Chapel House Motor Company Limited Advertising Banner
Page 7 of 7 FirstFirst ... 34567
Results 151 to 159 of 159

Thread: Saints v Leeds (Feb 9)

  1. #151
    Got A Season Ticket
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Born Eccleston, now Handforth
    Posts
    332
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tez the Saint View Post
    They're trying to win rugby matches mate, they're not trying to be some circus act. He started Lee because he knew that if we stayed in the match, Walmsley and Roby would take the game up a notch and it would be up to Leeds to try and stay with us. In my mind that's a good decision, not too many had Lee in their starting 13 and it made a difference to the game. Why's that "safe" or "dull", it was effective and gave us the upper hand. It was a decision that helped us win the match. Richardson played his first game, he's not ready to be commanding and taking on the lead at this stage of his career, it's not how half back play works. Wilkin called the plays and by taking first receiver, he allowed Fages and Richardson to play out the back but with the lisence to call for the ball when they wanted it which is what happened. We didn't put too much pressure on Richardson, we let him find his own way in the game which was the right thing to do IMO. He made some mistakes yesterday but he'd have made a hell of a lot more had Wilkin not been there, as it was he did a sound job in his first game and he'll be more confident for the next one. He have them a role that suited their abilities and strengths.


    That's just not true at all though. You can tell from watching Fages and Richardson that they aren't scrum halves at Super League level, they're stand-offs. You need someone in there who'll be in the game constantly, will bring others into the game constantly, will get the team into the right areas of the field. We played off Wilkin because we wanted to shift the ball to the third and fourth defender so we could move an aging pack around the field. We didn't need Richardson to be Luke Walsh last night because he's not in the same universe yet, he's a young lad playing in a big game and needed to find his feet. If you play Richardson as a genuine 7, you don't win the game. I'm not really sure what you mean by creative but Fages scored a try, made a couple of half breaks, kicked the ball really well, he did everything you want from a half back. He didn't do anything out of this world because he's not a player who is out of the world, I'm not really sure what you're expecting. You leave out the fact that twice in the first half Fages had a four on three down the left edge and got Percival smashed twice, that's because he's not a consistent decision maker and sort of contradicts your hypothesis IMO.

    We completed dreadfully in the first half because we tried to force offloads and they didn't stick. In the second-had we completed far better, kicked the ball really well and turned Leeds around. The pitch was soft and we needed to complete better so we did that, it's what the game was called for. We lost Lomax, had Morgan on the wing, Peyroux in the centre, we had another player injured as well (and remember who because I've not watched it back) it just wasn't the night or the game for that. He made a few decisions that helped win us the game, you just saying they're 'basic' or 'simple' or anything else is just irrelevant because there's nothing to back that up.

    We got the most out of what we had last night and got a win. I didn't think we'd win last night heading into the game. I know you'll reply with a massive post, I'll stand my ground and we won't change each other's opinions because we want and look for difffent things out of the game. I look at it from a playing and winning perspective, you from a supporter and viewing perspective. We attacked poorly because it was a new structure on a cold night with the pressure on. We tried to play more expansively in the first half but it wasn't working and we were beating ourselves so he changed it and let's face it, had we continued to play as we did in the first half we'd have lost the game because the first 40 mins was as poor a half as you'll see really with the ball.
    Bang on! I have been a constant critic of KC as a coach, but thought he got pretty much everything right last night

  2. #152
    Learning All The Songs The frenchman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Crank caverns
    Posts
    1,077
    Rep Power
    9

    Default

    First up I thought it was great lastnight. The first half was awful from us but the second half was really exciting with the close scoreline.

    Getting back to the awful first half... Apart from all the penalties and knock ons we made some bad decisions. Like after peroux held up, we had plenty of time to organise that last tackle play and we ran it into touch instead of trying for a repeat set. Theo had a fantastic game, yes he made some bad decisions but amongst it all he has moments of brilliance like the ball steal and the try to score the winning points. He looked like he was being targeted in defense and it didn't stop him.

    Leeds had a mountain of possession at the right end of the field and they only took 4 points. I would be worried if I was a Leeds fan. Our defense was good, we had some great scrambling moments but Leeds were awful at times. I never felt on edge when they had the ball and their only score, if makinson hadn't slipped for their try I'd bet the scoreline would be 6-0. If I was Cunningham I would have said to the lads at HT, Leeds are crap, defend like your life depends on it and you'll have a chance to pinch this.

    The second half was better but losing Lomax and a new halfback pairing, I wasn't expecting much. Luckily our defense was on form to win the game. I thought Richardson did really well on his debut and I'm looking forward to him having a crack now these next few games. If he had a shakey game or a Cunningham substitution special, you'd have to fear what was going to be served up the following weeks. We really fought for the win and I'm made up for the lads they got it.

    Some points on players I have given some stick...

    I thought peroux was steady, decent defence and a couple of half breaks. No real errors apart from the dodgy offload to Richardson. He still has a brainfart in him but he did ok, solid, ok footwork, poor hands, nearly scored, fair play did alright.

