Possible.



On the game,I honestly can`t see how Saints could be accused of lack of effort.This match was top drawer and could have gone either way right up to the end.
I admit I went ballistic when Tickle scored the drop goal,but it could just have easily been the other end.

As for the earlier comment you should be putting 40 past "teams like Hull", I find that a bit arrogant,as we are at the moment 4th,and we do have a few decent players.

No. Our season so far has told me that. We have had a significant number of injuries for most of this season. I think we had a full team out for the first half against Hull at Knowsley Road and it's been downhill all the way since then in terms of injuries. We beat Leeds with about five players out - a debutant on the wing for God's sake. We tonked Hull KR twice with at least the same number of players out.

Injuries are no excuse because we have played very well and fought very well with the same number of players out this season already. Oh, and we have won with the same number of players out.

Yeah, that would be in the 1950s when it was half a shilling to get in the ground. Go dribble on your own board.

I think all our fickle fans should past judgement on Mick Potter when we start losing games when we have a full side.
Potter is always going to be under critism trying to bring players through the transition stage with the added handicap of always having at least 5 first choice players out.
We've not had a settled left centre and loose forward for 2 seasons now and I dont think we have had the same wingers for 3 games in a row. Also wellens as missed a fair number of games this year.

Against Barrow last week we played 13 forwards in the 17 which highlights again the struggle of availabilty.

It seems as though now that Ade Gardener is out injured Scott Moore is becoming the next escape goat.

Barring any more injuries its going to be about 6 weeks before we get anywhere near a full strength squad, I would settle for 8 losses and finishing 4th at the moment, with a full strength side ready for the play offs.

And for that we love you.

..........

About half of the posts in this thread are a disgrace. Some fans have no right to question the effort of the players after that game.

Fans who didn't go and didn't see the game in person, just cannot comment with any authority or credibility.

We scored 18 points in a purple patch and even though we had a 20 point lead with 30 mins remaining that was never a winning lead in what was a cauldron of an atmosphere and with Hull finally getting it together and stopping the penalties and unforced errors. As soon as there was a bit of biff and Roby went off it was one way traffic.

We were left with a very tired pack, obviously missing big Tony P, and nobody who could kick tactically on the last. Scott Moore was very unconvincing as a makeshift 7 and Pryce's direction is not exactly great. No matter how many yards we made up field, they came back at us time and again and had two 40/20 and forced at least two dropouts. Then there was the penalty count which evened itself up as we defended as best we could.

We barely had the ball in the last 40 mins and there wasn't much we could do about it with the players we had out there.

In the end they reeled us in and no one player or Mick Potter was to blame. We just had nobody on the park who could have stopped the Hull fightback with a try out of nothing, or maybe an individual piece of magic.

The effort from the lads was immense and it was a pleasure to be at this game. One of the best atmosphere's and games for years.

Before the game if anybody EXPECTED to win they are deluded, Hull are a very good side, with a monsterous pack and a recognised scrum half! We on the other hand are a makeshift team at present, half full of kids(all be it performing superbly), with no scrum half (for another month) and with very little pace from 1-17. We have little or no long range threat and in a tight game that makes it all the harder.

With Roby on the park we'd have held on, with Eastmond on the park we'd have won as well. As it was defeat was hard to take but not unexpected, even when we had a 20 point lead.

Fans who think a 20 point lead is unassailable are idiots. If a team can pull out a 20 point lead, they can also relinquish one in the same manner against a good side on a roll!!

Wake up and smell the coffee and get behind the lads.

And yet still nobody cares about the hardships of an old Wiganer back in the 1950's

So does Mick not pick the team now(with only 1 prop on the bench against a well know massive pack)? Does he not decide which role a player takes in the team? (Scott Moore at 7??) does he not choose the tactics? I think it's you sir who should 'wake up and smell the coffee'. You cant fault the players efforts nobody goes out to play poorly or make mistakes.

One of the best posts I have read on these forums.

There was nothing wrong with your tactics in the first 40, but as soon as we cut out the penalties and stopped you having field position and possession we came back into it! Judge your coach with a full side not half of it out there, same as we have done with Agar, we get players back we improved, simplez!

Yeah, Mick picks the team. But it was not 'another prop' on the bench we needed. It was TP. Nobody else in our playing roster would have made a significant difference as another prop. And as for Moore at 7, that was the choice of Potter. But who else could have played 7???

Wheeler and Pryce is totally untried (2 stand offs). At least Moore has played 7 in his career, all be it, years ago.

We have Eastmond and nobody else who can do a decent job there bar Wilkin and Roby.

The 17 we had out there couldn't have done anymore and throwing Emmit in there as an extra prop would not have made a difference as Clough was the 4th prop in effect. Clough had a blinder btw.

Hull turned the tide on us and we couldn't hang on. End of story.

