Panthers v Dogs

we weren't far off today.

we just have no clue at all how to attack near the line,no idea really,and with no information as to why Woods is not playing (injury i presume) if we don't sign (or get back) a good half back,we will not win many matches.

even this early in the season,if we're playing a winger at scrumhalf,it isn't rocket science to know what we need.

also same players giving same old penalties away.....

makes next match a must win or I really really fear for our future in this league......

Didn’t go to the game but discipline does seem to be one of the problems due to the fact that 6 of faxes 18 points came from penalties 

We matched fax all game.not much in it. Weather was shocking. We really do look clueless near the try line on occasions.  Some bizarre decisions by the ref which all went faxs way. 3 games in and now we are bottom of the league, can't remember last time we were.  Not short on effort at all, it just giant happen. Why were we on a kick off always kicking  to jouffret.  The best player on the park who never dropped a ball all game , but it's always the same we need to really mix things up we are so predictable at times.

Our halves again couldn’t open a tin of beans… we gave 100% effort but no creativity or execution near the Halifax try line we had 24 tackles at one stage… we need either a fit woods or someone one loan before it’s too late for us 

I thought Jonny played well in the conditions he can’t not play next week 

butterworth confidence will be back now after that 

See if cas have a spare half or if we lose woods for more games . I fear relaxation is a reality .We need get this sorted quickly 

I wasn't able to make it today so can't comment on each player, who did what etc but one commenter has already covered the discipline aspect, we got beat by 4 kickable penalties, ironically the same penalties by the same kicker which beat us at Wembley. I said previously we'd match them in tackling which we clearly did, I also said we'd struggle on attack, we clearly did going by comments about possession and position on their line. A few seasons back we used to get player updates, now we know nothing so are forced to surmise as to why a player is missing or why a player isn't picked, injured, dropped, gone walkabout. We know we were disrupted by losing 3 players we expected to be here, but now where's our DR or loans (are we not wanting to afford it again?). Whichever way we want to spin it one thing you can't spin is that we're bottom of the league, won zero. 'Hard luck lads', 'we got close' etc won't cure that. We have next week to change that then we're up against a rampant Wakefield which won't change the position. Something needs to happen. What do I suggest? It's not my place, I and a few others do all we can buying tickets, attending this and that, trying to spend on Kev's grand of ale. Fans can't put any more money up, it's up to coaches to identify and someone to make it happen before we cement our position at the wrong end.

Tough game in very tough conditions today!  Nothing between the teams and It was hard for both teams to make any ground unless it was through penalties,what  I don't understand is why on 3 occasions we didn't kick and tapped the ball taking at least 4/5tackles to get as far as what we could have had we kicked it, I also agree with the comment about the kick offs same kick all day, in conditions like that why not put it across the ground make it hard to pick up! Todays game was about the forwards battle which I would say that batley won our second half defence was excellent, we did get into some good position to score today and probably with better game management we could have, trying to barge over from 3 or 4 yards in heavy conditions was always going to be difficult and I thought our boys got carried away and a bit panicky near the fax line, hence when we did score it was from a brilliant ball from kear to Burton it looked easy! Our boys gave everything today in horrendous conditions in a game which went down to the wire and  could have gone either way! So dispite the loss I say we'll done boys! 

15 hours ago, The scrim reaper said:

Tough game in very tough conditions today!  Nothing between the teams and It was hard for both teams to make any ground unless it was through penalties,what  I don't understand is why on 3 occasions we didn't kick and tapped the ball taking at least 4/5tackles to get as far as what we could have had we kicked it, I also agree with the comment about the kick offs same kick all day, in conditions like that why not put it across the ground make it hard to pick up! Todays game was about the forwards battle which I would say that batley won our second half defence was excellent, we did get into some good position to score today and probably with better game management we could have, trying to barge over from 3 or 4 yards in heavy conditions was always going to be difficult and I thought our boys got carried away and a bit panicky near the fax line, hence when we did score it was from a brilliant ball from kear to Burton it looked easy! Our boys gave everything today in horrendous conditions in a game which went down to the wire and  could have gone either way! So dispite the loss I say we'll done boys! 

But as the coach said on the radio we can’t just be 100% effort wise in the division without been 100% smarter and organised yes we are doing without our main number 7.. we knew last year he wouldn’t be able to play the full season but we signed a player who struggled with Bradford and Hunslet and hasn’t hit the ground running in the very tough competition… 

we need woods back fighting fit and we stand a chance of getting the ball rolling 

On 07/04/2024 at 18:10, Keep The Faith said:

Our halves again couldn’t open a tin of beans… we gave 100% effort but no creativity or execution…

Same for us st Dewsbury.  
 