    Tommy Lee, I liked how he was used to soak up the early fight before bringing Roby on for impact and I'll be honest I hadn't thought about it before the game. Again it wasnt an MOM performance but I loved seeing him putting shots in close to our line. We've missed that aggression at 9. If he soaks up the pressure at the beginning giving Roby a chance to shine after 20 that'll do for me.


    Lastly, Tommy makinson, take a bow lad

  3. #153
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk paulscnthorpe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    St Helens
    Age
    40
    Posts
    8,592
    Rep Power
    31

    Default

    I think 99% of the 12,000 were still there till Hall was bundled into touch

    May have been lacking in quality, but it was tense and exciting

  4. #154
    Got A Season Ticket
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Canterbury, Kent
    Posts
    148
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    I came up from Canterbury for the match and thought it was a fantastic game. The quality wasn't that good - all the ball spills and the reffing - but what it lacked in quality it made up for in excitement. I went to the match between England and NZ at the Olympic Stadium the other year. That was really low-scoring and utterly tedious. This wasn't.

    I don't know that much, but wouldn't most NRL clubs have defended as Saints defended last night but certainly have taken their chances up the other end whereas Saints kept getting held up? Likewise, wouldn't they have taken the chances that Rhinos spurned?

    Saints were losing games like this early on last season. We were complacent against Salford. We weren't last night. For me it bodes well for the season. If we're strong at the start we're a team that gets stronger.

    I thought Burrow had a good game - probing, busy. Golding kept Rhinos in it single-handed, but some excellent defence from Saints stopped him getting momentum more than once in his own half. Aren't Leeds like Cas? Brilliant in broken play if they get the chance. They didn't get that last night.

  5. #155
    Got A Replica Shirt tom83's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    60
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Got to admit that I love a strong defensive game, as much as a open attacking match, so I really enjoyed last night. It was the first time it was just me and the boy too. A night of many positives, Richardson was impressive, he made a few errors, but his defence was excellent, never took a step back against the much bigger Leeds players despite being targeted every time they came down our right side. Wilkin, Walmsley and Fages stood out for me too.

    The biggest surprise was we didn't kick on the 3rd tackle, to my memory, at all. Almost every set that was completed was kicked on the 5th, and thats a good thing to see. So maybe we will see a change in Cunninghams philosophy this year. Something that hasn't changed though, is how flat we are when attacking. Its almost like we are lining up defensively with a flat line, and its suffocating any chance of creative rugby. Last night Leeds were lining up deeper and it gave them space, especially when Burrow went on one of his scampering runs. When I used to play, we was always taught that players should make a 90 degree angle with the play the ball at the point, so that you could run on to the ball, or you had time to throw it about before the defence moved up. Maybe its just me, but we always seem to get caught with the ball after 2 or 3 passes.

    Something else that bothered me last night was how long Lomax was left on the pitch after he got his concussion. After his tackle, from my seat I could see he was struggling to walk straight and it was about 2 minutes before the physio got out to him, then they left him on the pitch while we defended a set, he collected the ball and had to signal to Makinson to take it off him, and he was still on the pitch for another 90 seconds or so. In my opinion he should have gone off as soon as the Physio saw to him, or he should have stayed down after the initial tackle, and let Bentham stop the game.

    Anyway, Im pleased with 2 points, especially against a different, better Leeds team from last year. Im currently watching Leigh get taught a lesson from Cas, so hopefully it should be 4 from 4 before we play Wakefield.

  6. #156
    Starting A Programme Collection paulx2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Greenwich, London
    Posts
    747
    Rep Power
    11

    Default

    All in all pretty good stuff from the mighty Saints.
    A first hit out doesn't usually tell you everything you need to know but what you can say is defensively we were bloody awesome.......And the attack will only get better once we click into gear so it bodes well!
    COYS

    Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

  7. #157
    Learning All The Songs
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    1,849
    Rep Power
    18

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by paulx2 View Post
    All in all pretty good stuff from the mighty Saints.
    A first hit out doesn't usually tell you everything you need to know but what you can say is defensively we were bloody awesome.......And the attack will only get better once we click into gear so it bodes well!
    COYS

    Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
    Well it cant get much worse!

  8. #158
    Got A Season Ticket
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Rio de Janeiro
    Posts
    216
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Funny thing about taking a Mexican to watch a 6-4 rugby match is that he now thinks this type of low score is the standard of the game. Not that it is a problem - he loved the experience - but after I explained to him that usually many more points are scored, he says he can't even imagine how a team might get 40+ points in a single game. Well, I guess he'll have to go a second time just to check it out.

    By the way, any news on Jonny Lomax? Hope his injury was not too serious.
    St Helens fan from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  9. #159
    Learning All The Songs roy litherland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Moss Bank
    Posts
    1,986
    Rep Power
    19

    Default

    Difference in "attitude" compared to the last couple of years stuck out a mile to me .
    roy litherland it's happened i told you it would

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •