Cats v Wigan

[doc]

Last year we had Bateman playing right second row to shore up the defence along with Isa in the centres.

This year we started the season with KPP as right second row and leaked tries. Isa came in at second row and the tries stopped. Isa gets injured and we start leaking tries again. Too much of a coincidence.

IMO Isa does all the basics to a good level, especially defensively. Sadly he lacks a few pounds to be a really great forward (though he does play above his weight and always gives 100%) and lacks the speed to be a really great centre but he does a good job covering both positions.

[mickali1]

Last year we had Bateman playing right second row to shore up the defence along with Isa in the centres.

This year we started the season with KPP as right second row and leaked tries. Isa came in at second row and the tries stopped. Isa gets injured and we start leaking tries again. Too much of a coincidence.

IMO Isa does all the basics to a good level, especially defensively. Sadly he lacks a few pounds to be a really great forward (though he does play above his weight and always gives 100%) and lacks the speed to be a really great centre but he does a good job covering both positions.

Spot on. Especially the highlighted bit.

[moto748]

That's all and good, but surely, even on the most optimistic level, Isa has only one more season in him?

[mickali1]

That's all and good, but surely, even on the most optimistic level, Isa has only one more season in him?

Sadly, you're probably right.

[EagleEyePie]

Last year Isa couldn’t get in the team for a long period of time. He was regarded on here by most as a good squad player, with utility value but not good enough to start week in week out.

Fast forward to this year and many posters are saying he is a vital cog and a key player we are missing through injury.

Is it a sign Isa has stepped up or that our squad has gotten worse which is why he’s now become vital?

Probably a bit of both but a good topic of discussion.

I think some of it is just confirmation bias. Even the absence of the very best players don't result in such a huge drop in performance. If you rate Isa you might see how well he was performing the last few weeks, see us playing badly now he's not in the team and decide it must be the reason.

Except the last game that Isa played for us we shipped 40 points against Leeds and were absolutely horrendous. If Isa couldn't do anything to prevent that why would that one player missing be the reason we're getting exposed by Catalans?

I'm not being critical of Isa. I have been in the past but I think some of his recent performances have been among the best of his career. The fact that he's raised his game at the age of 34 is impressive. He will make a difference when he's back in the side because he is a good defender, but our problems come from more than just the absence of one player.

What I would say is that at the start of the season our right edge was badly exposed. Isa was very much a part of that and he was dropped a couple of times as both he and KPP tried to find some sort of form. I think our right edge being exposed against Catalans is a similar issue. When we play badly our right edge gets exposed because we allow teams to target it. If you're on the back foot it's so much harder to defend close to the line than if a team is in the same position but the defending is organised, aggressive and working as a unit.

When we're playing badly as a team pretty much every player can get exposed.

[fozzieskem]

That's all and good, but surely, even on the most optimistic level, Isa has only one more season in him?

Oh I'd agree they do seem to have let the clock almost run out on his career instead of trying to get a replacement ready

[Big stick]

I’ve always seen matautia as his replacement however that ships probably sailed with him being at Warrington

[archiekeith]

I like Peet but he isn’t a top flight coach in a month of Sundays. He doesn’t know how to fix things when they are going wrong. We need a new experienced coach.

we have Tommy and Lockers.

And this is why we are shite

Too true. There's a well coached side playing good RL only 8 miles from Wigan.

[Bobby-WRL]

The same team whose fans have been calling their head coach Cunningham Mark 2????

[archiekeith]

The same team whose fans have been calling their head coach Cunningham Mark 2????

St Helens of course. Excellent team If you enjoy watching good footy