Leigh reaction.

[Ginock1]

If Brett and szostak are available I would play stack at centre simply because the other options Lloyd thornley and whiteley just won't cut it. Plus sammut kicking for stacky is a good attacking kick and stack will help nullify hulme or jjp. I know it takes away from up the middle defence but Phillips and szostak don't shirk work so we should be fine.

[town4me]

If Brett and szostak are available I would play stack at centre simply because the other options Lloyd thornley and whiteley just won't cut it. Plus sammut kicking for stacky is a good attacking kick and stack will help nullify hulme or jjp. I know it takes away from up the middle defence but Phillips and szostak don't shirk work so we should be fine.

JJP is up on a grade D Offence I doubt he will be playing next week.

[Hate the rec]

Big lump of a lads is Thornley, pity his heart isn't   

[Anonymouse]

sammut is going to be key , it would have been a nil pointer for town without him today especially the second try which after 2 previous attempts the wigan players finally got it right i dont see any reason to fear haven or be underdogs on recent performances and sammut now showing what he can do 

[town4me]

sammut is going to be key , it would have been a nil pointer for town without him today especially the second try which after 2 previous attempts the wigan players finally got it right i dont see any reason to fear haven or be underdogs on re slate ckean nowecent performances and sammut now showing what he can do

no we have nothing to fear next week, home advantage is what will give them the favourites tag. I think we have to wipe the slate clean now and start again. If we had played as we have against the bulls and leigh when hunslet and batley came up here I think we would be 4 points better off. Plus with sammut guiding us around the pitch we are now better placed to take on the teams around us.

[Keith T]

Can't help thinking how different it would have been for us if we had had a player of Sammut's quality and class earlier in the season!!!      The hope is now that the players can see that if they raise their game to give him all the assistance then we can still turn this season in to a success of sorts. 

[kiln7]

Well i am getting very disillusioned with PH[LL,S selection,s, in my opinion we have got lads that are as good if not better than the ###### we are getting from WIGAN, they are SCHOLEY AKEHURST DUERDEN FOPPESTER AND LUCOCK ,MR WANE is just taking the #### out of us time to tell him to #### of enough is enough, rant over.  

[town4me]

Can't help thinking how different it would have been for us if we had had a player of Sammut's quality and class earlier in the season!!! The hope is now that the players can see that if they raise their game to give him all the assistance then we can still turn this season in to a success of sorts.

yes kt he created our tries and had a good one chalked off, he gained us more distance kicking from hand he got us the ball back from kick offs and gained good field position and guided us around the pitch All the things we have been going on about on here not happening this season suddenly materialised today with him and that's against the best team in the league! So against more beatable teams he is going to be key.

[kiln7]

And yes even Phill was saying to day how disruptive it his to the team just having them up for one hour on Saturday morning. 

[Townie123]

Correct

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

I'll be very surprised if all the newly signed lads from the local amateur scene are with us next season. They have been treated like ###### to accommodate the DR guys. Its exactly the same along the road, they have already seen Ben Milburn return to Kells and I'm sure he wont be the last.

 

The only way to keep these lads interested is to get them game time. I've said before that any player signed from the local game should be on a probationary contract for the first two years of their pro career to see if they are good enough to make the grade. When not required they should be allowed to return to their amateur club to get game time.

 

If they are good enough after two years - sign them up - if not release them back to the amateurs

 

At the end of the day, these players only get paid when they are in the matchday squad, so why shouldn't they play amateur when not required by the first team?

 

It might even encourage lads to sign if they can maintain their links with their amateur club.

 

If you were a top local amateur, would you sign for Town or Haven in the current climate?

[GeordieTownie]

I agree although I don't think Akehurst is ready. I'd have Forrester over Murphy at full back every day of the week. Far safer pair of hands and offers more in attack.

[Ginock1]

Was Murphy dropping balls again yesterday geordie ?

[Hitupking]

Came away from the game much more positive about the rest of the season, our defence has been dire in recent weeks and has definitely improved. Sammut was a breath of fresh air in a key position and in my opinion Forber would compliment him well, Forber plays better when the pressure is slightly off and would be interesting to see how they go. Doran is frustrating with his inconsistency in defence and attack, can make a break but then cost us with a missed tackle.

