distantdog

I thought l just answered your questions! Anyway, on ... I thought the ground was relatively 'buzzy' yesterday, but l suppose it's a low bar against Sheffield.

1. Walshaw - He looked a bit sluggish early on, not surprising due to limited games and in that heat, but worked his way into it and that second half was a reminder of his old self. 2. Woods - Led the team around the pitch alomgside his fellow half back partner, 100% kicking success and took the line on more than I've ever seen. 3. Moore - 100% everytime. Special mention for Greensmith - I know he looked (very) dodgy under the high ball, but what potential this lad has. I hope Kear is able to develop that potential and get the best out of him.

1. From who? 2. Judging by his post match interview - no! 3. Yes.

https://youtu.be/9FTUnor3iZE?si=oXSIM0pmMv56Af9a

Nope, Gill. You can watch the game highlights if you search for the Sheffield Eagles highlights.

Right, here goes. 1. Greensmith - for scoring, and for consistently being our most dangerous attacking threat. 2. White - always trying to get on the front foot. 3. Moore - 100% everytime.

Why not just wait and see!

Thanks for the update.

What did he vow?

Nonsense decision.

33246

Well I'll kick it off! 1. White - He occasionally looked like making a break. 2. Butterworth - generally fielded the kicks well, with the obvious exception 3. Parsons - He adds that bit of extra pace to our movement forward.

I agree. But yesterday we lacked that grunt upfront. Making ground seemed to be a real effort, especially returning uphill from Harris' kicks. We just need a it of stability in selection now. which I guess is your point.

Not a great performance as mentioned above. York better than us across the park but especially in the forwards which allowed Harris to dictate play. Saying that, l thought the first half was fairly even, we had a couple of good chances to get on the board and Gledhill was held up over the line. At half time l still thought we were in the game, and a couple of times we were within a try of them but our overall performance didn't deserve a win. I think this was the game where all our absentees in the forwards caught up with us. Having a full pack of Championship forwards missing told, especially with their first try uphill where we looked lightweight defensively in the middle. Also, Gledhill was playing his first rugby since last year, and it showed. Because we were dominated in the middle, Greensmith and Myers never really got going and our wingers never had space in front of them.

Shame you're not playing on the green, green grass of home!

Maybe, but as mentioned in other posts, I don't think we could have anticipated the level of injuries and suspensions we have had so early on. What size squad would we have had if we hadn't gone with DR?

Plus Manning and Walshaw missing. Quite the pack out!

The thing is, other than the opening 15/20 minutes of those games, we've been pretty dominant without playing that well. If we could keep most of our squad playing, there is so much more to come from these players.

Agree. They scored all of their points off the back of our errors. We were saying that we just had to complete our sets and be patient and we'd score. And stop giving teams two tries start!

1. Greensmith 2. Wood 3. White

I don't think we were great today, but when we played with patience and discipline, we looked good. Both the last 15 minutes of each half we were OK. We need to start off the games quicker and stop letting teams get a two try start.

Did he stand up?

I was there as a Batley supporter and enjoyed what was, for 75 minutes a tough uncompromising game with lots of tough challenges, hard rugby and plenty of mistakes ... in short, a typical game of Rugby league. I have no idea what happened to Manning to make him react as he did. Perhaps nothing, but he will deservedly get a decent sanction! It wasn't that bad tempered up to that point, and blaming the ref is just an excuse for Bradford's poor discipline. If, as a team that expect to beat teams well this season they think opponents will just roll over for them, they will be in for a shock! Batley simply got stuck in. Perhaps the team and commentator believed the one-eyed supporters behind the posts, who bayed and moaned at every contact or incident. Their personal abuse of one player specifically was simply obnoxious. As for the commentator, he can be as biased as he wants to be, but then cannot claim to be a serious journalist if so! I am not sure he is that much of an asset to the wider game. I found Oldham community radio the week before to be as knowledgeable and more balanced!

Clearly Solitaire isn't the only game in town on Sunday.

A fair assessment of the game and incidents! Manning will get a lengthy ban, deservedly, unless there are some unknown mitigating factors that come to light. I have no particular issue with the yellows, but can never come to terms with the 'put on report' decisions. I am never sure that they solve anything and often create that bit more tension. You are right about the chanting behind the sticks - simply not needed! Regardless, I really enjoyed the game and thought it was a missed opportunity for Batley. While Bradford were definitely dominant in the first half, they never really made many scoring opportunities after their second try! The Bulls might have deserved to win, but only marginally. There is a lot of skill, pace and size in the side but Batley got in amongst them and nullified much of what they did.