will see it on the big screen.
Let video refs check for try or no try and that's it. At a stretch let them check who shuttled a ball out of play (drop out or 20 metre restart) but they shouldn't be allowed to look at things themselves and radio down to the on field official telling them to change their decision.

Can't see it, registered with Donny and not sure w could fit him under the cap.

I'd think we'd look at Smith at Saints if Sneyd is out for the season, but I expect Radford to to stick with what we have.

Thinking about it some more, as fans we have to take responsibility too, and think about the point at which we don’t want to win ‘like that’.

One of the highlights of 2017 for me was when, defending a narrow lead vs Widnes, we held on in the tackle conceding a worthless penalty and wasting a few more potentially crucial seconds. Now, my joy arose from a very particular previous event and it was about laying a ghost to rest and showing that we could be hard headed. I remember it almost as fondly as Shaw’s long range try. But I was celebrating a professional foul, no two ways about it.

I think everyone thought the same about that professional foul

It was a hugely cathartic moment. But I imagine to Widnes fans it just looked like bad sportsmanship.

The thing with simulation now though is the amount of it - it feels like we’re well past the thin end of the wedge, and maybe even the point of no return, because it seems to work.

We did loads at the middle 8’s away game at Leigh too, and it showed we had learned a few lessons from 2016. Derek Beaumont saw it slightly different to me have to say.

Anyway back on topic. Our injury list appears to have been miraculously halved due to the intervention of the faith healer that is Gareth Westmorland. Everyone is apparently cured apart from Flash Flanagan.

On the flipside, Hull are so decimated that Radfords yet to be conceived grandchild is lined up to play half back. Our chances of avoiding humiliation are once again in tatters.