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Batley v Rochdale 24:2:.2019


Batley Bob

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2 minutes ago, Dog forever said:

The most frustrating thing for a lot of supporters and me included is that we know we can play some exciting rugby. So why o why do we insist going down the middle all the time with the boring one man rugby. An awful tactic today was when we were uphill on the 4 th tackle (I think ) 20 yards out and we kicked it into touch for a scrum. Should have been pumped up in the air. At times there wasn't a player within 20 yards of the touch line at ptb. We just seem to gather into a group in the middle of the park. Also when we make a half break we stand about watching to see how far he gets without nobody on his shoulder backing up. Another gripe is how many times was a ball passed to a standing man. Credit to Rochdale I think they played better than us and broke our line with ease on numerous occasions.  Can't see us coming away from Sheffield with any points. 

Really hard to admit, but i think your right. There was a lot of standing around by our players watching one man rugby again. We were very lucky to get the win today. I thought that it would be a good game but found myself watching a better team get beat.

On another note....... such a refreshing change to admire the touch judges and the referee on being fair and shouting what they saw and acting in it. Brilliant job guys 

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Dog Forever got it right; only 1 forward ran onto a ball, we know who that is, everybody else came on at best at a trot. Everybody comes on with the little jiggle, pretend sidestep that defenders never fall for and down we go. The end of season winning streak has become a distant memory, the fluency of the period has gone, which is a surprise as we would appear to have a slightly better back line with the aid of the youth of Wood and Yates. We also suffered in my opinion from a lack of Ward's bustle at the expense of giving Cropper and Bienek an outing. If we struggle going forward then the best we could hope for would be a return to the famous Dog defence which appears to have been sacrificed on the altar of excitement. OK, we only conceded twice but that was down to luck on at least 4 occasions where Saturday afternoon park tackling left us wide open and riding our luck. Aston and Senior from Eagles won't have seen much to worry them for Friday, we have to go down there with a much tighter tackling game and a more varied kicking game, too many kicks aren't finding ground, nobody ever puts one up into the clouds, and when we're running out of options on the 5th tackle always come away with at least a point, make the opposition sick of having to kick off back at you. Only on 1 occasion yesterday did we shape up as If we were going to take a drop goal yet changed shape at the last second. We can't at the moment expect to be scoring tries for fun, so be cuter, keep the board ticking. Right, that's my pre-match missive out of them way....

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I watched us at Fax when we played much better, but I'll take the two points from Rochdale however bad it was. Going to be a tough league this year..

Touch Rugby W(h)inger and part-time Super Hero (Thursday mornings by appointment) :superman:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BATLEY BULLDOGS RLFC :bb:

 

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The good

We won and no-one should underestimate the value of that

Defence, especially scrambling back. was good

We didn't concede an interception try for the first time this year

Both Lillycrop and Bienek got some game time to help their rehab

Scott-  really dependable at the back and two great touchline conversions

The Bulldog Bitter in the lounge was very good

The bad

Lack of invention near the line

Five (ineffective) drives and an aimless kick on the sixth far too often

Too many sets just wasted going nowhere

Brown needs to be on the park for much longer

The two players who I expected to have stormers against their former club were poor

Terrible last tackle kick options

Lack of backing up

 

But- a win's a win, so relatively happy

it would have been a long drive back down South if we had lost!

 

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5 hours ago, RogerT said:

I don't get it, why be down, a wins a win, ok it was an ugly win but it got us 2 points. The team are off and running now.

I think it's the manner in which we played and scraped a win Roger. Yes 2 points is good, but if we can't improve on yesterday's performance it's going to be a long season and probably some good hidings  by the much fancied teams.

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I think, well personally speaking I expected a bit of a comfortable points fest. If you can put in a shift against a top 4 team you can or really should turn the screw at home against possible relegation favourites...

'Shaw cross juniors, Birkenshaw, Mirfield, Heckmondwike Panthers, Stainland Stags and then the Heavy woolen donkeys... WARDY, STOZZA, GT, KARL OR KEAR MUST OF DROPPED A DIGIT FROM MY MOBILE NUMBER! :clapping:

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I think the thing that most people are concerned about is the apparent lack of ideas or ways to break down the opposition defence, particularly near their try line. It seems that we try the 5 x one man drive in an attempt to break through and when that fails it is a kick across field to the winger, which was ok in the days of Sean Squires etc. but I am afraid Wayne Reittie doesn't outjump his opposite number very often nowadays. It seems that it is only James Brown who believes in taking the ball in and then trying to offload out of the tackle but usually being unsuccessful as there is no-one near to receive the pass. 

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But but but rugby under kear was at times tedious

'Shaw cross juniors, Birkenshaw, Mirfield, Heckmondwike Panthers, Stainland Stags and then the Heavy woolen donkeys... WARDY, STOZZA, GT, KARL OR KEAR MUST OF DROPPED A DIGIT FROM MY MOBILE NUMBER! :clapping:

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In the past, early season we could have used the excuse that the conditions or the ground didn't suit us, but this season so far we have played on some pretty decent days, so that doesn't enter the equation. We have the same backs out now as we had during that great end of season period, improved by the additional of young Wood, so why have we gone back into the 5 drives and aimless kick shell? Seeing as it is now the coach's team, following on from that great finish should have been a given. So, great defence eh, only conceding 1 try each half? Not for want of Rochdale effort with those great breaks they made, and had that been Toronto or Toulouse, we'd have paid the price. I know, we shouldn't be getting on the players' backs, they're out there giving what they've got, trying to make good decisions, but when it becomes clear that the decisions aren't coming off, like Theresa May and Brexit, where's plan B? A game like yesterday was crying out for a bit of Jouffret magic (so you say he hasn't done it so far) but there will be the week when he clicks into gear, yesterday could have been it! Unless injured, (there was no suggestion of that unlike JC's head knock) or suspended like the week before, you don't leave out your most potent player, the guy you busted a gut to get here for a whole season. Don't agree with the suggestion that 2 out of the 3 ex Hornets didn't contribute, I'd suggest that maybe 12 out of the entire 17 could be marked up as that. I stick by my assertion that there was nothing from the forwards in actual go forward except Cropper and Brown, in fact yesterday Wood got through more work than a forward. We need more variation to the field kicking game, not once yesterday do I remember us finding touch with a kick down the hill, it's the same little dink kick over, nothing dangerous like an Oulton steepler, and we got spotted too easily with plays. Like most, I don't know what the answer is, but it won't be found with week in week out same plays and not knowing which the best 17 are. Are Ward and Jouffret not in the best 17 for example? Have we recruited the right men in the right areas (eg hooker, where previously we had 2 dangerous but differeing styles)? Yeah, yeah, PD's having a dig again, but only saying what 15 or so other supporters sat around me were saying but won't put there heads above the parapet. Questions need addressing for us to be anywhere near 'the best part-timers' in the division, and quickly, a couple more losses and we're down among the dead men looking up but not daring either to look down.

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