In danger of slipping into relegation battle

[wayner]

With the loss of Gibson (for two more matches), injury to Hall and departure of Patton after Sunday's poor display 

we are in danger of slipping into a relegation battle - forever the optimist I know but the squad needs strengthening in the halfbacks and some more power in the pack.

Hopefully the team can turn it around on Saturday and I hope our coach is brave enough to play Stevens at stand off, as putting Abram there didn't work in my opinion against Barrow.

[wayner]

So after yesterday's poor performance against Doncaster - we are now firmly in the relegation zone  

Such a bright start to the season as well.

Roby doesn't look match fit yet - missing Gibson although Stevens looked good as did Purcell - not yet sure about Walker - but again we didn't create enough opportunities only managed to score once when Doncaster had 11 men - for me Reece Williams isn't playing well and should have scored in the corner.

I hope Mr Kilshaw can turn the team around as we are already halfway through the season on 8 points when it should have been 16 points..............oh well there is always next week against Widnes.

[Mark]

Yes the promising start to the season has fallen away, feel a bit sorry for the board as you could imagine losing one half back but not two. Gibson for me is the main man and its a shame he isnt back for Widnes. I am struggling to see where the next win is coming from.

[wayner]

Well I guess the board decided it was better to take the money for Patton who was only using the club as a stepping stone -although his commitment on the field could not be questioned.

I think Stevens should stay at stand off and with Gibson back there will be less pressure on Stevens - who for me showed some nice touches against Doncaster.

Purcell also had a good game at full back and has bags of pace.

Its going to be a tough second half of the season.

[Mark]

They didnt have a choice on Patton, it was in his contract if a full time opportunity came along he could leave, but at least we got a fee. Trouble is the lack of half backs who could replace him. 

 

 

[wayner]

Agreed 

[wayner]

I see Chrimes has gone to North Wales on loan till the end of the season - not sure why as he has, in my opinion played well when selected. Personally I think Reece Williams isn't playing well but is selected every week.............anyway lets hope we get a win tomorrow - it is certainly needed.

I wonder who will be playing scrum half and stand off half tomorrow ?

[Sailaway]

Agree about Chrimes. Like some others who have been moved on, he didn't get a real chance to show what they might do at Swinton. Matty Fletcher was man of the match last week for Hunslet against Oldham. Cole Oakley plays every match for North Wales. Maybe they were not considered to be quite up to Championship standard but were not given much chance to show what they might develop into. I think Chrimes is loaned to Midlands Hurricanes who play at North Wales tomorrow.

[wayner]

Yes I agree - don't really know why a squad is assembled then players are put on loan while others are brought in on DR or loan.

Today the loan and DR players were excellent - a great win which was much needed - just think if the team could play for 80 mins every match we would have at least another 8 points.

Not complaining it was great to see the team dominate the second half and win the match - lets hope they can beat Sheffield next week 

[Urge]

I thought it was nice to see Lepori starting, I still feel he offers a lot. I was never sold on Chrimes, not that he ever did anything wrong though.

Lewis Hall did a good job at halfback and I hope we get to keep Okoro.

 

Will be interesting to see what comes out of the Gregson incident and how it impacts this weekend. I think the image was in pretty poor taste but when watching the match I didn't think there was anything malicious going on, time will tell.

 

For anyone that hasn't watched the match, here are some links (yes I've too much time on my hands):

Widnes Injuries: Gregson, Kirk, Langtree, Bent, Brogan (#1, #2), Brookes (presumably).

Tackling Gregson 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (shoulder went), 9

Gregson Tackling 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36

 

 

Edited July 9 by Urge

[Sailaway]

Having also watched the replay of the match I agree that nothing suspicious was apparent. Nick Gregson was injured as he jumped in an attempt to charge down a kick by Swinton on the last tackle. He can be heard to cry out in pain but doesn't seem to make any contact with man or ball. Maybe he just over stretched the arm and shoulder. The ref stops the match at the next tackle and Gregson leaves the field with the physio. There is nothing suspicious about the incident. Up to that point I can't see anything that looks out of the ordinary and Gregson played a normal part in the game in attack and defence. 

Edited July 9 by Sailaway

[Mark]

The only part I probably disagree with on the Gregson part is the noose, targeting a player thats injured happens in every sport, you dont play nicely. AS long as we didnt break the rules which looking at the video we didnt, then its fine.

