Don't think I've seen a worse Leeds team. Knew they couldn't win so they spoiled the second half aided and abetted by Mr Thaler who looks unfit to me. Haven't decided whether or not I want to watch it back.
Agree that it was all a bit sloppy. We seemed to try and play a lot of passing between the forwards and it just didn’t work. Maybe the absence of Knowles and Paulo, two ball players in the middle, meant we needed to play differently and led to players having to do things they aren’t used to doing
I actually thought Leeds dug in reasonably well but if we’d have clicked as we can we’d have got 50 easily
Awful game with a terrible ref
Leeds are so bad they had every single decision and still got bummed
We must have knocked on 10 sets out of 12 at one point and still won easily
Just watching after getting home. On the ground I thought it was a high tackle from Peyroux but watching on tv he seems to hit the shoulder and then miss the head altogether.
Also another commentator mixing up Grace and Naiqama on about 59 mins.
I am angry, I am ill and I'm as ugly as sin ...
Leeds look terrible. Are they spending to the full cap? If so they can’t have spent it wisely. They have plenty youngsters who won’t be on huge money. Its not like they have a ton of players out injured. Even at full strength they just don’t look to have a good balance of talent across the squad.
screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies
I agree with all that is being said about Saints performance and the state of Leeds. I would just add I thought we lacked any kind of imagination or cutting edge for lengthy spells when in Leeds 20 metre area. There didn't seem to be anyone controlling things for us which was another disappointing aspect for me.
I thought we were awful & Leeds were luckily, utterly hopeless.
What was needed was some set completion & to play them down their end of the field for a bit.
We played helter skelter rugby & made it a lot more difficult than it should have been.
Concerns have been raised about this before but last night, we really could have done with a commanding half to take control. I am a bit worried for how we will deal with things going wrong in a crunch game
My thoughts exactly. I said on another thread a few weeks ago that, as good as Fages has been this season, we still need a controlling half back to compliment lomax.
The last few weeks we’ve lost our way in the middle of matches (after starting well) and lacked any sort of direction.
That lack of direction could cost us in the big games when it’s tight.
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I was working last night so only caught parts of the game on my phone. From what I did see, we just didn't respect the ball. We were in front on the scoreboard and were trying to be Harlem Globetrotters. Play our sets out, make them throw the ball about and feed off their mistakes. I don't mean take our foot off the gas I mean put it on their throat. Start practicing knock out football.
Thought we missed Paulo and knowles linkup in the middle and were maybe guilty of trying too hard. Was that the reason we looked like we were panicking at times. We seemed to go away from what weve done well so far all season. People call Paulo but Louie can't do what him and knowles do, did he get sky mom? Thought he came up with quite a few errors.
By the end we were missing about 5 or 6 starters so to not play well and put 36 on them was good. How far have Leeds fallen, some of their fans saying it was a pleasing performance. At no point did I think we would come close to loosing.
Last edited by The frenchman; 22nd June 2019 at 10:32.
I’m content with the performance given that we won while missing a couple of key players and not playing anywhere near our best for most of the game. Much better to win relatively low-key games against weaker opposition without hitting the heights for most of the game and peak with stellar performances when we face top opponents.
I agree. Impossible to be at your best for 30 plus games. I think if the opposition was stronger we’d have been a bit more selective with our passes. It was so easy last night that rightly or wrongly we were trying all kinds knowing we weren’t going to get punished if it didn’t come off. Put Knowles and to some extent Paulo back in and everything settles down again
In terms of how we attack, I think it’s a necessity to have two ball playing 13’s or at least two 13’s who can use the ball and obviously they were both missing last night. The passes that Paulo and Knowles typically get right in their sleep weren’t hitting the mark or weren’t even being thrown and I thought that was a big reason why we struggled in attack. There’s a natural dip in performance when Walmsley and Thompson go off anyway but with the two loose forwards missing, it was just a bit more obvious.
Other than that I thought we were OK to be honest. When Walmsley and Thompson were on we were fine, we started well and finished well. Just made too many errors with the ball either side of half-time.
Steve Prescott MBE (1973-2013)
V
I think Paulo is underrated mate. He comes on at an awkward time and he doesn’t have Walmsley and Thompson alongside him either for the first 20/25 mins of his stint which makes it tougher for him as well but we certainly missed him last night in the second half.
Agree on Leeds as well. Shaun Wane would do a lot of good for that club IMO.
Steve Prescott MBE (1973-2013)
V
For me we need to learn that we don't need to be expansive on every set we caused too many errors forcing passes that were not on. Even though we put ourselves under pressure I thought we defended well. I don't think we were ever in any trouble, but it could have been different but for those first 4 mins.
Someone above mentioned the sky commentators. I usually have a go at Clarke, but last night I thought he was very good. He started with the other games and I thought he was Knowledgeable, fair and balanced with all of them. Then he came onto our game and was absolutely gushing over Saints. The ground is fantastic, we are the best team SL has seen for 10 - 15 years. No one else can play at our level. I don't know why the change and my view of him last night started before he got to our game.
Hopefully I don't have to slag him off again next week.
I feel we are very complacent at the minute as we know we can comfortably beat most teams. It has only bitten us twice this season so far. I hope we can snap out of this for the bigger games, starting next week. If not, we could see a repeat of last season.
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It was a very scratchy game and I can't really add much to the insight already offered. I think the coach said as much at the end of the game.
However, I think we can't use this to worry too much about the big games. The concentration levels will be much improved and we will have a far better completion rate.
My main worry for the big games is Hull fc. They seemed to have discovered a rich vein of form at the moment.
They could be the real threat rather than Warrington.
I don't think our players will have any problems being up for next weeks game.
The resurgent of Hull has come at a good time and I hope it continues, they can put pressure on Warrington. If we beat Warrington next week and Hull win their own game then they are breathing down their necks for 2nd place, the CC semi final game will be similar pressure.
As long as we don’t suffer some serious injuries we have both hands on the LLS. We will finish top. Its hard to imagine us not making the Grand Final too. We would have to lose 2 home games in the play offs to not make Old Trafford. Thats hard to imagine if we play anything like we can.
screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies