2 Nov: New Zealand v Great Britain KO 4am (UK Time) (TV)

[Oliver Clothesoff]

First half wasn’t awful. It was quite even and NZ’s defence was on top but GB’s key playmakers were poor at times. 

I’m only 15 minutes into the second half but this has turned comical. 

[Dave T]

8 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

First half wasn’t awful. It was quite even and NZ’s defence was on top but GB’s key playmakers were poor at times. 

I’m only 15 minutes into the second half but this has turned comical. 

The playmakers were non-existent in the first, tactics were to use forwards and nothing else.

The forwards laid a great platform. We were winning the battle. And then we took drives on the 4th and 5th.

Even the commentators were bored and calling it out.

[Gibbo]

7 minutes ago, Dave T said:

The playmakers were non-existent in the first, tactics were to use forwards and nothing else.

The forwards laid a great platform. We were winning the battle. And then we took drives on the 4th and 5th.

Even the commentators were bored and calling it out.

GB/ England have poor backs and that has been the case for decades

The cupboard is pretty bare when you have to pick an old player way passed his prime that has played a handful of games in the last two seasons in Rubiks Cube Ryan Hall

[Oliver Clothesoff]

Since when was Joe Philbin referred to as “The Hurricane”?

[DavidM]

Way to much emphasis on stats and robotic structures now but this just isn’t us . We wont beat these teams like this . Completion rates and all that are pointless if you’re not doing anything with the ball . Way to conservative and basic . We’re even poor to watch , almost like we’re shackled . If I want to be bored I’ll watch union 

[Dave T]

11 minutes ago, Gibbo said:

GB/ England have poor backs and that has been the case for decades

The cupboard is pretty bare when you have to pick an old player way passed his prime that has played a handful of games in the last two seasons in Rubiks Cube Ryan Hall

We havent been playing like this for decades though. 

We arent making the best of what we have. In fact we barely use the backs.

The likes of Tonga and NZ's backs are no better.

[Exiled Wiganer]

We do have some options in the backs. Hardaker can play full back very well. Gildart and Percival are good centres, getting better year on year. 

We looked more threatening with Tomkins in the halves last year. Manfredi and Johnstone would give us something extra out wide. 

We lost by a single score against a good Kiwi side away from home, and gave the Tongans as good a game as the Kangaroos managed. The great thing about the last couple of week ends is that it shows that the top 4 international sides in the world are really well matched. Which may be the first time we have been able to say that in the history of our glorious game. 

[dkw]

13 minutes ago, Gibbo said:

GB/ England have poor backs and that has been the case for decades

The cupboard is pretty bare when you have to pick an old player way passed his prime that has played a handful of games in the last two seasons in Rubiks Cube Ryan Hall

But that's the point, we didn't "have" to pick him, Bennett chose to over better options for some reason. 

[Gibbo]

1 minute ago, dkw said:

But that's the point, we didn't "have" to pick him, Bennett chose to over better options for some reason. 

Who are his English advisers, Peacock , Watson.. do they not have a voice?

If not they should resign.

 

[DavidM]

We can have any backs we want but if we don’t give them good quick service and chances it doesn’t matter . It’s almost as if we’ve a big pack and swallowed all that stuff about how strong it is so that’ll do  but at this level it doesn’t 

[Scubby]

Does this mean Bennett has been told there is no money to fly out replacements?

"Asked if he would consider drafting in St Helens and Wales man Regan Grace, Bennett said he was unsure if he would be able add extra players to the touring party."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/50273700

 

[OMEGA]

Evalds, Makinson, Percival, Gildart, Johnston, Tomkins, Trueman, Walmsley, Clarke, Thompson, Whitehead, Bateman, Watts subs from: G Burgess, T Burgess, H Smith, Williams, Lomax, Shaul, Smithies, Currie, Greenwood, McMeekin etc

Wont be everybody’s team but at least there’s genuine pace, everyone’s in their natural positions and they’re all British.

[Cheshire Setter]

33 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Since when was Joe Philbin referred to as “The Hurricane”?

For the whole of the BBC coverage of the Cup Final.   Understandably, you may not have watched the replay 

[Dunbar]

I thought Britain's middle forwards were very good today and laid a foundation that we just couldn't take advantage of because we lacked any kind of cohesion in attack.

The game was lost for me in the last 15 minutes of the first half when we had earned some great field position and won the arm wrestle but we couldn't execute any scoring plays.

Again, Hasting and Widdop (baring one break from Hastings) didn't add enough threat with the ball in hand and our most dangerous player was Lomax.