We didn’t have the rain you had at Halifax though. 

No lack of effort from all the lads. Poor pitch and conditions for both teams meant a high scoring game was not on the cards. Our undoing was again lack of discipline and ball retention in key areas of the pitch at crucial times of the game. There was creativity from both White and Kear, as both tries proved, but they need players to be running the good lines and hitting gaps. They are predominantly runners of the ball, which again was proven by the amount of times they carried the ball forward, gaining lots of metres. We don't need to replace these 2 in their positions, rather get Woods fit and back playing, as his style compliments the running game of White and get Kear back into the three-quarters. For what its worth, I'm still not convinced about Mitsias. For me J Burton is a winger, he has pace and footwork and given space on the outside should get rewards. I do agree that we need more playing staff, as we are at bare bones now, just think what we could be like middle of the season! That said, not panicking about where we sit in the table at the moment, we're not far off but do need to get a win under our belts, if only to boost confidence.

4 hours ago, BullyXL said:

No lack of effort from all the lads. Poor pitch and conditions for both teams meant a high scoring game was not on the cards. Our undoing was again lack of discipline and ball retention in key areas of the pitch at crucial times of the game. There was creativity from both White and Kear, as both tries proved, but they need players to be running the good lines and hitting gaps. They are predominantly runners of the ball, which again was proven by the amount of times they carried the ball forward, gaining lots of metres. We don't need to replace these 2 in their positions, rather get Woods fit and back playing, as his style compliments the running game of White and get Kear back into the three-quarters. For what it’s worth, I'm still not convinced about Mitsias. For me J Burton is a winger, he has pace and footwork and given space on the outside should get rewards. I do agree that we need more playing staff, as we are at bare bones now, just think what we could be like middle of the season! That said, not panicking about where we sit in the table at the moment, we're not far off but do need to get a win under our belts, if only to boost confidence.

Warch the full game back white struggled in the 1st half didn’t hit Walshaw on the crash ball instead it looks like Walshaw over ran his man which is totally not the case… 

white nor Kear were the mom in my eyes both didn’t do enough for us unlike the forwards who ran their balls off or the centres who defended very well

Jonny had a decent game again but can’t have the ball when it’s poor also saved a try early on from a poor white kick after catching the young fax centre, you can’t of played rugby if you know why he looks rusty… you can’t play one week and not again until senior or Buchanan miss 

he’s played two top teams in his last two games 

35 minutes ago, Keep The Faith said:

Warch the full game back white struggled in the 1st half didn’t hit Walshaw on the crash ball instead it looks like Walshaw over ran his man which is totally not the case… 

white nor Kear were the mom in my eyes both didn’t do enough for us unlike the forwards who ran their balls off or the centres who defended very well

Jonny had a decent game again but can’t have the ball when it’s poor also saved a try early on from a poor white kick after catching the young fax centre, you can’t of played rugby if you know why he looks rusty… you can’t play one week and not again until senior or Buchanan miss 

he’s played two top teams in his last two games 

Was there on the day and watched the full game back on youtube. I'll stick to my observations. Mitsias was dominated in every tackle. For Whites 'poor' kick we had 3 players in attendance when it came down, if Morton had caught it then try time for him, Walshaw or Mitsias. I've played plenty of rugby in my time, too old now though, so feel qualified to have my opinion. I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

TBF, and I'm the one who mentions it most, DR out of Cas at the moment is almost impossible, they've got more players missing than we have squad, they're looking to bring players in themselves. That we need to strengthen seems clear to all of us except.... and are we looking? I've already said that coming away from games saying 'we're nearly there, not far off, they're giving all they've got etc' but that's not going to win us the next game. I still disagree with the 'Burton's a winger', I suspect we brought him as a replacement for Hodson in the centre which still left us short of pace on the wing which is predominantly why we brought Mitsias over, he has more a winger's build, but we could argue that all season!

On 08/04/2024 at 16:01, Keep The Faith said:

But as the coach said on the radio we can’t just be 100% effort wise in the division without been 100% smarter and organised yes we are doing without our main number 7.. we knew last year he wouldn’t be able to play the full season but we signed a player who struggled with Bradford and Hunslet and hasn’t hit the ground running in the very tough competition… 

we need woods back fighting fit and we stand a chance of getting the ball rolling 

I was at the game, I thought White and particularly Kear played the conditions really well, not many half’s prepare to carry the ball in yardage, he kicked well and the cut out pass for the final try was as good as you will ever see! Butterworth has to start doing his job at FB and catching kicks on the full… letting the ball bounce is the stuff of schoolboys…kick returns are worth 20+ metres which is 4-5 less tough carriers we have to make!