DHM - thanks for the definition of a hooker. I agree, they should be strong and key defenders, but I wouldn't have classed Buderus as aggressive. McShane may have done OK against Manly but he's been found out on plenty of other occassions, so I have no problem with him being loaned out. I think we would be wrong to be playing Liam Hood every week immediately, countless players have come through too soon in our and other teams and been ruined; loaning him out to a Championship side will allow him to get used to playing against men, and give him some great experience so that hopefully, next season, he can play every week.

ThePrinter - thank you for your reply. I would agree that the game against Wigan was disappointing but we had a superb performance against Manly, along with good performances against Warrington at home, Salford away, London at home, and Catalans at home, so I think we've shown what we can do, we just need to bring some consistency back.

Hopefully, no player that plays at senior level has to be coached to respect the ball, and my response to this would focus less on the coach and again, more on the players. Our first team players know what they can and should be doing week in, week out, and I think for some of them, this rut we are in is making them desperate. Many of the knock-ons aren't coming from loose passes but simply from carrying the ball; I don't think this is due to lack of respect for the ball, I think this is due to desperation. We've all seen players fluff try opportunities because they can see it being scored before they've done the work, and I think that's what we're seeing every week. Stevie Ward was brilliant on Friday and he had the same coaching last week as everyone else, but made far fewer mistakes; again, I think this is because there's no pressure on him as a new, young player. While I think desire is an issue for one or two of the lads, we can't doubt it in the ever-reliables and I think it's this desire which is causing the desperation. I stand by my point on silly penalties but would say that most of the players who give these away, also do a lot of other, good things, so it's not as simple as just dropping them.

RE your notes on individual players, obviously we all see different things and I would agree that BJB was poor on Friday, but he still has that potential to do good things, as does Zak. I can't help but think judgements are being made on these two, particularly Zak, too quickly - this is only his first full season after all! I agree Delaney looks tired but again, with injuries and the way the fixture list has worked out, I can't see how we could reasonably afford to give him a rest. I don't agree that we haven't had many games where we could say 1-17 won it for us - in 2011 we showed great team effort at Cas away, Catalans at home, Cas at home, Wakey at home, and right through the play-offs. This year, we've had Manly, Salford away, London at home, Catalan at home and Leigh away (not sure that really counts!). I think that any team, under any coach, only has a handful of games at most per season where 1-17 can put their hands up and say they all played pretty well.

I agree it would be great to see a couple of young players tested in this second half of the season, and agree with your choices! Like I said in a different post though, it's important not to play these younger guys too much so quickly because ultimately, it will wear them out mentally and physically. I'm not sure what else you can expect Mac to say - obviously he's disappointed when we lose and has to acknowledge that we're not reaching our potential, so what else can he say?

To be honest its nice to have a positive poster on here. I'm kind of split on the subject though, i think while McDermott needs to be questioned for the performance (opposite to what the OP thinks) i agree with him that the criticism shouldn't go into abuse territory. Healthy and non-too-personal criticism is ok, going onto booing during games, name calling and disrespectful comments i think is unnecessary.

I believe Swiftcorn got a bit of a ban following an argument on the VT with an Aussie about Aussie Rules Football and claiming he knew Australia better than a guy who lives there. Don't know if it applies to here though but his absence is greatly appreciated.

Quote ="Gotcha"Come on folks. This is another AP/Keith alias. Don't get sucked in.'" It's not really a case of getting sucked in, as others have commented it's remained a civil discussion. I've always been notoriously poor at identifying the men behind the 'characters' but agree it's likely to be one of the regulars. Either way it's provided an outlet for some frustration. Will it change anyone's view - I doubt it. rhinowinorlose probably still thinks Henry Paul wasn't replaced at the Harlequins and that he was always a leading role model off the field : news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 038590.stm I'm guessing the Quins were just grateful he wasn't the chauffeur driver behind the wheel of that Mercedes S280.

Quote ="Gotcha"Come on folks. This is another AP/Keith alias. Don't get sucked in.'" It's not really a case of getting sucked in, as others have commented it's remained a civil discussion. I've always been notoriously poor at identifying the men behind the 'characters' but agree it's likely to be one of the regulars. Either way it's provided an outlet for some frustration. Will it change anyone's view - I doubt it. rhinowinorlose probably still thinks Henry Paul wasn't replaced at the Harlequins and that he was always a leading role model off the field : news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 038590.stm I'm guessing the Quins were just grateful he wasn't the chauffeur driver behind the wheel of that Mercedes S280.

Agreed. It's a discussion forum, this is a discussion. Does seem to wind a few people up though - not sure why.

I think in short they players have to take the criticism for the way they play and they shouldn't be exempt from criticism but equally the manager has to take some blame for the standard of play and tactics used in the game.