The Long Good Friday

[Blind side johnny]

Such a shame that a poor crowd eventually dragged themselves down to the match, which was a joy from a Dewsbury point of view.

For the first 20 minutes it was all Batley pressure and we could only kick our possession away from poor positions. Then from some clever play down the left by O'Connor we were away for a breakaway try and never really looked back after that. The players lifted themselves and improved by the minute as Batley seemed to fade away. the second half seemed to pass much more quickly than the first, thanks to our dominance. I ended up disappointed to concede that try right at the end as I so wanted to nil them  - never mind.

I confess to being a little baffled by the team selection and was critical of it before the game. However, each player put a really good shift in against a fair bit of niggle and we left the pitch with our heads held high. A great afternoon's entertainment for those fans who could make it.

I hope that Turner's injury isn't serious - he played very well today.

[Wakefield Ram]

Bailey O'Connor has real quality, great under the high ball and dangerous on attack. Superb break for the first try. I know some want Restall back but O'Connor was superb tonight.

Great performance from the team today especially on defence and in face of plenty of niggle from Batley. Looked to have a lot more ideas on attack. Struggled to contain the Batley pack at times but their discipline was poor. Rushs kicking game helped when he came on.

But it will give the team a lot of confidence and also make some teams a bit more wary.

[NickD]

48 minutes ago, Wakefield Ram said:

Bailey O'Connor has real quality, great under the high ball and dangerous on attack. Superb break for the first try. I know some want Restall back but O'Connor was superb tonight.

 

Hasn't changed my view.   Bailey at 4 and Owen at 1 and we'd be rocking...Both players are class...

[STEVE P]

Yes, we struggled to contain the Batley pack, but that was the whole point of the game. Our forwards did contain them, then they subdued them, then they dominated them. That's how Rugby League should work. 

I know it would be naive to think that we could expect that level of passion and conviction every week, but I can't help feeling a bit more optimistic than I did yesterday. 

For now, thanks to everyone involved in tonight's performance for a fantastic evening and a great memory to store with my many other special Dewsbury moments. 

[Crown Flatter]

Some may disagree, but I maintain that defence wins games and I believe it was proved so this evening. We soaked up all that the Batley attacking line threw at us and against the run of play, O’Connor burst through a gap to surge downfield. Here. I hoped for back up and was pleased to see Davies was there, not alongside, but near enough to take the pass and finish off the move.

We hadn’t been nilled!

I do like to see an interception and one scored against our old enemy was sweet  to see, with Whiteley haring down the wing to touchdown.

The other two tries from Billington were from some good hard work by the team.

I reckon we won the penalty count 9-4, but those set restarts against us are becoming all too regular.

See my score prediction-totally wrong and I couldn’t be more pleased.

 

Edited March 30 by Crown Flatter

[coolie]

13 hours ago, NickD said:

Hasn't changed my view.   Bailey at 4 and Owen at 1 and we'd be rocking...Both players are class...

Spot on

How retstall ain't in the team I don't know. 

 

[J Phil Loxton]

49 minutes ago, coolie said:

Spot on

How retstall ain't in the team I don't know. 

 

Good result Coolie. Batley played really well against us (Fev). That result should give the Rams a real lift. The championship this time is already speaking volumes. Batley will shock a few clubs and a win like that over them can only inspire the Rams.

[thehullram]

Thoughts on last night. 

Great to get a win, I think last time we got relegated, we lost several close games, where on another day we could have won. I'd put both league matches in the same bracket, matches that could have gone either way, with a bit of luck going the other way. Concerned that in both matches if we had been 12-0 down after 20 minutes I don't think there would have been any complaints. 

Now a bit more positive, we really grew in to the match and built confidence. Attack looked better, forwards competed well, we were composed more of the time and defended really well throughout the match. Was surprised about Batley's performance, as expected more. Think Brown's best days are long behind him.....

Standouts for me would BoC, Perry, Turner, Beckett (did he play all 80 minutes?), Billington and Garside, but don't think anyone let themselves down. Great to see all 3 of the Huddersfield players thrilled to have won, and looking part of the group (rather than outsiders that we have had on DR before). 