People need to stop criticising from afar.

Did you go by the way?? Before you question my view of the game. You probably did.

correct on all points, glad you enjoyed the trip over

I'm afraid I couldnt make the game last night (I make most away games but work made it nearly impossible) which is why I would dream of questioning the players or there efforts in the game but from what I've read both official and from people on these and other boards it seems we made some tactical booboo's. Moore is not a 7 any more, you can say who else but wheeler IS a halfback standoff and we have young Gaskell waiting for a chance .. why not play him rather than playing players well out of position? Prop wise Emmitt is improving all the time , why not give him go knowing were going to be light? Potter is the man who makes the decisions and imo he made some bad ones.

Last night was not the night to blood a new number 7. Believe me. It was brutal and it was intense.

Sorry you didn't make it, you'd have loved it, apart from the result obviously. Let's agree to disagree about Potter's tactics and team selection.

We might have no props on the bench next week if Hargreaves dosn,t recover from the knock on his knee. Also if Roby is out its possible that Moore could be called up for England.
So it might be have to be re phrased to " Mick can,t pick a team", people need to wake up to the fact that no matter what tactics you try to employ we just don,t have a strong enough team to compete at the moment.

With futher injuries your correct but was Emmitt injured for last night? Gaskell? Was Wheeler not able to play in the halves becuase of some niggle? I accept we have plenty injuries but that doesnt mean we cant make the best out of what we do have.

How dare you talk sense upon these boards!!

Lets not forget we were without Berrigan, Horne, Lauaki and Calderwood, all certainties for a place in the 17. McShane was injured aswell and he would have played and Reece Lyne is out too and he may well have played had he been fit (Whiting is clearly not a winger). Sean Long has been ill all week and we lost O'Meley not long after you lost Roby. Last but not least we only had 16 players as Craig Hall wasn't used. So just blaming injuries for your loss is both making excuses and also discrediting Hull, because we were a long way from being full strength ourselves.

Injuries are part of the game - it's all about making the best of what you do have available and we simply didnt. Wheeler on the bench ???? Clough starting in the second row when he should have been used as prop 4 (not when he's already knackered). The fact we had a good prop in Emmitt not even on the field is also barmy ..

Emmitt, Gaskell and injury prone Wheeler are not players that can win you games. We could have tried Wheeler at stand off (his preferred position) but because of injuries in the centres and wings he,s stuck out there near the sidelines.
I,m sure once we have a full strength side we will compete with any side........at the moment we are struggling no matter what tactics or selection we try to employ.

That's funny, at half time I said losing the 1st half 22-6 was very, very poor (only not as politely).


I think you may have us confused with our neighbours, you remember, the ones you've scored 1/5 of your total points against in 2 matches



Is it really so painful to give us ANY credit? I remember similar comments on this board when we beat you at the start of the season. Just because we're usually your whipping boys doesn't mean it always has to be so. The game could have gone either way until the death and was a pleasure to watch, albeit nailbiting.

Whiting is always in your 17, Reece who? and Calderwood is dross. So you were really missing three, and none of them are your dedicated 7 or recognised playmaker. Fitzgibbon and Long seemed to have that covered. Luake is just another monsterous forward, a lack of forward power was not an issue for you and never is.

Anyway, I'm not devaluing the Hull victory in anyway, just don't pretend that Hull's injury crisis is worse than Saints because it isn't. We have more injured and in key positions.

Sia Soliola 1st choice
Jon Wilkin 1st choice
Chris Dean
Maurie Fa'asavalu 1st choice
Tom Armstrong
Ade Gardner 1st choice
Kyle Eastmond 1st choice
Tony Puletua 1st choice
Dixon (injured/went off last night)
Roby (injured/went off last night) 1st choice

10 in total with 7 of those from our 1st choice 17. Nearly half of our best 17.

Apologies, but it was called for!

Whiting is always in the 17, but not as a winger, if Lyne was fit he would probably be on the wing in Calderwood's absence. Calderwood btw was fans player of the year last season and is a better player than Gardner. I thought we missed a bit of power when Manu was off the field and Lauaki would have given us that. Roby went off injured, so did O'Meley. Dixon went off injured, Hall never played at all. Puletua and Lauaki cancel each other out. Eastmond and Horne cancel eachother out (admittedly Eastmond is better but they play a similar role). Gardner and Calderwood cancel each other out (Calderwood is better). Armstrong and McShane, Dean and Lyne. So that leaves Berrigan and a 50% Sean Long for us vs Fa'asavalu, Wilkin and Soliola. Hardly a huge difference.

Don,t think some of our fans on here "haven't woke up and smelt the coffee" have they.

Its not a matter of blaming losses on injuries or tactics, but fans to get real and realise that expectations may have to be lowered these next few weeks.

Doing a great job - top manager.