The problem for me is we no longer look drilled. In the early games we got a couple of tries from set pieces at the scrum. Jamie receives and kicks. We use the space to collect and touch down in the corner. Sure a couple of games and teams get wise. The problem is I’m not seeing any other rehearsed moves coming in to mix things up.
Perhaps that’s why Forber and Doran are making sideways runs. There are looking for runners but no-one is there to pass to. We’ve gone from well drilled but the moves not always working to apparently random.
Whilst I agree we need to add size, I would also say the player I miss the most from last year is Blaine Marwood due to his speed and follow up play to give us options when someone does make a break (speaking of which – I can’t remember us making a single line break at the Widnes game).
On size in defence, back in the day Tee Ritson could use his speed to catch an opponent. He may not have been able to complete the tackle but managed to impede them enough for the others to catch up. Again I thought we had that type of play developing in Blaine. I’d even go as far as say the static line in defence is more of a problem than the size of the players. I might be unfair but we seemed to just watch some of the Widnes kicks that they scored from. If you can’t dive on the ball try to hoof it. Better risk a likely try than a certain try.
On the bright side in the Vievers era we couldn’t field a full strength team against Leigh so were expecting a drubbing, yet it was one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Town side.
In professional sport you should always play to win but never be afraid to test yourself against better opposition. I’m intending to be down at Derwent Park on Sunday. More out of hope than anything else.