Thur 20th Apr: SL: St Helens v Warrington Wolves KO 20:00 (Sky)

[Just Browny]

1 hour ago, Saint Toppy said:

When Wire signed him I got trashed on here when I commented about Dufty's complete lack of 'bottle' and utter refusal to ever put his body on the line. He was shown up again last night by his refusal to take any high ball where there were oncoming tacklers, and he did his magical disappearing act every time he was needed to make tackles near his line.

As usual with you I can't keep up: all of our players are **** and yet we should have been beating you by "3-4 clear scores".

[Saint Toppy]

6 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

As usual with you I can't keep up: all of our players are **** and yet we should have been beating you by "3-4 clear scores".

When you signed Dufty I was pretty vocal about his defensive liabilities and how he was constantly slated for them in the NRL. He never wanted to leave the NRL but his defence was so bad nobody else wanted him so his only option was to find a club in SL.

Last night's game showed exactly how poor he is as he was woefully exposed. He's 'scared' to put his body on the line whether that be a high ball with chaser bearing down on him, or having to make a tackle to save a try. Its all well & good having pace but no point scoring try's when you let so many in.

[Madrileño]

58 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

When you signed Dufty I was pretty vocal about his defensive liabilities and how he was constantly slated for them in the NRL. He never wanted to leave the NRL but his defence was so bad nobody else wanted him so his only option was to find a club in SL.

Last night's game showed exactly how poor he is as he was woefully exposed. He's 'scared' to put his body on the line whether that be a high ball with chaser bearing down on him, or having to make a tackle to save a try. Its all well & good having pace but no point scoring try's when you let so many in.

Agreed @Saint Toppy he clearly chose to "buy" the dummy at the young guy's try rather than simply hit the ball carrier, and force him to execute the pass. (He actually had a defender on his onside as well).

if you called this earlier, then fair play to you, because the guy obviously doesn't want to tackle, as you say. 

[Madrileño]

What we are seeing here is that teams are rapidly working out how to play against Warrington. 

I mentioned on previous threads, that powell's teams are always based around a dominant middle unit generating fast ruck speed. If his teams get a roll on with a series of quick PTBs then they are always dangerous.

However: keep them in yardage as long as possible (Linespeed early in the count) and get numbers in at the contact - win the wrestle. If teams really focus on both of these, then all ofy a sudden, Wire are left looking a bit lost.

Matautia got stuck in last night, but is clearly not an elite level Middle - whenever there was a scrum, he looked like a back who had jumped in there to help out (which he was!)

Saints got 3 or even 4 men in to the contact, and got tacklers 1 and 2 off the deck early enough to sprint back while their markers stayed in the fight. I have noticed that Super League refs allow a kind of 'Flop Lite' where the 3rd man in is kind of allowed to add weight even when the ball carrier is already down. (The women's games are far worse for this!) And Saints exploited this well, with their 3rd or even 4th man getting hands/forearms/body on to the upper tackler and giving a quick squeeze down. Wire's ruck speed was slowed right down as a result. 

Obviously Wire will still be able to blow away the chaff at the bottom of the League (the grade 3 teams as Adrian Morley called them this week! ) but I think they need to find something fast to be competitive against the top sides going forward. Catalans, Wigan, Saints all have the athleticism to dominate the collision/wrestle and still get back to feet quickly enough to stop Wire milking penalties. 

 

[WN83]

8 hours ago, GeordieSaint said:

I do agree. Lomax is a leader and his presence in the squad is hugely important IMO. I don’t think he’s a starter but that’s just my opinion. I do however, think Wane should be looking at 2025; not now. So blooding players now is vital. As Lomax won’t be playing in 2025.

I wouldn’t totally rule out somebody like Lomax playing in 2025. He will be 34 at the time and while that would be towards the very end of his England career, you still might want that experience. I didn’t quite understand the Chris Hill pick, as clearly he won’t be playing in that World Cup and guys like Hall and McIlorum have also been retired by the looks of things but there still could be room for lads at 31/32/33, such as Lomax, Makinson and Whitehead. A lot will depend on their fitness going forward. 

[Jim Prendle]

14 hours ago, dkw said:

I think its good that the WDL got to use this match thread to recover the dummies they all threw out their prams in their last match thread, well done to the Saints wingers in replenishing them.

How ironic. Your dummy is in orbit every time Wigan play.

It's quite sad the way they are living rent free in your head.

[Josef K]

Wellens would never drop Knowles and keep Bell at 13 but i would. I think has gone backwards, he just seems to be a human penalty machine nowadays. Perhaps he would be better suited for the NRL!!!!. 

[GeordieSaint]

Another celebrity fan:

[dkw]

10 hours ago, Jim Prendle said:

 

It's quite sad the way they are living rent free in your head.

Says the man posting about me hours and hours later  

Now that's ironic....

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by dkw

[Jim Prendle]

11 hours ago, dkw said:

Says the man posting about me hours and hours later  

Now that's ironic....

 

 Regardless of how much later I posted, sorry if my life got in the way, your obvious hatred of all things Wigan is cringeworthy.

You should try thinking before you post because you are embarrassing yourself.