We have a solid defence and good go forward and so we are difficult to beat but I felt New Zealand (and Tuivasa-Sheck in particular) were always likely to pull something out of the hat with a special play... and there wasn't a British player capable of doing the same today.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

49 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Since when was Joe Philbin referred to as “The Hurricane”?

I like it, we need to sell our players more 

 

[JonM]

9 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

IWe have a solid defence and good go forward and so we are difficult to beat but I felt New Zealand (and Tuivasa-Sheck in particular) were always likely to pull something out of the hat with a special play... and there wasn't a British player capable of doing the same today.

Yep, Bateman is the only player who looks like he might make a break.

I think the Kiwis deserve a lot of credit - losing Kieran Foran at stand-off early in the game must have been a big blow.

[graveyard johnny]

1 hour ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Since when was Joe Philbin referred to as “The Hurricane”?

have you seen him play snooker? mind you it may be the only chance of seeing a gb player make a decent break!

[Futtocks]

Just finished watching, and it was a tough watch for most of the time. Neither side showed a great deal of creativity, but at least the Kiwis had the loss of a starting halfback as an excuse.

Then, with about 20 minutes to go, GB woke up and started causing problems. But with two of the best chances going to a winger whose confidence can't be good after the last season and last week's loss, both were bombed.

Having said that, NZ's tackling when they were finally in real danger was of a very high quality and speed (barring the odd reckless shot).

In Footballing terms, we've lost 2:1 away in both matches.

[Dave T]

41 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I thought Britain's middle forwards were very good today and laid a foundation that we just couldn't take advantage of because we lacked any kind of cohesion in attack.

The game was lost for me in the last 15 minutes of the first half when we had earned some great field position and won the arm wrestle but we couldn't execute any scoring plays.

Again, Hasting and Widdop (baring one break from Hastings) didn't add enough threat with the ball in hand and our most dangerous player was Lomax.

We have a solid defence and good go forward and so we are difficult to beat but I felt New Zealand (and Tuivasa-Sheck in particular) were always likely to pull something out of the hat with a special play... and there wasn't a British player capable of doing the same today.

I agree with this, but I think we do have some danger men, they just need more time with their hands on the ball. The obsession with running on the last, and having forwards playing the 4th and 5th tackle is crippling our attack. 

The halves and three quarters need more time on the ball to get into the game.

[Dunbar]

11 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I agree with this, but I think we do have some danger men, they just need more time with their hands on the ball. The obsession with running on the last, and having forwards playing the 4th and 5th tackle is crippling our attack. 

The halves and three quarters need more time on the ball to get into the game.

We do seem obsessed with the power game even when we are close to the line.

I am not blaming Hodgson because I thought he was better than last week but the game plan seems to be based around Hodgson finding a way to get the big men over the line.

At the end the British game was quicker and more dangerous because we got the ball away from dummy half more effectively. 

[DavidM]

What’s frustrating is we seem to free up and play more when our hand is forced through being behind with time running out . So we can throw more at teams than we predominately are doing ... that must be coaching . We need to start doing it proactively not reactively

[Dave T]

7 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

We do seem obsessed with the power game even when we are close to the line.

I am not blaming Hodgson because I thought he was better than last week but the game plan seems to be based around Hodgson finding a way to get the big men over the line.

At the end the British game was quicker and more dangerous because we got the ball away from dummy half more effectively. 

I'm a massive fan of Clark and may be biased but the pace he was getting quality ball away from the ruck and to the backs did make a difference.

But even today Bennet seemed to begrudgingly bring him on late on.

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, DavidM said:

What’s frustrating is we seem to free up and play more when our hand is forced through being behind with time running out . So we can throw more at teams than we predominately are doing ... that must be coaching . We need to start doing it proactively not reactively

The problem is that we have an obsession with not making errors, it is generally the first thing Bennett bangs on about.

Last week we had a 79% completion and this week 87%.

This week out of the 6 teams playing, we had the best completion and lowest errors. Well done Wayne, do we get a trophy for that?

[MatthewWoody]

1 hour ago, Scubby said:

Does this mean Bennett has been told there is no money to fly out replacements?

"Asked if he would consider drafting in St Helens and Wales man Regan Grace, Bennett said he was unsure if he would be able add extra players to the touring party."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/50273700

 

Well, that would be terrible.

[DavidM]

7 minutes ago, Dave T said:

The problem is that we have an obsession with not making errors, it is generally the first thing Bennett bangs on about.

Last week we had a 79% completion and this week 87%.

This week out of the 6 teams playing, we had the best completion and lowest errors. Well done Wayne, do we get a trophy for that?

Indeed . And conversely you can be assured of getting that ‘ accolade ‘ if you practice risk free rugby . But how many questions are you asking and how much threat are you producing ?