You reckon

Yes, at Belle Vue we lost two players to injury who didn't return which duly messed up our gameplan, one being a winger (always hard to replace) and our stand off and second main playmaker. Any side losing those sorts of player during a match would be disrupted. It's not unreasonable to suggest we'd have made more of a game of it without that disruption. Added to that was the fact that we went into that game depleted anyway lacking our best back and forward due to illness and injury.

The side has been strengthened since then so I think we'll make more of a game of it in the next fixture, at least I hope so!

I mean I'm realistic about our chances in the semi final as Wankfield are the best team in the league so we're probably knackered. But, given how many of their fans have bought tickets for Wembley already I would love it if we beat them!!

Ebon Scurr and Ben Blackmore both return.

I'd go with:

McGowan
Blackmore
Arundel
Gill
Taufau
Davies
Lilley
Doro
Souter
Smith
Fulton
Butler
Hallas
---
Wilson
Scurr
Appo
Ott

I'd go with that.

York did the double over us last year by completely out-smarting us. If we keep our heads, we should be too big and too strong for them.

Think EOC might go with Fenton on the bench instead of Wilson, ( who I think has done great ).
Attitude is key on Sunday, turn up with wrong one we might get caught out, but if we’re enthusiastic and committed we should get the result.

Sort out the daft penalties and we can win this. Last year in the ae fixture we gave York all the ball and all the field position and made it impossible for ourselves.

That’s the only quandary I have. 2 out of Hallas, Rogers and Wilson can make the 17. I would go Hallas & Rogers, even though Wilson has played well.

I meant York, I actually think that Bradford may well prove a thorn in our sides, especially if we believe our own hype.

We will see Vastman. No doubt you'll be favourites in every league game but will be interesting to see how Powell manages the squad as that could breed complacency.

They have been incredibly careful with reintroducing players Blackmore didn’t just walk back in an doro only did because we had no one else I can’t see Scurr playing in this one I think he comes in at widnes

Conditions look good for today's game. Will be good to see what Souter and Fulton can do on a decent dry surface.

....and McGowan.

Sounds like a poor 1st half, discipline not great and making errors in good field position.

Let's see how this side react to chasing a game.

Dejavu. Poor discipline and errors.

Oh dear, we feared it and it happened. I don't think our fans chanting,"going down" and," your getting sacked in the morning" to Andrew Henderson will have helped.... Perfect motivation really. But that aside the performance was disappointing, didn't click in attack, some sloppy tackles etc etc... start of the season I'd have taken 3 wins from the first 5. Now it seems disappointing. Let's see how we respond.

Couldn't make it but it sounds like a repeat of the fixture last year.

We need a quality halfback, with skill and also a running threat with speed. We're far to predictable at times. In general we need more speed within the team, both wingers aren't capable of breaking a line and going 50/70/80 metres. Strong and powerful in back field yardage carries but no speed.

Davies has done a great job but that should of been a week or 2 stop gap. That's 3 weeks he's played there now. Gaskell is out for another 4-6 weeks, so we need someone in, and long term for Gaskell anyway. Is Moss still on trial? He's been on trial for months I know he was injured but surely they can make a decision on him either way for the lads sake and so we can move on aswell. If it's deemed he's just not ready for this level yet.

Well, that was a tough one to watch, wasn't it? Our beloved Bulls, riding high on a streak of wins, faced off against a York team that hadn't tasted victory all season, and somehow, we managed to come out on the losing end. Fair play to York, they did the simple things right and won the game.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around what went wrong. We started like a house on fire in the opening 10 minutes and then went to sleep until the final 10 mins. We've seen the Bulls play some great rugby league lately, with moments of brilliance that had us all dreaming of a top 3 finish. But today, we looked utterly dreadful in attack.

One of the major issues I noticed was our lack of creativity in attack. Passes were predictable, runs were telegraphed, our kicking game was non-existent and we just couldn't seem to find a way through their defensive line. We then started throwing the ball around a bit and found some success but overall our attack was very poor. I felt towards the end of the game we also lost a lot of our go forward. Has it been discussed why Smith withdrew from the squad? We missed him badly today.

It's frustrating because we have the talent, we have the skill, but something just wasn't clicking. EOC talked about the side not becoming complacent. I felt that we went in a little undercooked today and thought we could just turn up, put in an average performance against a team who have been dreadful all year and still come away with the win.

Credit where it's due, though. York came out firing, despite their struggles this season. They played with heart and determination but I felt that they didn't capitalise on the amount of ball they had in our half. If we'd have given a decent side that much field position and possession we'd have been on the end of a 50 or 60 point battering. I also felt that they kicked us to death this afternoon. Taufua and McGowan both having bad days under the high ball.

As disappointing as this loss is, we can't dwell on it for too long. Every team faces setbacks, and it's how we respond to them that defines us. We move on to Widnes next week who also tasted defeat today. I hope we can bounce back and avenge the cup loss that we suffered earlier this season.

Given the makeshift halfback pairing we have I don't think we've done badly so far. The kicking game had been poor for some weeks so hearing that it wasn't working isn't a surprise.

EOC mentioned how important Smith was for directing the side around the field. Maybe we missed that leadership today?

Moss could add a point of difference, perhaps we need to stick him in and find out.

I don't think the last 2 reserves games being postponed has helped Moss. He played against Wigan some 4 weeks ago or so now. Where he done OK, but as to be expected was a bit off with his timings after his injury. But grew into the game and got a try and an assist. So another couple of reserves games would of really benefited him. Its just the length of the trial surely either way the club can make a decision by now. Him and Peposhi were announced on trial on the 14th November, 5 months ago now. But him not even making the 21 man squads with only one recognised halfback available may speak volumes.

Don't think this was completely unexpected...but man, it's frustrating.

As already pointed out, all the hard work and hard fought wins of the last 3 rounds feel a bit soured now.

Whilst injuries and tactics obviously were the reason for the loss, is the root cause of this being part time?
These are the fixtures a championship winning team would go and get a win, even if ugly.

Whilst there are full time and part time teams, you always feel that will be the difference ultimately.
You can't really blame the players either, I mean who doesn't have an eye on work next week when Sunday comes around? I know I do. How many had a tough start to their working weeks on the Monday? Can you really get up them if that was the case?

It reminds me of the "almost" title winning side of 93-94 (IIRC) where we'd gone and won at places we never usually did like Cas and Warrington, then stuffed up against Leigh at home and Hull KR away (the bottom 2 sides I think). That was a part time team competing with a FT Wigan side. I'm still spewing at that lol

Thanks for the reminder Wigsy



Funnily enough I saw an interview with Paul Newlove recently where he said that he too doesn't know how we stuffed that season up and it still bothers him. Dave Watson getting himself sent off versus Leigh didn't help but then without his last minute interception try at Oldham we'd have lost that one too. As Peter Fox said in every season you win games you don't expect to win and lose games you don't expect to lose.