New poster here. Emigrated from St Helens in 2016 and now reside in Queensland after a short stay in Melbourne.
Great to see us 2 from 2 esp beating the Goons first up.Watch whichever Saints games I can via Foxtel.
Coote criticism is fair as he’s a professional and he will have seen some very varied conditions over here. Manly’s Brookvale Oval is a very minor upgrade on Belle Vue. He is class player and will improve. You won’t get that by dropping him.
I used to be quite anti NRL but now massively respect it. I also love how the Aussies in most states treat it as the No.1 sport. We have signed 3 very good players. Not Fairleighs, Lyons or Meningas but guys who are equipped to get us I. The top 4/5/whatever it is and push on from there.
Stay positive. Come on you Saints...
Even I can’t understand a lot of the criticism I’ve seen. It’s a good start to the season, it’s always a tight game against Wakefield and we defended brilliantly in the second half. The only major concern I have is that neither half can kick. Paulo also needs to improve but we’re only two games in and they’ve been games that haven’t really suited him.
Apart from his kicking I think coote had a pretty good game. He was supposed to be our left foot kicker while Richardson was meant to be our right footed kicker but it hasn't worked out like that so far. There's pros and cons about selecting Richardson and fages and I'm sure Danny will get his chance before too long.
Sounds to me like job done.... 2 points....move on Wakey have turned us over more than once at their gaff so i'm happy with a win.
Just got back from Riga so missed the game.
2 points is 2 points chaps. Play scratchy & win is a good sign for me
I think you're right about Coote and the pitch. It is tight, and perhaps looks bigger than it actually is? Throw in the wind, and maybe we should forgive him? I didn't think his kick from the restart would ever land!
Brough obviously took full advantage of the weather, but has had plenty of time to practice. I doubt if Coote has ever been there before.
Happy with the 2 points.
...And credit to Fifita for coming over to the Saints fans at the end. It's what the games all about!
Last edited by KentishBarry; 11th February 2019 at 09:51.
Said for a while we should sign fafita. Douglas and amor can go to fund him.
I think those who think Coote is being harshly criticised are missing the point. Most people who are are commenting on his kicking. His pluses in the two games have been he has been tidy in defence and has great passing ability. Of course he needs time. But if he was the standard FB that would be fine as he would not be kicking too much. But JH told us he is a great positional kicker ‘ a great left foot’. So he is being used in that roll. I doubt anyone can say if they watched both games that his kicking has been good enough. I was there yesterday and I’m not being harsh but it was woeful. Topped with a vital high ball drop I honestly believe he was the main reason we were on the back foot for large periods of time. That and TBF a bit of indiscipline by other players penalties. I don’t know how he will pan out. We all want it to work, but if and it is an if his kicking (or lack of) does not improve JH will have to come up with alternative kicking options. JH must have seen it yesterday as later in the game Fages started positional kicking duties for the remainder of the game.
Humans are more concerned with having than being.
My take on the game. The wind was extremely tricky to cope with, and with a small pitch Coote found it difficult to judge his long kicks. We were in total control until Kevin N seemed to get a knock. They targeted him and Dom mercilessly for the rest of the half and that's were their success came from. They didn't miss Brough when he was binned, as they scored while he was off, and as soon as he came back on we scored.
We put ourselves under unnecessary pressure second half conceding a string of penalties. As others have said, Roby and Thompson were immense in the final quarter of the game and at 18-18 we seized the momentum. The set of drives that culminated in Louie's winning try was as inevitable as it was joyous to watch. There was no stopping us.
Always a tough place to go for us, so to come away with the points shows a determined performance, if still a little rusty.
As usual a nightmare return on the M62 with a multi-car pile up on Rishworth Moor holding everyone up.
pretty happy with 2 out of 2.
Learned comment from The Don
Isn't what having a squad is all about, If you don't play well somebody else steps in?
For me Theo and Paulo were rubbish so play someone else?
I have just watched the highlights on the Saints site, Theo was involved taking the ball to the line for all but one of our tries and Percy`s disallowed effort, Johnny also involved as a link in three of them.
Wakey away, bad weather, tight ground, heavy pitch and we won.
Some of our fans want jam on it.
That’s not how it works two games into the season when we’ve won both games. That said Paulo does need to improve, I think he’s been the only one who’s looked well off the pace. As I said above though, they’ve been two games that haven’t suited him but have been perfect for Knowles.
Whilst I've only seen the highlights, it must be noted that the long cut-out passes Lachlan Coote made to create tries for Tommy and Regan were sheer class. We haven't got another player in the team that can do that.
Clearly, his kicking game needs working on, because it seems that we have a full back who is effectively going to be playing at half back in attack. with Theo given somewhat of a roving commission, which suits his game much better. However, that plan will not come together if Lachlan is not up to scratch with the boot.
THIS YEAR LENDING SUPPORT TO:- St. Helens RLFC, Manchester City, Celtic, Alemannia Aachen, Steps 1 to 6 Non-League Football