Sammut was excellent and could see him wanting something from everyone, his energy rubbed off on the team and another couple of signings could turn our season around. Higham showed how we're lacking in that position, they targeted our markers too many times and we did well to slow the game as much as we could and only for some sloppy errors did they get on the board more than 20 minutes in. Stack solid as usual and the props stood up well and matched them at times which was good to see because I was worried after previous games we would be demolished. Even though they hit 50 I think without their late try and with Sammuts interception (bemused why that didn't stand) it was respectable. Have to remember we are improving and as long as we don't stagnate we will become much stronger with better leadership.

DR was a mixed bag, Thornley the most frustrating. He could've sent Tierney in for couple more, eventually he got the message which was the harder to finish with hardly any room to get that ball down. What said it all for me was Thornley admiring that high ball but then again Murphy letting that one bounce was just as bad and cost us a try. Lloyd and Farrell not great and agree Town players should be picked over them based on that but they have done ok for us before so we could need DR players down the line and can't shoot ourselves in the foot although how PV keeps the motivation with our lads is impossible when wigan lads turn up and take their spot but this is sport and hoping it will make those players take their chance when they get it and make it hard for PV to drop them. Using two (max three) DR players in the right places can work but too many DR lads is disruptive. Tierney is the one I'd have every week, he tops our current wingers and not that they can't match up but I've seen some individual stuff from him that you just can't not pick, jury's out on Lloyd and Farrell but they have shown some in the past so leave them out and see if any of ours takes their chance.

Haven next and I'm quietly confident we will put in a proper performance, asked me that few weeks ago and would've said its Havens. With our props standing up well against Leigh considering their quality I'm confident we'll have much better chances in attack but hoping now our defence is getting somewhere they don't let that slip, interest few weeks ahead.

[ivans82]

next week please can we kick deep for lewis and elliott to chase , nobody not even calvert is going to beat them for pace..........yesterday did ok.......bloem atrocious......thornley makes perry whitely look like paul newlove !!!!!!!!!!

[kiln7]

AKEHURST is far better than the one,s we are getting from WIGAN, give the lad a few games put together and you will see,having one game and then left out for the rubbish we are getting from MR WANE is doing the lad no good at all,the same goes for DUERDEN. 

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

I can't see how these lads are supposed to 'get ready' for first team when they can't get any game time to prove themselves or adjust to the levels required for the pro game. I might add that this isn't a criticism of Town or Haven, its the system brought in by the RFL that is at fault which is basically stopping these lads from playing.

[kiln7]

Well my criticism is with the coach, if these players we are getting are better than what we have then fair enough, but surely he can see that they are not..

[Hitupking]

Agree that there's a reason why PV picks who he does, his jobs on the line so must have valid reasons and he believes they aren't good enough. Need a team to have a decent core for the others to do their stuff and it's a start with Sammut, he's far better than any DR option we've had previously, his passion alone.

[DavidM]

Energy and passion . Two words I picked up reading those posts which sum up sammut yesterday I thought . They ran at him time and again and he was doubling up his defence , then organising us in attack . Obviously it's very mitigated by what is working off him and the platform he gets , but hopefully that zest rubs off on the rest and they respond to what he is doing , and they can give him the options out wide to give us the rewards . He wanted to be here - that's huge to begin with . I'd like to see him add the running game now to what we saw , we know he can be devastating there , and with the rest of them working for and off him , then it's a bit more positive for us . Big week in training.

[town4me]

Energy and passion . Two words I picked up reading those posts which sum up sammut yesterday I thought . They ran at him time and again and he was doubling up his defence , then organising us in attack . Obviously it's very mitigated by what is working off him and the platform he gets , but hopefully that zest rubs off on the rest and they respond to what he is doing , and they can give him the options out wide to give us the rewards . He wanted to be here - that's huge to begin with . I'd like to see him add the running game now to what we saw , we know he can be devastating there , and with the rest of them working for and off him , then it's a bit more positive for us . Big week in training.

sammut has brought things to the team that that we have all be saying was lacking. Creativity, options on last play, field position, diatance from pens and organisation.

[kiln7]

Yes Dave but the lads that are going the the training with him aren,t getting a game, the lads that come for one hour Saturday are getting picked in front of them is that right no way.

[DavidM]

I get ya chief . Training with new players you are going to play with is everything . The DR players who are going to be here need to be nailed down before training tomorrow for crucial games now .

[GeordieTownie]

Was Murphy dropping balls again yesterday geordie ?

He's been dropping them all season but seems to have a guaranteed place in the team!

[kiln7]

You will never get that of MR WANE there has never been any wigan dr sent up before Saturday morning time to say good bye to him.