I thought the second half was way better, thought Okoro was immense and Hartill offered a lot when he came on, the lad from Saints gets through some work as well. Rodden had his best game of the season as did Wood. I dont rate Chrimes, him and Spedding as a defensive partnership were an accident waiting to happen, Spedding with his arm tackles and Chrimes with his positioning, Lapori did a good job but for me has lost his zip, but we looked a lot tighter with him in and he is always willing to take the ball in. Hatton and Williams will score an awful lot of tries if we get the ball to them, for me Hatton has been player of the season upto now, it'll be good to have Gibson back this week. 

 

Think we lost the ball 4 times on the first tackle which wont please Kilshaw and if we played against a better coached team then we might get punished. 

[Neutralfan7]

From a neutral point of view, I don't believe targeting an injured player is an issue, every team does it and if you spot an injured player on a certain side of the field, that is your obvious go to... However, the noose incident is shocking and in no shape can be excused, it's in disgusting taste and I'm not saying it will be for Gregson, but it could be a trigger for some people in regards to past experience.

Certainly bad press and wouldn't be surprised if the RFL take action against the coach/club over this, be interesting to see if it has any impact on your ability to bring in players from other clubs.

[Mark]

2 hours ago, Neutralfan7 said:

From a neutral point of view, I don't believe targeting an injured player is an issue, every team does it and if you spot an injured player on a certain side of the field, that is your obvious go to... However, the noose incident is shocking and in no shape can be excused, it's in disgusting taste and I'm not saying it will be for Gregson, but it could be a trigger for some people in regards to past experience.

Certainly bad press and wouldn't be surprised if the RFL take action against the coach/club over this, be interesting to see if it has any impact on your ability to bring in players from other clubs.

Totally agree, the noose isnt a good look at all! 

[Neutralfan7]

We've just signed Lewis Baxter on loan for rest of the season and seen he's previously played for you guys, how do you rate him? 

[Sailaway]

No dual reg players in Swinton's 20 man squad for Sunday's match. Is this a result of last weekend's stupid error of judgement I wonder? 

[Urge]

That was my presumption as well 

[Mark]

On 11/07/2024 at 13:32, Neutralfan7 said:

We've just signed Lewis Baxter on loan for rest of the season and seen he's previously played for you guys, how do you rate him? 

Yes played very well for us last season 

[wayner]

Fantastic result at Sheffield today - I think Saints, Salford and Warrington have decided to distance themselves from the club pending the RFL inquiry outcome.

I have never been a fan of DR or even loans if it means squad players don't get a look in - today the win was with the players in the squad - a fantastic effort because I am sure everyone at the club will be affected by the allegations.

The image of the noose is shocking and should be severely punished if proven to be true..............I wonder how long the RFL will take to complete their investigation - also Swinton are on record saying our own investigation will be made.

I too looked at the match video - not in forensic detail like Urge  and also couldn't see anything wrong also as I sit a row in front of where Alan Kilshaw sits during the match - i seem to recall him shouting that they should run at Brogan because he was limping and that's what Rodden did when he made break down the left side and fed Williams the ball to score.

Anyway lets hope the team can make it three wins on the run next week 

[RogerT]

If you can do that to Sheffield at there midden then you will be fine. 

[Mark]

Just home from a fantastic performance today. We keep beating the top teams, need to beat those around us now. 
 

Gibson being back is a massive boost, Rodden must be knackered after those tries and there’s nothing better then a big lad crashing over from a couple of yards out! 

[Mark R]

Need to follow it up with a win over Whitehaven who have been a bit of a nemesis to us in recent years 

Fabulous win yesterday 

We don't need dual reg with the players returning as they are 

Bennion nearly match fit gives us another big lad to pick 

 

 

[wayner]

Another disappointment today - Whitehaven were worth the win we dominated the first half but didn't score enough and then let in a soft try, Second half we let in a try early on after a penalty against us for obstruction.

Then scored a good try almost two more but then the Whitehaven set up really good try for them and then with five minutes to go they scored after bundling Hatton back into in goal area ball came loose ref allowed the try

I think the Whitehaven pack battered us in the second half - don't why our big forwards were on the field for longer.

20:10 up with 16 or mins on the clock should have been sufficient to win the match.

So the team are going to have to do it the hard way to stay up - its never easy being a Swinton fan.

[Haven 123]

Wouldn’t worry mate yous are far to good to go down.

[Mark]

I couldnt go on Sunday, speaking to the lads that went though, we are in a relegation fight now. They said we offered very little in attack, even when York went down to 12 and there seemed no one leading the team or motivating them. Mind you looking at our season, we may well go and baet Toulouse on Saturday and all will be forgotten