how did they play

Well by the sounds of the radio coverage. Wheeler got on the scoresheet.

Armstrong was put under a lot of pressure from clever kicks by the Giants halfbacks - some he dealt with very well - some he needed some major help with. TBH he is showing a fair amount of potential but is a while from being ready.

Wheeler got put out on the wing and it showed that he was playing out of position - but he definately showed fantastic footwork to take his try. I would have thought that his game is taking on the line and causing some chaos - but his chances at half back will hopefully be limited this season - but again there was enough there in that try to suggest he has a very good attacking game in him

Armstong defended a few kicks very well. Hurt his arm in one tackle second half but seemed to get over it. Not many ball running chances. Did drop one pass second half. Wheeler on for Gardner second half and the only pass he got he scored from.

Armstrong was excellent under the high ball. He was plucking them out of the air and not waiting for the ball to drop like some other players do.

The opposite of Meli then.

Let's hope he gets lots more chances in first grade matches then, so that he will eventually be 'ready'.

Armstrong was catching crossfield kicks with his hands held up at full stretch above his head, he took every single one brilliantly.

Got caught out for pace on an occasion or two when grubber kicks were put behind him.

Going forward he was a bit of a rag doll, but thats to be expected of a 19 year old.

He is certainly a lot safer defensively than Meli, but offensively he is currently far weaker. Hopefully with game time and experience he will improve his offensive play.

Wheeler was forced to play on the wing due to Gardner going off.
struggled to deal with a kick behind due to David Hodgsons pace , but did enough to prevent a try.
Took his own try very well, by stepping the Hudds defenders after it looked like Hudds had got cover across.

Wheeler did what he needed to do, and took his try well.

Armstrong's defence was good, however, turn him, and he is very slow.

wheeler had little do do, and did little wrong too..

armstrong was hit and miss, a few mistakes, as pointed out very slow on the turn, and dropped a simple pass, also got put into touch on two occasions, but defensively very good.

nothing a bit of experience won't sort

I wouldnt say very slow. He is faster than Meli at getting back, however it is an area where teams with fast backs such as at Hudds and Leeds, would look to exploit.

The pass he dropped was actually quite a difficult one as he had to stretch out to try to catch it, and was actually forward from Wilkin. When he got bundled in touch it was due to being given a pass one metre from the sideline, and its something no winger could avoid.

im not so sure, i think his positioning was probably poorer than meli's therefore making him look slower at turning around. there was one occasion were it was only for the two huddersfield players taking each other out, and a try wasn't scored. i agree with you about the pass being difficult to take in, and the first of him going into touch, the second were he caught the ball on the touchline then got tackled was a big mistake, but as i said he'll get that with experience..

i'm only trying to put some perspective on it, because if meli had done those mistakes, there'd been a lynch-mob forming now

No chance pal.

He is slower than Meli at turning.

Thats because Meli is a lot older and has much more experience. Tom Armstrong is only in his second first team game, and is only 19. He was put under some pressure by Huddersfield today - much more than he had to deal with last week. He'll learn from those mistakes, and it'll be interesting to see how he develops given the fact there seems to be no sign of Meli.

A mountain range is quicker than Meli on the turn.

And Meli would have deserved it to some extent because Meli has years of experience, has been playing with us for a few years now, has been an international, etc, etc, etc. Armstrong is on his second first grade outing and his first match where the opposition has actually targetted him (Wire were a bit slow in that respect). The guy is learnnig his trade at first grade level and although I didn't see him today, from all accounts he is doing well. He's going to need months of experience at this level, not just a couple of games, for anyone to be able to really tell whether he has the ability we need. I hope he learns and grows from his experience today. For me it's just great that he can tackle, he can score and he can catch a high ball without fear or idleness. These three things alone make me want to support him while he learns.

I have seen a pint of milk turn quicker than Meli.

I think Neil Armstrong did well, although he seemed a bit nervy at times. At one point in the second half I said to my mate that Gilmour was doing a two man job (when Hudds were kicking/attacking that corner).

Wheeler didn't have much to do.

I think the important thing for us all to remember this season with regards to Armstrong is that as he is only 19 he is going to make mistakes, its inevitable.

What we shouldn't do is gloss over these few errors and overhype him early doors only to turn on him later in the season (if he continues to play in Meli's stead) or a season or so down the line when/if we lose some games and he comes up with a number of errors that contribute to that. We did this with a certain Mr Tyrer at roughly the same age and now many are hopeful he doesn't wear the redvee again.

With the franchising and the changes to the youth and overseas quota's we're hopefully going to see the number of opportunities given to the likes of Armstrong and Wheeler increase across the squad, we need to be prepared to give them all time and not expect miracles from them.

Arguably there's not a better time for us to do this than now with the playoffs being set up as they are, even with the impending losses of senior players like Long and Cunningham we should look forward to seeing the boys in play-off rugby for at least the next three years.

Can anyone tell me how Frodsham played?

There's a very good article on page 35 of this weeks League Express about the new reserve season which covers some of the points you have raised.

average.

took the ball up as you would expect, defended as you would expect and cost us a try at the of the the first half by running it in on the last tackle rather than passing to the right when we had a 3 man overlap.

That's prop forwards for you, eh!?

That's the rest isn't bad against what I rate as a pretty uncomprimising pack. How did his performance rate with that of Hargreaves?

true - and it wasnt the only time the ball went to a prop on the 5th tackle, but hopefully he will learn to have more of a rugby playing brain as he gets more game time.



Hargreaves was pretty average too, but I would have him in over Frodsham at the current time.

He's a better player as I've said on another thread. Hargreaves offers nothing going forward.

He made a mistake that cost us a try, Long was going ape. I think he may have seen a bit of a gap there that wasn't really and got tackled, however that's the kind of mistake I'd expect from a youngster and he'll learn from it.

For me, he should be our fourth prop for the majority of this year.