Thunder Away

[Batley Bob]

 

[Dog forever]

Won't be as easy as we might think with Newcastle being bottom  They know where the try line is, but poor defence letting in too many tries. Should be another 2 points.

Dogs 38

Newcastle  10

[Piggy's mate]

Hoping this won't ba a banana skin, the team has had some tough games recently and look a little tired, hope they don't expect to win and slip-up!

Thunder 12

Dogs 28

[RogerT]

I have been in touch with Newcastle Thunder ticket office today, we can pay on the day and we are in the small East Stand where the players come out and there are standing terraces as well as seating , there are full prices and and also concessionary prices as well.

[phildog]

After the Swinton match the last thing Linners etc will be doing is taking it easy. Agree though about tiredness, this is why we're struggling with numbers. We need new/ returning blood to add some sparkle.

[BullyXL]

1 hour ago, phildog said:

After the Swinton match the last thing Linners etc will be doing is taking it easy. Agree though about tiredness, this is why we're struggling with numbers. We need new/ returning blood to add some sparkle.

Complacency was the issue with the last Swinton match. The worst performance I've seen for a while. So long as we are not in the same mindset, we should take the win in Geordie land.

[phildog]

Oh no, Sheffield....

[BullyXL]

12 hours ago, phildog said:

Oh no, Sheffield....

Disagree. Sheffield were absolutely class that night. They have assembled a great squad this season and their overall results have proven that, along with their standing in the table right now. Swinton however are not the same.

[distantdog]

Sheffield were good but we were equally poor.  Absolutely nothing worked for us and it looked like a bleak season ahead of us.

[BullyXL]

37 minutes ago, distantdog said:

Sheffield were good but we were equally poor.  Absolutely nothing worked for us and it looked like a bleak season ahead of us.

Look at where we are now though.

[distantdog]

30 minutes ago, BullyXL said:

Look at where we are now though.

Yup. Quite the turnaround.

[Batley Bob]

 

[The scrim reaper]

I don't think that this will be as easy as most would think, I heard that on Sunday  we only just had enough fully fit men we've had a few tough games over the last few weeks so our boys might be feeling it a bit as Sundays game showed, walshaw played for 60 mins on a damaged knee Sunday,  now out for 8 weeks  minimum with MCL injury so looks like we  have to shuffle a few people around! Il be happy with a win wether by 40 or 4,good luck boys

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by The scrim reaper

[BullyXL]

Agreed, a win is all we need regardless of scoreline. They have genuine pace out wide on both edges so we will have to ensure that our defence is up to par.

[LINNERS]

14 hours ago, The scrim reaper said:

I don't think that this will be as easy as most would think, I heard that on Sunday  we only just had enough fully fit men we've had a few tough games over the last few weeks so our boys might be feeling it a bit as Sundays game showed, walshaw played for 60 mins on a damaged knee Sunday,  now out for 8 weeks  minimum with MCL injury so looks like we  have to shuffle a few people around! Il be happy with a win weather by 40 or 4,good luck boys

 

Considering his form in defence and getting over the try line, that would be a big miss.

[Batley Bob]

 

[phildog]

Browny will prop Flynny drop to 2nd row, down on size but not on effort. 1 to 8 basically picks itself, Hirst MIGHT come in for some size. If it's 8 weeks out, that's a massive loss.

[Keep The Faith]

I’ve heard 4 weeks so we shall see 

[Batley Bob]

 

[distantdog]

A real grind in the heat for an hour. We still look clunky in attack and are struggling for that bit of creativity, but are so tough to beat. We looked good though in the last 20 when we threw it about a bit.

After winning 10 and losing 4 our points difference is finally positive!!

[LuckyDog]

You’re spot on DD. At 12-10, I was bemoaning us not taking that 2 points in the first 5 minutes. But this team is never beaten. It shouldn’t surprise us anymore how much will to win these boys have. A couple of pieces of magic and we’re back in control. Fantastic effort as always.

[phildog]

We were architects of our own struggles; at 10-0 and controlling the game upto 25 minutes we started to miss tackles which kept giving Thunder encouraging field position and then a glaring miss to concede the first try. Then before and after the break they found some more encouragement, put a lot of pressure on us, we carried on being generous and went behind. I think that shocked us into a return to Batley basics and after that they didn't really trouble us. We started running better with the ball after that. We just seem to know collectively when it's time to play. I thought Cameron Worsley had a competent game in the middle except some of his signalling was a bit odd. I also thought he'd put 2 of ours on report but later was told that it was theirs which was a relief. BenK failed the HIA so will miss Swinton but could return v London if he passes his 12 day assessment. He looked confident after.

[BullyXL]

Started well. Thunder struggled to make yards. Then we eased off and let them back into the game - we looked tired and lacking energy in the 20-40min period. Intensity was then restored for the second half and apart from a couple of breaks, Thunder were not really in the game. Very clever at the end to take the 2 rather than run it - saved energy and put us 3 scores in front. Satisfied with the result but not the performance. That said, if we can win the 'easier' games playing at 60%, then it saves us for when effort and intensity is really needed. Lads did enough for the win in very hot circumstances.

[Keep The Faith]

17 hours ago, distantdog said:

A real grind in the heat for an hour. We still look clunky in attack and are struggling for that bit of creativity, but are so tough to beat. We looked good though in the last 20 when we threw it about a bit.

After winning 10 and losing 4 our points difference is finally positive!!

I said that to you and bob yesterday at half time we haven’t got a killer punch yet but we know how to grind out the win because when we want to defend and dig in we do 

[distantdog]

15 minutes ago, Keep The Faith said:

I said that to you and bob yesterday at half time we haven’t got a killer punch yet but we know how to grind out the win because when we want to defend and dig in we do 

Yes you did. We looked more fluid in the second half despite going behind. Hodson's try brightened everyone up.