I thought both Burke and Green had really good games today, but yes, we are short in the forwards.

We had enough ball and territory to win today but whereas last week absolutely everything came off, today we made a few really crucial errors and our discipline was again very poor. At least three or four penalties were given away on tackles three and four.

Widnes are pretty limited, but they know that and are very good at what they do which is sticking to the game plane and making sure they have a high completion rate with very few errors. Their line speed was excellent although I did think they were offside (admittedly difficult to tell from behind the sticks) and allowed to be for the whole game.

Before the game I thought it was imperative that we got a hold on Banbury, which we did. Unfortunately we allowed Mellor and the excellent Heremaia to do pretty much what they wanted.

No complaints from me, we knew we had to try and win with only 2 recognised props but we didn't find the formula until the last quarter. Widnes must have made 500 metres more than us today. 1st half discipline was shocking and ultimately cost us the game, although conceding a 95 m try direct from a scrum doesn't help.

Ken Sio was probably the only player to enhance his reputation today. We should have played Dixon over Cockayne, on that pitch he could have made a difference, whereas the ball out the back from Campese to Cockayne was easily read by them all game.

Disappointed by the result and the performance.

Although hard to judge, I listened to the game on Radio Humberside. They said we were getting smashed up the middle by the Widnes forwards in the first half and conceding way too many metres and territory in the process. This pressure was compounded by the penalties we also gave away in a vain attempt to slow the ptb.

By contrast RH said we were completing our sets on or around the half way line and kicking poorly as an end result.

I would be interested to know why we feel the need to give teams such a head start, before we up the tempo and play with the necessary intelligence, urgency and Intensity? Is it a team mindset, selection issues or perhaps a lightweight pack on this occasion?

It seems we could and maybe should have come away with at least a point, but the fact we didn't is another lost opportunity. This could be a blessing in disguise as it may teach us some much needed and valuable lessons on basic game management and composure over the next vital few games.

Finally, from what I heard, John Boudebza at hooker seemed to provide some go forward spark and momentum. Larroyer and McCarthy had subdued games. Is this true?

Could have and maybe should have won in the last minute,how can we get a penalty and get no advantage ? In truth as stan says the 1st half was a disgrace and its 2 pts thrown away through our own indiscipline,apart from the last decision the ref matt thomason had a decent game.Please can we learn from our mistakes !

We got the penalty as there was no advantage. Kelly's attempts at grounding were a good 6" short of the line, it was right in front of me.

Fair play,I thought the ref had a decent game did you ?

Thought mcarthy was good,worked really hard,french john offered something different as lunt tired.

Not for me. I'm not a fan of McCarthy, I think he's too small but he went pretty well today. Larroyer wasn't bad, just average. I really don't agree that they smashed us up the middle, if anything they didn't exploit that anywhere near as much as I thought they would.

As Stan mentioned the try straight from a scrum was unforgivable, it just shouldn't happen at this level.

I like Mantomato a lot but he has a serious lack of pace.

One last point for now. Why on gods green earth is Kelly defending inside Salter? Every team we've played has exploited this and continuously run at him, his tackling technique isn't bad, he's just small. He should be defending outside the centre and being second into the contact not first. For a while in the second half we remedied this with Salter next to the second rower, but I think this was just an accident because a few minutes later they'd swapped back.

No I had a stinker. I need dropping for next week and replacing with Gary Kemp.

SirStan, have you been reading The Viz again?

Not since about 1994. Roger Mellie was a particular favourite of mine.

Didn't his brother play for St Helens a couple of years ago?

good game today 2 well matched sides our pack just shaded it best of luck for the rest of the season

I was always a fan of "The Pathetic Sharks".



Thanks, I thought we had the better players, but you were by far the better ten. Bette seems to be doing a really good job for you. And thank you to the man that recommended a pint of Merrman, very nice, sorted my beak right out.

Tough game today and it could have gone either way in the end but i always felt we were just that bit better, we have a load of players out injured at the moment so I'm just glad we picked up the 2 points. I was impressed with Sio from you guys and Albert Kelly always looks dangerous, Great brain on Campese but he looks like he has the legs of a 40 year old.