The turning point for me was Turner's 40-20, that got us out of pressure and we scored soon after

Still plenty to improve on, and a few bits I don't understand:-

• Hookem had his best match I thought, but he isn't a kicker, we look so much more threatening when Turner is kicking near the line, not sure why we are using Hookem so much to kick
• 12 - 0 up with about 20 minutes left, match still in the balance and the next score is key to winning the match. We have 10 tackles in their 20, why we aren't hitting a drop-goal over so they have to score 3 times I don't know
• We need to get Rush running more with the ball, he looks a threat whenever he gets the ball, but he didn't get much yesterday

After yesterday, think we can give Widnes a good game, and hopefully they will bring a few with their start to the season. If we can get a couple of wins out of the next 5 matches, we'll have had a great start I think. 

Well done everyone

[SUPERSTUD]

Attended and really wanted the team to come out victorious based on effort and desire alone. Thankfully they justifiably did. Also think Fergie made the right call in his post match interview where he openly stated that he did not wish to pick any individual star performers out. Long tough season ahead and next week v Widnes will be a totally different ball game so to speak. We are going to need a squad with solidarity and TBH I feel that we have a good honest group of players. The squad will be well and truly tested. Thought Batley obviously lacked offensive ideas on the night and I think our lads eventually tackled them into submission. They lost heart and desire which are two very key fundamentals in a game of rugby league. So we are on the board. Hoping for a win next week with a performance full of grit and desire. Really enjoyed it last night. However I want to see if we have a chance of becoming more of the real deal going forward. Tougher tests than last night’s Batley are upon the horizon. I want to see which players possess the gonads to survive. 

[STEVE P]

On 29/03/2024 at 23:50, Crown Flatter said:

Some may disagree, but I maintain that defence wins games and I believe it was proved so this evening. We soaked up all that the Batley attacking line threw at us and against the run of play, O’Connor burst through a gap to surge downfield. Here. I hoped for back up and was pleased to see Davies was there, not alongside, but near enough to take the pass and finish off the move.

We hadn’t been nilled!

I do like to see an interception and one scored against our old enemy was sweet  to see, with Whiteley haring down the wing to touchdown.

The other two tries from Billington were from some good hard work by the team.

I reckon we won the penalty count 9-4, but those set restarts against us are becoming all too regular.

See my score prediction-totally wrong and I couldn’t be more pleased.

 

You are absolutely right about tackling. The win last night was totally founded on  stopping Batley from scoring in the first half. Their Plan A having failed, they were then playing the game how we wanted to play, rather than how they had planned it. Another fundamental of how to win a game of rugby league. 

Their frustration in the second half was testament to how well we had done them over.

The effort that went into all this was apparent by the last 5 minutes of the match. The legs had gone, but by then the job was done. 

 

Edited March 31 by STEVE P
Spelling error

[SUPERSTUD]

12 hours ago, coolie said:

Spot on

How retstall ain't in the team I don't know. 

 

Personally I have no problem regarding Owen who I think is a quality player. Unfortunately he copped an injury pretty early on at Keighley in the 1895 cup. This then resulted in a pretty major reshuffle on the day and we got pumped. From there we played York at home in the CC and we were unlucky to lose. Coach selected pretty much same team v Fax in round 1 apart from enforced changes through injury. Team played solid enough and IMHO with the same performance v Batley yesterday we would have beat a poor Fax. Yesterday same 17 apart from R Dixon beat Fax. So at this moment in time who are you standing down for Owen? I posted a short while ago that I want all 17 fighting for a spot. Finally I love Sykes to bit he is an absolute legend. But for goodness sake let’s move on. It is a young man’s game like it or not.

