Saints match

[Southern Softy]

Golly!
Saints were dreadful (but that's not our problem) and the referee, who I rate, had an awful match, not helped by the useless touch judges.
More important, we are beginning to look like a team with real quality. Fair play to Isa and Sarge who were outstanding and the return of Gildart made a real difference. I'm looking forward to next season with Greenwood and Faz as second-rows - I'm guessing Greenwood will move to the right to replace Bateman and Hamlin looks to be ready to start every week.
We are still slow across the pitch but if we can break from deep like we did last night, that won't be so important and someone needs to get a hold of the defence from the kick-off and stop letting the ball bounce.
Probably one of the best performances of this season and things look good for next season (we might just be going into it as Grand Final winners.)

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

Ben Barba World Class

He is Jimmy.

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

A tremendous result, Greenwood and Bateman were exceptional.Hamlin off the bench was superb.Everyone did their job though and only Makinson showed up for Saints as they were bullied all night.

Their pack has been bullied over the last month, beaten in three of the last four games and the Wire should also have taken the spoils at their place. Not seen much from Richardson over the last month, thank goodness Rads and IFl don't read and act on the views of people on this website!

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

The interview with Sarge on Wigan TV was interesting. He said John Winder had told him to do less carries clearing our line to leave him with more energy at the other end of the pitch. Makes you wonder whether we had a plan to let the backs do the donkey work early in the season and rest the forwards and we have now swapped things around allowing our relatively fresh forwards to dominate the opposition. Same thoughts apply to the Powell / Leuluai situation as we have now got an 80 minute Hooker and can pack the bench with forwards if needed.

They must have listened to Edward's who was clear in his interview that the forwards should be making the hard yards, the halves should create chances and the outside backs should finish them off.

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

Golly!
Saints were dreadful (but that's not our problem) and the referee, who I rate, had an awful match, not helped by the useless touch judges.
More important, we are beginning to look like a team with real quality. Fair play to Isa and Sarge who were outstanding and the return of Gildart made a real difference. I'm looking forward to next season with Greenwood and Faz as second-rows - I'm guessing Greenwood will move to the right to replace Bateman and Hamlin looks to be ready to start every week.
We are still slow across the pitch but if we can break from deep like we did last night, that won't be so important and someone needs to get a hold of the defence from the kick-off and stop letting the ball bounce.
Probably one of the best performances of this season and things look good for next season (we might just be going into it as Grand Final winners.)

Saints were made to look second rate. Their forwards had little impact and therefore it was always going to be a long night at the office. It would seem that teams have found their Achilles heel, it will be interesting to see how they respond.

[Firestarter]

Definitely the best performance of the season and a great atmosphere in the stands too.

There was a much greater focus on hitting Saints down the middle and that made a massive difference compared to the previous derby.

All our 'middles' were excellent and far better as a group than Saints. Defensively they strangled the life out of them, reduced their opportunities and put pressure on them throughout which meant that Saints were having to chance their arm more to create opportunities and the pressure got to them.
Hamlin provided real entertainment in his first spell. For those who criticised the signing because of his size before he'd even played a game - if anything it seems to give him an advantage. He's got such strength and a low centre of gravity that when he charges low into the tackle it's hard for defenders to go for the legs without being bumped off. He's the sort of player Eamon O'Carroll could have been with a bit more athleticism.
Flower (great first half and his ability to change the point of attack in an instant is brilliant), Clubb and Sutton were as good as you'd expect but I thought Navarrete had his best ever game for the club.

O'Loughlin made a huge difference as expected. We scored one try mainly through very simple passes across the line but it was all made possible by Lockers taking the ball to the line, drawing defenders and creating the overlap that could be exploited with the simplest of passes (although Greenwood made an excellent contribution to that move too).

I think Leuluai is the best hooker we have but it does seem like Wane has found the best solution to our halfback issue. I think the key isn't so much Tommy playing 7 but Williams being allowed to move across the field and attack down our right edge. Both Powell and Leuluai have had their issues on that side but Williams having the freedom to attack that side takes the pressure off our halfback. Tommy now seems to be playing the same way he did at NZ Warriors, where Shaun Johnson would switch sides at times and Tommy could concentrate on drawing defenders and creating space before the pass and let Johnson run the ball more.
Also, with Powell as an 80 minute hooker it means less disruption - switching him mid-game was always making his job that much harder with him playing a different role for the first 20-25 minutes.

Long term I do think we need a new halfback, and the prospect of Powell starting at 9 and Leuluai coming off the bench is something I'd really like to see

I find it interesting that Adrian Lam visited the club for his inveiling as new coach and presumably met with some of the coaching staff, identified that Williams would benefit from being given the freedom to work both sides of the pitch, and since then that's exactly what's been happening. I do hope both current and future coaches had discussions and shared ideas.

I thought Greenwood was our man of the match. Sure, he might not have the agility and intensity of John Bateman but he's the sort of forward we've lacked for some time - a big powerful runner out wide. Farrell and Bateman worked as a back row because they are both fantastic players but there were always limitations. Greenwood is giving us something different, a threat who can draw in players and slip the ball out the back with an offload. Who plays left and right side next year might be intersting. I hope it's not another Sarginson and Gildart situation.

Speaking of Sarge, he was excellent. It's great to see him back and playing with confidence again. He got a lot of stick from fans (myself included) at the start of the year. My biggest concern was that there was not much to gain by keeping him in the side when he was making errors and carrying an injury and that he needed to be taken out of the firing line. Now he's injury free and getting some good opportunities he's proving to be a useful member of the squad.

Hopefully we don't do what has been very common over the last few years, put in a brilliant performance in a derby and completely fall apart the following week. Wakefield will be a tough test and while finishing 2nd is the only real goal at present - it would be nice to maintain this confidence and excitement over the next few weeks by going on on unbeaten run.

good post.... its no coincidence that sarge is playing better at left centre...... i made a point ov him and gilly swapping at the start ov the season and ill stick by what i said......hes doing ok at the moment and personally, i think, hes a far better centre than gelling

[Barney841]

We outplayed saints on the night in every department. Saints had a couple and ok they did fluff them and they lost their heads abit towards the end.
We made them look bad, not that they were poor like Holbrook and a few people have said

[moto748]

Maybe with Sarge it's as much about getting back to full fitness as anything else? He certainly had a great game last night.

[southportcdm]

Much better from Sarge. It seems that he's much happier on the left. It will be interesting for Waney to come up with the best combinations now. i.e. does he get Gilly to play on the right (or stray on the wing) and, if Manfredi gets back in does he play on the right (where he usually plays) or the left leaving Davies on the right? Great effort last night and still potential to improve the 17 if we can get Faz and Manfredi back in time. Really pleased with Greenwood, great to see a big backrower creating havoc with the opposition's defence

[TrueBlueWarrior]

Was it Cats and inparticular Moa that suggested Stains were soft down the middle?