Masters 13

WOW!! Tough day today..... And there's no way we can blame the officials. We were poor, very poor but I do feel sorry for the lads who tried, in particular Gillam, Forber, Emslie to name a few. But for me, Greenwood wouldn't get in an amateur side!! Way wood passes, knock on's, high risk play in our own red zone, in attack hasn't ever broke the line of the defence.. and seems worried making a hit up. The list goes on. Brad Walker! Another shocker. No attacking threat, shocking passes. One pass was that forward i thought he was trying to kick a 40 -20......... As a team, we looked dejected from the start. poor line speed in defence. In attack, the forwards worked hard but no inspiration from the half backs to direct the team. As from any positives from today? Luckily it was only 38 points they put into us...........

SATURDAY 20th APRIL Toulouse Olympique v Whitehaven SUNDAY 21st APRIL Barrow Raiders v Doncaster Batley Bulldogs v Wakefield Trinity Featherstone Rovers v Widnes Vikings Halifax Panthers v Sheffield Eagles Swinton Lions v Dewsbury Rams York Knights v Bradford Bulls

21 man select team mentioned on fb has Forber but Kavan Rothwell? I wonder if he's been recalled?

My point entirely. The club and team would benefit with a player that's been dedicated to playing stand off. We have that in Jackson. Who knows, Brad might mature nicely in the role but for the time being we are playing clubs who's stand off control, guide and run the team. That in its self takes years to develop.

I didn't refer to him being better than Wilkinson, I'm just saying IMO that Brad would suit playing 13 than 6.

Really? Care to elaborate? He hasn't done too bad since joining from the amateur ranks and puts in a good shift when playing. He still may have little knowledge playing in the Championship. However Brad appears to have little knowledge playing at stand off would be better in the 13 position.

Completely agree and would give Jackson a run out against Donny.

SATURDAY 13th APRIL Bradford Bulls v Toulouse Olympique KO 15:00 SUNDAY 14th APRIL Barrow Raiders v Dewsbury Rams KO 15:00 Doncaster v Featherstone Rovers KO 15:00 Swinton Lions v Sheffield Eagles KO 15:00 Whitehaven v Batley Bulldogs KO 15:00 Widnes Vikings v Halifax Panthers KO 15:00 York Knights v Wakefield Trinity KO 15:00

Rate Forber highly!! He was dynamic in attack, great in defence and made a big change when he came on. Hopefully he is available.

Saw Will coming off the pitch and looking a little discomfort. Even though he was directly next to me near the dug out I was unaware of the severity of his injury. Just hope the lad has a speedy recovery. Barrow fan.

Apparently Brad Walker has been given a grade E charge for questioning the official!!

Where's the crowd??

Tee is Saint Helen's poster boy and nothing else.

Johnson requires tackling practice this week!!!

Nail biter but well done Raiders.

Really? Based on what?

Hmm.. still intrigued.

I'm not basin my opinion on one game and you even said so yourself that his game management needs to improve as does his in game kicking. Too many times he nearly got caught short kicking due to not being deep enough. Plus there was little or no planning when attacking their try line within their 10. Hopefully he will improve.

Completely agree, Hunslet looked the better team in stages however our forwards won the game for us today. Thought Silva, Burke, Magic Mike and Wilkinson put in a good shift. Again, our line speed was woeful, practically none existent and we didn't attack from deep at any time. I understand playing to the conditions but Hunslet looked decent when playing expansive. And Brad Walker definitely is not a 6. Too many times play broke down when he had the ball with no organisation.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/exclusive-super-league-grand-final-winner-leigh-leopards-aaron-smith-closing-in-on-permanent-championship-switch Fingers crossed.

Care to elaborate Pablo?

The most noticeable thing for me was line speed. We didn't have it last season and again we looked lethargic in defence at times which resulted in 2 of their try's. I personally thought Crusaders line speed was better than ours. Another is our attack, we don't attack from deep? At this level we should give ourselves better options instead of playing what looked like basic rugby.

Gutted, couldn't make it today but just intrigued how the young Furness Academy lads did?

Good to be a Cumbrian with those predictions!!!

I thought I heard a while back that Barrow was hoping and expecting to go duel reg with Wigan but Wakefield have since got that deal. With any luck and the best possible dual reg prospect would be to go with Leigh Leopards who don't have an academy side. They have spent heavily on one team and their fringe players would be good at championship level.