 

 

[SUPERSTUD]

Just now, SUPERSTUD said:

Personally I have no problem regarding Owen who I think is a quality player. Unfortunately he copped an injury pretty early on at Keighley in the 1895 cup. This then resulted in a pretty major reshuffle on the day and we got pumped. From there we played York at home in the CC and we were unlucky to lose. Coach selected pretty much same team v Fax in round 1 apart from enforced changes through injury. Team played solid enough and IMHO with the same performance v Batley yesterday we would have beat a poor Fax. Yesterday same 17 apart from R Dixon beat Fax. So at this moment in time who are you standing down for Owen? I posted a short while ago that I want all 17 fighting for a spot. Finally I love Sykes to bit he is an absolute legend. But for goodness sake let’s move on. It is a young man’s game like it or not.

 

 

Sorry same 17 apart from R Dixon beat Batley not Fax.

[Wakefield Ram]

One point to be remembered is that Batley have come off the back of two really tough matches. 

But if Batley put as much effort into playing as they did niggling, cheap shots and trying to milk penalties, they'd have done better. 

Edited April 1 by Wakefield Ram

[Wakefield Ram]

On 30/03/2024 at 22:54, SUPERSTUD said:

Personally I have no problem regarding Owen who I think is a quality player. Unfortunately he copped an injury pretty early on at Keighley in the 1895 cup. This then resulted in a pretty major reshuffle on the day and we got pumped. From there we played York at home in the CC and we were unlucky to lose. Coach selected pretty much same team v Fax in round 1 apart from enforced changes through injury. Team played solid enough and IMHO with the same performance v Batley yesterday we would have beat a poor Fax. Yesterday same 17 apart from R Dixon beat Fax. So at this moment in time who are you standing down for Owen? I posted a short while ago that I want all 17 fighting for a spot. Finally I love Sykes to bit he is an absolute legend. But for goodness sake let’s move on. It is a young man’s game like it or not.

 

 

We miss his field kicking and goal kicking. But we can't afford the needless penalties he gives away and yellow cards he gets. 

[NickD]

On 30/03/2024 at 22:54, SUPERSTUD said:

From there we played York at home in the CC and we were unlucky to lose. Coach selected pretty much same team v Fax in round 1 apart from enforced changes through injury. Team played solid enough and IMHO with the same performance v Batley yesterday we would have beat a poor Fax. Yesterday same 17 apart from R Dixon beat Fax. So at this moment in time who are you standing down for Owen? I posted a short while ago that I want all 17 fighting for a spot. 

 

 

I'm sticking with the same comment I've posted several times already and then I'll leave alone for a while.   Owen back to FB and Bailey to 4, where I think he would be more involved.   It's easy to forget after Friday's win that last season it was Bailey making the breaks and who was ALWAYS the one backing up?  Yep, Owen.   I've nowt against Marcus Walker and the coach must see something I don't (is his defence better?) but for me a back line of Owen, Bailey and Ollie would be up there with the best.

[SUPERSTUD]

6 hours ago, NickD said:

I'm sticking with the same comment I've posted several times already and then I'll leave alone for a while.   Owen back to FB and Bailey to 4, where I think he would be more involved.   It's easy to forget after Friday's win that last season it was Bailey making the breaks and who was ALWAYS the one backing up?  Yep, Owen.   I've nowt against Marcus Walker and the coach must see something I don't (is his defence better?) but for me a back line of Owen, Bailey and Ollie would be up there with the best.

It’s ok to be ok with your individual opinion. If it was a five a side league we could have Owen, Bailey, Ollie, Syksey and Fergie. Some supporters would be absolutely salivating with that!

[Hugh Jarce]

Unable to attend the game, but watched it on YouTube.

Fantastic performance from everyone, Dale was right not to single out one MoM.

That will hurt Batley, not just to lose against the Old Enemy, but to perform so badly.

Hope we can build on this next week against Widnes!

[Wakefield Ram]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jarce said:

Unable to attend the game, but watched it on YouTube.

Fantastic performance from everyone, Dale was right not to single out one MoM.

That will hurt Batley, not just to lose against the Old Enemy, but to perform so badly.

Hope we can build on this next week against Widnes!

Posted above, Batley had come off a couple of tough games against Fev and Castleford whilst we'd had a week off. Though I got the impression they thought they just had to turn up to win.