Sat 3rd Jun: SL: Leeds Rhinos v Castleford Tigers KO 18:00 (Sky)

[Just Browny]

Cracking comeback by Castleford, I thought the game was up at 24-14 but two good tries and they closed it out quite impressively. 

Agree with others about Widdop: he was a mixed bag first half but in the second half he and McShane were a real handful. I was very impressed with Wallis too, even though they weren't exactly opposite numbers the pseudo-duel he had with McDonald was good viewing.

[Josef K]

What a thriller well done Cas. 

[sentoffagain2]

4 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

Cracking comeback by Castleford, I thought the game was up at 24-14 but two good tries and they closed it out quite impressively. 

Agree with others about Widdop: he was a mixed bag first half but in the second half he and McShane were a real handful. I was very impressed with Wallis too, even though they weren't exactly opposite numbers the pseudo-duel he had with McDonald was good viewing.

  Agree about Wallis he looks a very good prospect.

[Gates1]

Jesus.  Firstly Leeds couldn't of helped Cas more, terrible performance by them.  A better team,  better coached, would have been well in front by half time.

Turned off in disgust before the last two tries so will enjoy watching the game back to the end later.

Agree with some of the comments about Wallis, has impressed me everytime I've seen him play.  Good to see a more Mcshane like Mcshane today.  Widdop is a far better full back then half and showed today in attack, needs to fix up defensively though, especially kick wise.

Far more impassioned performance by Cas, bit thank god for Leeds having a knightmare!

Edited June 3, 2023 by Gates1

[Harry Stottle]

No one has mentioned the effort and expertise that Westerman put in, he was very influential in the victory.

[Josef K]

On 30/05/2023 at 19:35, Josef K said:

Leeds will win easy they only have too run at Turner.

I have always said Turner is first class. 

[Fevrover]

33 minutes ago, DimmestStar said:

Cas had a few players back today - not all by any means - but it certainly made a difference.

Deserved winners against a Leeds team which can't quite get it together.

Especially when playing  c@$.

[Gates1]

1 minute ago, Harry Stottle said:

No one has mentioned the effort and expertise that Westerman put in, he was very influential in the victory.

His performances (excluding the one next to Biggies) have been one of the few positives for Cas this year.  100% effort each week and genuine skill added to natural size.  Would have been interesting to see how good he could have been had he been a) more focused and b) given the NRL a go.

[OnStrike]

6 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

No one has mentioned the effort and expertise that Westerman put in, he was very influential in the victory.

He was very good alright. Nearly everything went through him and made serious yards too

[Padge]

44 minutes ago, Ullman said:

He was the difference between winning and losing today.

His post match interview was enlightening, he seemed to relish having the freedom of playing from the back.

[redjonn]

18 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

I know some people love to blame the coach but do Leeds have the players? How many Leeds players are in the top three in SL in their position?

Difficult to say as they are very inconsistent due to the many errors some players make plus the lack of playing nous by others.  Not many to answer your question but their are a few.

First thing would be if the coach put the players into their strongest positions, e.g Handley on the wing, Martin back/secod row... Myler back to full back, Olperts in the changing room, etc etc etc...  

Stop playing a passive defence as Castleford made loads of yards very easily as do most teams against Leeds... The coach seems to like a passive defence, I assuming he backs the line/last 20 defence or await opposition to make decision with the ball but its rare that Leeds nowadays force the opposition to kick from Deep - Unlike when they were successful.  Rather they are in lots of games starting in last 10 with a full opposition in front of them

Yep I see the players today make really silly errors, knock-on from a scrum around own 10yards... not playing simple next 6 after getting a try, off-loading in silly positions normally because struggle to get out of last 10/20. They seem to lose concentration I guess with some of the unforced knock-ons.   They need to play to a structure more especially after getting in front in order to control the game and not give impetus to opposition to get back into game and regain momentum... At times it seems unprofessional with regard to the nous of playing as a professional smart.

I put a lot of that down to the coaches approach to the game.  We may not be at NRL level in SL but teams are good enough to make you pay from those errors or penalties.

