11 replies to this topic

[Furryenzo]

Cant fault the lads for effort today, and to be fair I dont feel the scoreline accurately represents the game. I dont think theres any denying that leigh were the better team but I think we were better than our 4 points suggests.

Something that is a growing concern of mine however, is the size of the teams we are playing, Leighs pack was huge and they were also alot quicker than our lot. We struggled to get out of our half for large parts of the game. I was genuinly concerned for mike morrisons health at one point he was taking that many big hits he looked as though we didnt know where he was.

It was disappointing to make so many handling errors and our general execution was poor compared to last week but I wouldnt say weve taken a backwards step from last sunday, I just think we didnt quite have the size or the rub of the green today.

On a positive note, I think Tom Armstrong had a massive game today, and Forster is looking the real deal for us. But as iv said credit to the boys for the effort I cant pick out anyone who had a particularly bad game.

[Tess]

Agree with everything you say!!

[PhillH]

Trevor Barton et al Leigh are to be congratulated on turning around the financial problems caused by Arthur Thomas's troubles to produce a team that ought to be in the top 3 again this season.

On the other hand a very flat performance from the Lions. I was hoping they would at least stay within 20 points, in the end it was a case of being lucky to avoid a nilling. Not a showing to convince Leythers to take in some Lions matches later in the year. And definitely not a performance to make anyone at Leigh feel regretful about their former players whom were let go.

Agreed that Tom Armstrong was the best in a blue shirt, he was the one Lions player that produced a convincing attempt at dominating his opposite number - had Littler well contained for the most part. Ritchie Hawkyard's effort again stood out, just the one boob despite having a lot to do in the face of an excellent kicking game from Leigh, and kept going despite the imposing nature of the Leigh side making it a total miss-match physically whenever he drove it up.

Leigh did a very clinical job of feeding off Swinton errors and converting pressure on the line into points, but it is worrying that they never really had to get out of 2nd gear to score 7 tries. Leigh showed how kicking for position should be done on that pitch - play for the wide areas rather than hoofing it straight down the middle. They punched holes in the Lions defence right across the field. Tommy Gallagher three or four times giving a demonstration that if given support runners and not shut down quickly he has the vision and passing ability to open up a defence - skills that weren't utilised enough last season.

Attack-wise it was back to a pedestrian pace of play and too high an emphasis on one-man rugby down the middle. One factor above all others dictates how threatening the Lions are with the ball - whether or not Ian Watson takes it upon himself to run with intent towards the opposition line. When he does that and the other players go with him, the opposition has a number of options to cover, the Swinton players have better forward momentum and there is less predicatability. If on the other hand he plays deeper, picking off forwards to run on in isolation, it is very easily contained by a team of the ability of Leigh.

For this team to challenge for a play off position it needs to find a second dimension, attacking-wise and possibly use Ian Watson more sparingly such that he can pack more energy into shorter bursts.

[GLENNGARY]

Sorry I disagree that the Leigh were bigger than ours I don't tink they were,but they were stronger on the ball than we were.One of the reasons for this was that they were taking the ball on the run prompted by there halfbacks and were also backing each other up on the run.When you have got the momentumup your a lot harder to stop.I'm afraid our halfbacks seem lacking in the ability to do this.Either they move the ball to slowly across the field or are hesitant in the passing of the ball,or they move the ball back in side to static forwards who are much easier to bring down than someone on the burst. There scrumhalf split us time and again doing the runaround using the dummy runner and we fell for it every time leaving huge gaps on the wing,our scrambling defence seems poor. Our halfbacks were ineffective today compared to Leighs and I will say it again Watson Although playing with 100% commitment is two yards to slow and two years to old for this division Until we can find a young scrumhalf with guile and pace and they ARE hard to find I would try Halkyard at scrumhalf and move Mort back to fullback he,s not fast enough on the wing.This is my other gripe we need wingers on the wing we are to slow to take up any half chances that may come along. Leigh were good but they are not in Featerstones or Halifaxs class.I shudder to think what willhappen against them.But ever the optimist I think SM will sort it out and we will get better.

[budgiezilla]

I agree, as a Leyther, Ian Mort is wasted on the wing. I know he's quick, so's Gavin Dodd - BUT unless they got a killer pass today 'running' into space, there was not much opportunity for them to make an impact. Anway, least you guys know how to beat Batley this season, unlike us. Good luck in the challenge cup v Gateshead (not that you'll need it)

[Leyther_Matt]

Thought Swinton played some good stuff at times when Watson was given a few options with willing runners, and in fairness it could be said that you were maybe a little more expansive than we were, albeit because you weren't having much joy down the middle.

