I am a long time supporter (far too many years) but first time poster.
Nobody mentions JBBs inadequacies in defence. He often goes missing, looking for someone to tackle other than his man. It is no surprise that Warrington score well against our right side. I am seriously worried that Riley and Atkins will make hay against us in the GF.

JBB?



No point worrying about it, let's just hope it's improved since Wembley and/or our game play shuts down the options to take advantage of it like at Wigan.

The defense down that side at wembleywas shocking also against wakefield in the play offs but were improved against catalan and wigan must say it helps when we have lunt on the field to tighten up the defence in the middle of the park (he was immense against wigan) then i think it was jjb who moved out to the right to help out which seemed to be more the problem watkins and bish were finding themselves in too many 3 on 2 s and even best defenders in the world have no chance in that situation

The quicker our line speed the less BJB is exposed. His defence worries me too but with the right intensity and speed we can pressurise the attackers into making mistakes.

I don't think BJB's defence is as bad as is made out. We get exposed to too many overlaps out there (probably both sides, but most teams go left more often than right in attack), particularly when we don't defend the ruck and the mddle well enough. Against Wigan we defended much better up the middle and were less exposed out wide as a result.

Could have sworn JJB plays down the left channel; Delaney down the right channel.



Agree wholeheartedly with the comments about Lunt.....a great hooker should be able to lead the defence and tighten up the ruck. Lunt - given the chance - could be our new Buderus. He deserves to start in the GF.

Burrow, fabulous though he is running against tired forwards, should not start as hooker: our defence then becomes noticeably weaker. Bring him on from the bench after twenty mins (or if he [imust[/i start then play him at SH alongside Lunt). In fact we went pretty well with that team against Wigan and [uall[/u should be duly rewarded........McGuire should start on the bench at the expense of, the perhaps unfortunate, Clarkson.

Agree with starting Lunt at Hooker and Burrow from the bench.

Ward would be my choice to miss out.

Agree mostly but if McGuire's fit I'd start him and put Burrow on the bench, if for no other reason than that Burrow has more impact to make coming on as sub. Clarkson to miss out. Ward offers more and is sound enough in defence to be included as a back row on the bench, especially if Bailey (who is carrying well at the moment) does long minutes.

Maybe that Delaney is down the right and jjb on left wasn't sure but still helps with Lunt in the middle So the second rowers don't have to do a lions share in the middle of the park and can keep their positions out wide and I would start with burrow on bench have that impact and ward over clarkson he's really impressed me at how quickly he's coming on safe in defence and offers more in attack

At the start of games Jones-Buchanan double teams with Ablett (centre) on the left, it's Delaney and Watkins on the right. Burrow (whether half-back or hooker) is next to Hall on the left and he'll stay there unless pulled out of position in cover defence but Sinfield on the right will interchange with Watkins as he sees the situation.

The starting second rowers (JJB and Delaney) will also drift in and out of the middle chanel while maintaining their overall left or right detail. Bailey (loose forward) has more of a roving commission and tackles anything that moves.

The key is working as a unit, get back together, go forward together and communicate with each other. Get ahead of the line trying to make a hero play and you'll leave a weakness that the opposition with good execution can exploit (Richards try on Friday.) Sinfield and Watkins are prone to this and Smith is too astute a coach not to see it.

Whoa there. Think you've gotten a little bit carried away.

He certainly played well against Wigan but he's not even in the same league as Buderus...

That's correct - one plays in SL the other in the NRL.

The question isn't really whether Lunt will ever be anywhere near the class of Buderus but whether he can play a similar role in both disciplines - attack and defence.

The difficulty appears to be accomodating McGuire and Burrow in the starting line-up now that Sinfield has a lock on the stand off position. When McGuire or Burrow are unavailable it appears that problem temporarily gets solved and Lunt is allowed to play as a conventional hooker and surprise, surprise he looks reasonably useful.

Was impressed with Watkins defence, especially the big shot on Hock!

Only just caught up on this thread......you reflect my thoughts exactly and then impart them far better.

Its not just when the right side is outnumbered though that they have problems, even when they match up in terms of numbers they've still come undone. The trio of Sinfield, Watkins and BJB really need to work as a unit more instead of looking like 3 individuals all with different ideas on what they're doing. We've lined up this way for the majority of the season that whilst not conventional they still should've made it work better, at times it still looks like they're getting use to it.