Quote ="largeprop"I have been biting my lip for a few weeks now but here goes.
as a fullback dorn's one on one defence is shocking, his kick returns average at best and his positional play poor .(or is it just that opposition kickers kick away from him unlike ours).Mr Tansey must have been one naughty chappie not to get a game.
dixon whilst being a wholehearted player is making too many errors and is very one dimensional e.g his kick offs.
sneyd doesn't turn up for big matches which is probably why he has signed for hull and we certainly didn't miss his goalkicking last night.
finn was a baffling signing who for most of the season confounded his critics. recently his out of hand kicking has been atrocious he found wellens with such accuracy. I thought it was just good positional play from wellens until I realised he didn't have to move. finns one on one tackling is poor so much so other teams aim for him and he usually obliges.
the forwards as a whole seem to have gone down a notch or two. tiredness ? perhaps.
the most worrying aspect though is that in the last 200 mins of game time we have only scored 2 tries this from a team who were the 2nd highest scorers in regular season. we had been averaging over 30 points per game.
having said all that I have thoroughly enjoyed this season just a shame about the last few games.'"
I think this is a bit harsh. This is a team that was expected to be scrapping it out around the relegation places this season and has undoubtedly been hitting above its weight to be 4th in the table and get to the CC final. Sure there are weaknesses - Dorn, Dixon, Sneyd, Finn have never been world beaters and have never played at this level, so the criticism is valid but a little pointless given they are in a squad designed to survive - not challenge for the top honours as it has done.
It's clear that the team is shattered from playing more games than usual and more high intensity games than usual. Being hammered by a Saints team that didn't have a particularly long cup run and has players who have played at the highest level is hardly surprising when they're both fresher and designed to play at this level.
Sure it's a bit disappointing but you have to be realistic - this isn't a team that is full of stars or players who have playoff experience. We still have a chance to turn it around but if we don't, it's still been an incredible year and I just hope we can build on it next year.