 

[OnStrike]

Amazing comeback from Cas, very nearly turned off after Leeds scored and they needed two tries, thought it was game over. Fair play to them, hope they can build on it now

[OnStrike]

8 minutes ago, redjonn said:

 Olperts in the changing room, etc etc etc...  

 

 

Haha...agree

[Just Browny]

28 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

No one has mentioned the effort and expertise that Westerman put in, he was very influential in the victory.

Good shout, I actually think he has been good whenever I've seen him this year. Seems to keep his head down on the field too; almost as if his extracurricular activity pre-season has made him concentrate on his game.

[Ullman]

1 hour ago, graveyard johnny said:

have I just seen a new tactic that replaces the hand off from bently? the elbow off! did only i see that?

That's what it looked like to me.

[Gates1]

On a side note, Olpherts has been far better for Cas this year than he was last.  Getting Leeds to pay his wages was a rare Cas master stroke.

[redjonn]

24 to 14 up, 10 mins to go and important two points if aspirations for play offs. Yet the poor game management leaves a lot of questions about the nous or on field leadership. I don't remember a single kick to touch/corners.

Castleford deserved winners given the yardage they made with leeds poor set ends when failing to have any semblance of control.  They seemed more than willing to invite in Cas...

No idea about Cas as I,ve only seen them full game twice this season. Both against Leeds and for sure they have been the better team each time and look as if they have better players... which given the way Cas have done this season doesn't say much for Leeds squad. 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by redjonn

[Tippytoe]

2 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

I know some people love to blame the coach but do Leeds have the players? How many Leeds players are in the top three in SL in their position?

Holroyd Oledski Smith O'connor doing ok the rest not so much but to be fair most are being picked out of position? If that is down to the coach then he should shoulder the blame. 

[Tippytoe]

2 hours ago, redjonn said:

Difficult to say as they are very inconsistent due to the many errors some players make plus the lack of playing nous by others.  Not many to answer your question but their are a few.

First thing would be if the coach put the players into their strongest positions, e.g Handley on the wing, Martin back/secod row... Myler back to full back, Olperts in the changing room, etc etc etc...  

Stop playing a passive defence as Castleford made loads of yards very easily as do most teams against Leeds... The coach seems to like a passive defence, I assuming he backs the line/last 20 defence or await opposition to make decision with the ball but its rare that Leeds nowadays force the opposition to kick from Deep - Unlike when they were successful.  Rather they are in lots of games starting in last 10 with a full opposition in front of them

Yep I see the players today make really silly errors, knock-on from a scrum around own 10yards... not playing simple next 6 after getting a try, off-loading in silly positions normally because struggle to get out of last 10/20. They seem to lose concentration I guess with some of the unforced knock-ons.   They need to play to a structure more especially after getting in front in order to control the game and not give impetus to opposition to get back into game and regain momentum... At times it seems unprofessional with regard to the nous of playing as a professional smart.

I put a lot of that down to the coaches approach to the game.  We may not be at NRL level in SL but teams are good enough to make you pay from those errors or penalties.

 

That's a pretty fair assessment. 

[Snowys Backside]

4 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

No one has mentioned the effort and expertise that Westerman put in, he was very influential in the victory.

Westerman very influential. Pulled the Leeds players pants down a few times H! 

[Tommygilf]

Lots of unhappy Leeds fans on Social Media, and a lot of anger directed towards the coach.

I've not had chance to watch the game yet, will be doing so shortly, but from what I've read will I be shocked to see a total lack of leadership on field, no linespeed in defence inviting Cas onto us, and some really odd tactical decision making? Nope, I don't think I will...

The flaws in this Leeds team are obvious, but the decisions to make them worse are entirely self inflicted. 

The coach doesn't know why we are bad sometimes and great others, even within the same game. Often when we are "good" (good in inverted commas as really it means we get the result which is all that matters), it seems in spite of any plan we have and down to random moments of individual effort. 

[EggFace]

I confused at first with Leeds jersey as didn't know the story before hand but Doddie Weirs family were at the game

Edited June 4, 2023 by EggFace

[Gavin Harrison]

Big pressure lift off Cas. Too big of a gap for Wakey now. 

Rohan Smith or Ian Watson to be first out?

Will Mark Applegarth be holding the door open for one of them?