Did I notice that Luke Thompson didn't come back on, I hope it was just precautionary after that crusher tackle.
Did I notice that Luke Thompson didn't come back on, I hope it was just precautionary after that crusher tackle.
Fages seemed to take a very late heavy tackle after he kicked for one of the tries.
Good second half and a good win in the end. To win 12-40 without playing very well is a good sign. Peyroux has been much better the past couple of games and I thought Coote was outstanding. Barba was great to watch but it’s nice to have a fullback who sort of goes under the radar but is very classy at the same time. He’s an excellent player and is starting to look like the best fullback in the league by a distance even if he isn’t a maverick in attack. For me the two really poor performances came from Grace and Fages. Grace needs to stop charging out of the line. In his defence they had the numbers every time but he makes it far easier for the opposition to score when he comes out of the line. Fages has played well up until tonight but I thought he had a stinker. I don’t want to bash him to much but he offers very little with the ball and always plays the short pass. I think if you were to put a player of Jackson Hastings calibre into this team you’d notice the difference. That said, a comfortable win with plenty of tries and probably should have had a couple of more as well. Whilst we aren’t as good in attack this year I think we look more balanced overall. Another great start to the season.
The second half defence is undoubtedly down to fitness but also the depth in quality in the forwards being interchanged. They are all putting themselves about and, unless we make a mistake, we are playing the game in the opposition half. This is obviously an advantage but also demoralising for the other team as the game goes on
The first half flattered the Giants somewhat; yeah, they defended well overall, but we bombed four try scoring opportunities in the first half and they took their only two chances they had. If we had scored even 2 of the 4 we bombed, I think we would have put 70 on them.
For me the one really poor performance was Percival despite scoring 2 tries. There were quite a few players who made errors in that first half, I thought Fages got targeted for most of the game in both attack and defence for the latter he made 24 tackles and didn't miss a tackle ,in attack because of him being targeted he had to use the short ball a lot and let Lomax take the attacking options.
I was wondering if other teams have identified Percival as the weak link in defence now Fages has shored up the other side of the field. Last season it was Richardson that was getting most of the traffic for obvious reasons but are teams trying to expose us on Percival /Grace side of the field now?
Last night was a thoroughly professional performance. I wasn’t impressed with the Coote signing but he’s silenced me. We’re looking good and a better balanced team than last year. Happy days.
screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies
Good job last night by Saints. We didn't panic when Hudds were staying in the game and that meant we were able to grind them down. Our decision making is miles ahead of where it was last year.
Some observations:
- I still think our Achilles heel is our kicking game. Coote does seem to be improving, but it still seems like a bit of a lottery as to whether the execution of the kick on the last is going to be any good or not.
- Matty Lees has a habit of flying out of the line at inopportune moments and this got us into trouble on a couple of occasions yesterday. On one of those occasions he got lucky and was able to intercept a pass on his way back to the line, but it's something he'll need to work on
- I'd love to see Regan Grace really back himself when he gets a bit of room. That passage of play that started with a break and ended with a knock on summed him up for me: lightning footwork to make the break, but as soon as he is in space his first thought is to panic and try to get rid of the ball. If he learns to trust himself he could be a really dangerous winger.
Huddersfield were obviously feeling the effects of that Wigan game, and losing a couple of players didn't help them, particularly in the last quarter when Saints were able to dominate. Our last tackle kicks leave a lot to be desired and Fages needs to learn how to keep them low to the ground rather than at waist height and to legs - too many ended up being fielded by the defence. Grace's break came to an end when he tried to shift the ball to the other hand. The lack of a goal kicker at the moment is not a problem, but there will come a time when 2 or 4 points will make the difference. We have the ability to keep going to the end which is testament to our fitness. Early on was worrying how easily they unlocked our left flank defence. an extra day now ehead of a crundh meeting with Cas. No injury worries other than a 'stinger' for Roby.
Although our last tackle kicks have only improved slightly the biggest difference from last season was our follow up from the kick they rescue a poor kick by swamping the receiver. Last night there was about 6 occasions we had 3 or 4 players backing up the kick with the receiver having nowhere to go and they had to waste two tackles before all there forwards got back.
Its this type of team commitment which is setting up our efficient defence.
I'd add goal kicking to that list. I don't think we've kicked one from wide out in the 6 games so far. It hasn't mattered up to now as we are scoring plenty of tries but it may be a concern in the tight games later on. Hopefully Cooooooooooooote gets better but we need some other competent kickers in case he doesn't play, and it's obvious Percival doesn't want to do it. At present, if we score more than half way out from the sticks I just expect 4 and not 6.
"Never write off the Saints!!"
Are we all just going to ignore Peyroux's 'gamesmanship' to win two penalties?
At least Roby didn't try to milk it but referees need to stop rewarding this tactic. If the play the ball is slowed down because you kicked the ball back into an opposition player who was a couple of feet behind you or decided to straddle him unnecessarily then it should be tough luck. If you go 'full Wigan' and knock the ball on then you should lose possession and clearly moving off the mark or playing the ball before standing up should be a penalty.
When players are genuinely tangled up the referee should direct the play the ball (one step left for example) and tell the defence that they can go on his call.
I don't think the Peyroux PTB's were nowhere near as bad as what we've seen by the serial cheaters. He didn't take a few seconds to move a couple of metres to stride over the tackler on the ground, you always get a fast PTB from Peyroux in every game but legally he wasn't allowed to and the ref call was almost instant instead of waiting for the cheating to manifest itself.
I thinks it's quite unlikely to see Jack Ashworth back in a Leigh Shirt...he's doing ok from what I have seen...
Roy, Costello isn't in the 19 man squad as it looks like ex Pie Jack Higginson will finally be making his debut at centre. Aaron Smith is in, and will definitely be in the 17, as Micky Higham isn't. Also in are Douglas & Bentley.....so just the 4 Saints players then ! Oh and 'naughty boy'' Scott Moore is in the Rochdale team today...