No. But did you know that Leeds DOMINATED us in the first 20 minutes afterwhich the score was 0-0. According to Phil Clarke.
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The fact we can be flat in the first half and then come out strong in the second half is a real testament to Holbrook. Half time is where Coaches are under most pressure, they see things in the first half that need ammending, and he puts that into practice during his HT speech. Incredible coach.
I'd rather Eaves gets more game time over Smith now. Smith seems to fall off tackles too much and can't take a bump, IMO.
They talk mediocrity up to try to create some drama.
Sadly the vast majority of people watching on Sky have watched the sport for a fair while so it becomes apparent immediately that they are talking complete twaddle.
Thereby dragging the presentation of the sport further and further into the gutter.
When Clarke first came on Sky, he was a breath of fresh air. He must have been told to change his style or be controversial or something. After the 'rugby Gods' comment about McGuire when he did his cruciate at Wigan, he should have been binned there & then
Yes, we had a weak kicking game in that first half and I was almost sure Holbrook would get that fixed up in the interval talk. The one thing the SKY commentary got right was that Saints are patient and wait for their opportunities were as Leeds lacked composure and gave a lot of ball away and didn't really apply a lot of pressure, Saints looked comfortable defending in their own 20 metres..
Eaves was a fresh alternative to Smith and looks a bit more robust, his distribution was sharper but he did throw out some inaccurate passes but a decent performance which I think was only his 2nd Superleague game.
I would say he’s just behind Makinson as the best finisher in the league. Give him the ball in the red zone and he will finish.
However I’m not convinced defensively. He is often out of position and gets beat on his outside shoulder. I think Holbrook got it right pairing him with Makinson.
First time to see him Ralph good hands. I think Bentley may get a bench spot at Wembley, like Roy, have been a fan of his tackling since day one, he is now going higher more on the waist and trying to turtle oppo`s in one movement. Merrin and himself had a little battle in that department, Merrin edged it as expected but Bentley will be the better for it.
I believe Leeds were using last nights game as a benchmark after two convincing wins against poorer teams. So it's back to the drawing board then,,,