Good turnout from the Swinton fans to boost the crowd and I must say thanks for letting us have Gallagher - he's fast becoming a crowd favourite with another good performance today.

[Blue Monkey]

Leigh were clearly the faster and better side today, but the scoreline did flatter them to a large extent. With a bit more care and effort the Lions could have salvaged maybe at least a bonus point today. A fairer scoreline would have been something like Leigh 24 Lions 16.

And, as usual, our Yorkshire friend in the middle today, that dear man, Ronnie Laughton upset both sets of fans with his customary assortment of weird & nonsensical decisions. He seems to be an arbitrator who has his very own collection of rugby league rules and not the ones ordained via the game's governing body down the ages.

But, as I’m sure others will no doubt wonder, I as I do, how on earth does he apparently get away with his maverick style of refereeing, so long his infamous trademark as a supposedly neutral and unbiased official? I mean to say, there must exist, ample video evidence footage which could graphically expose his awful catalogue of flaws as a qualified match referee. Last season’s near fiasco at Doncaster readily springs to mind don’t you think?

[PhillH]

Sorry I disagree that the Leigh were bigger than ours I don't tink they were,but they were stronger on the ball than we were.One of the reasons for this was that they were taking the ball on the run prompted by there halfbacks and were also backing each other up on the run.When you have got the momentumup your a lot harder to stop.I'm afraid our halfbacks seem lacking in the ability to do this.Either they move the ball to slowly across the field or are hesitant in the passing of the ball,or they move the ball back in side to static forwards who are much easier to bring down than someone on the burst. There scrumhalf split us time and again doing the runaround using the dummy runner and we fell for it every time leaving huge gaps on the wing,our scrambling defence seems poor. Our halfbacks were ineffective today compared to Leighs and I will say it again Watson Although playing with 100% commitment is two yards to slow and two years to old for this division Until we can find a young scrumhalf with guile and pace and they ARE hard to find I would try Halkyard at scrumhalf and move Mort back to fullback he,s not fast enough on the wing.This is my other gripe we need wingers on the wing we are to slow to take up any half chances that may come along. Leigh were good but they are not in Featerstones or Halifaxs class.I shudder to think what willhappen against them.But ever the optimist I think SM will sort it out and we will get better.

One of the key problems is that Steve McCormack's normal tactics don't favour ball handlers and support play amongst the forwards, so the emphasis to make the play is firmly in the court of the half backs and them alone. One of which, Martin Ainscough, is a centre playing in a stand off's clothing. Outcome being the options are Watson, Watson or Watson. Easy to predict and defend against if he's in stand and pass mode and not committing defenders towards himself. He showed against Batley that he can still do it at least occasionally and it made a big difference to effectiveness of the whole team, but on the balance of what I've seen this season its hard not to agree with your take.

[PhillH]

Leigh were clearly the faster and better side today, but the scoreline did flatter them to a large extent. With a bit more care and effort the Lions could have salvaged maybe at least a bonus point today. A fairer scoreline would have been something like Leigh 24 Lions 16.

And, as usual, our Yorkshire friend in the middle today, that dear man, Ronnie Laughton upset both sets of fans with his customary assortment of weird & nonsensical decisions. He seems to be an arbitrator who has his very own collection of rugby league rules and not the ones ordained via the game's governing body down the ages.

But, as I’m sure others will no doubt wonder, I as I do, how on earth does he apparently get away with his maverick style of refereeing, so long his infamous trademark as a supposedly neutral and unbiased official? I mean to say, there must exist, ample video evidence footage which could graphically expose his awful catalogue of flaws as a qualified match referee. Last season’s near fiasco at Doncaster readily springs to mind don’t you think?

It was rather funny when a mass brawl broke out and the referee was totally oblivious and walking in the opposite direction, 40 or 50 yards away.

Laughton also doesn't seem to know the rules on lifting. Both sides got away with it a few times.

One good aspect was the performance of the touch judges. All too often they never add much value, but both intervened quite well on the regular occasions Laughton missed things.

[marshy1]

Yes often to pull us up.!

[shrek]

A few photos here from yesterday.

[mark richardson]

I thought our effort as always was there but we looked jaded and slow in attack.
I think Ainscough is a great stand off and have no idea where the centre playing stand off statement comes from. Hes played more games at fullback than centre.
I think Armstrong smashed Littler time and again and totally outplayed him,you could feel his frustration when they got down that wing on the one and only occasion and scored.
As for the touch judges having a great game I thought they were as appalling as Ronnie and as appalling as all the others we see week in week out. So many forward passes and offsides ignored by both teams. It beggars belief.