Hell. 35 minutes of complete control. Maybe they WANT a JK rocket at half time?

Pretty embarrassing capitulation. I'd like to say it's because Whitehaven have everything to play for and we have very little, but I suspect it's more than that. The squad we have is bang average.

Or JK isn't working his magic any more.
Foxy used to say that either the players were moved on or the coach was after an amount of time saying and hearing the same things over a few years.

Batley beat Fax, by my maths (questionable) that means we are away to the former next week.

What away to sell season tickets to the floating supporter who came back for the cheap admission price this week!!!!
Also, do we pay for stewards who tell you off for being 1cm over the yellow lines but seem unable to stop young kids setting off flares...so much for bag searches.

What a shameful performance. We should have had third all sewn up but have managed to somehow finish 5th. To be 16-0 up where you have plenty to play for, and throw it away like that!! The tries conceded were farcical. Simple 1 on 1 misses.

The attitude needs sorting. Probably not helped by Fleming (whos contribution was abysmal along with Flanagans) walking straight into the team after last week's actions. Such a poor message to send out. 2 mins before HT, you defend for your lives to go in at HT 16-0 up. Instead we conceded two sloppy tries to kicks back to back to give them a lift and only lead by 16-12. Again, correct attitude we can reset and try and extinguish their momentum in those opening 10 mins. 3 sets, they run straight through the middle and it's game over.

The club seems to be struggling on season by season. Surely time for the stake through the heart

As I say there were 8 people I managed to coax back today, and judging from all the old shirts I wasn't the only one. Sadly they saw a classic example of us undermining the season ticket release.

What incredibly uninspiring, one up crap, half-assed defending and appalling ball control. A real own goal.

I couldn’t agree more. It would seem if you’re a JK favourite you cannot be dropped and Fleming contributed nothing other than allowing players to run around him like he wasn’t there.

I took my 6 year old lad to Odsal for the 1st time since he was a toddler (we also went to a match at Dewsbury before COVID). Before the game I couldn’t help but feel sad about how Odsal looks and with so few supporters in the ground. The place felt lifeless before the match and it obviously didn’t get much better until the small band of Whitehaven supporters started making some noise. The seats in the stand are filthy with shale and the pitch looks a mess. I’d honestly rather we were back at Dewsbury to be honest. Long term we surely need to be looking at a 5-6k capacity stadium that is more suited to our needs now.

I can’t say I left feeling like I was missing much by not attending regularly anymore and I certainly wouldn’t like to be back there on a cold day. And I’m not just referring to the result, I was feeling pretty unmoved about being back at Odsal before the 35 minute mark capitulation. I admire those who are still dutifully turning up, I presume more out of habit nowadays but it’s not the great family day out that I remember it being.

That was one of the most frustrating games of rugby I've seen for some time.

We started off like a house on fire scoring 3 quick tries to take an early lead and then collapsed. To concede 30+ unanswered points at this stage of the season with the play offs beckoning is massively concerning. As soon as we went behind we never ever looked like clawing our way back into the game. There was far too many individual errors to count from a raft of different players who looked more interested in starting a fight than playing a game of rugby.

All the credit must go to Whitehaven. They're certainly living up to their underdog status and were hands down the better team today. They were hungry and looked very dangerous on the attack. Their number 13 was a monster as well, gaining some great yards for them on the back of our weak defending.

Roll on the play offs

Yes some credit is definitely due to Whitehaven. They scored some nice tries albeit around a few statues in the centre of our defence. I also thought their travelling supporters made a fair old racket, which is just as well because it like a morgue until they got going.

Yep. Damage was done off the pitch as well as on it. The number of people I overheard saying it was their first game in 2 years, or 5 years and we played the worst 45 minutes we’ve played all season for them. Ffs

We played like we did in the days of not paying players. It was like they turned up because if they didn't they'd be breaching their contract...Honest to god I've not seen that much dross since Chalmers and the Pension 'error'.

I know we finished higher than expected but if we'd have put the same effort into yesterday as we did against Toulouse we'd have been long gone by half time...

After escaping the chop for his performance against Widnes I thought Fleming might raise his game to reward his coach having faith in him but I was wrong. Absolutely useless again along with quite a few others.

Yeah Kears shown far too much loyalty there. I've said all week it sends
out the wrong message if he just walked straight back in the side. Looking at the highlights, all the tries they scored through the middle, he was involved in all of them, either directly missing the tackle, or not getting in the correct position.

Absolutely abysmal performance. In front of people they're trying to attract back too. Real let down but sadly not surprising. The players we have are capable of better but aren't consistent and that's why we are where we are. Fleming is a convenient yet deserved scapegoat but he's not alone in deserving blame.

I stand by my B- grade for the season. It's fast becoming a C-

I also think it's a bit harsh on Fleming, he is what he is and sums up the squad perfectly. The reason he was picked was because there's no other senior forwards and the cheap policy of picking up loans was scuppered. Our position in the league is flattering because we only played 20 games and had multiple weekends off to regroup a threadbare squad. Our best performances often included loanees.

We're 10 1st team players short of a realistic promotion push and the policy of 'finding gems' in League 1 is galling when we are the best supported team.

Come on be fair

Fleming has always played for top end champ clubs and has had a bad couple of weeks

I agree we are many players short of a realistic promotion push but so are every other team outside top two

We were 62 seconds away from clinching 3rd, then 16 points up and playing well for it to collapse which I agree wasn’t acceptable. If ever a team could be accused of throwing away 3rd it is us. We are aS good as any other team from 3rd down but I agree have no chance of promotion just like the rest barring top two.

We beat Halifax once, lost against them late with one half back with broken ribs, beat Batley once in only game with them, beat Whitehaven once and threw the other away so I disagree we are in a flattering position. Every other team outside top 2 has same issues, lack of funds, small squads and get loans in where needed to fill gaps. We can’t afford to carry big squads and have every position covered so clubs gamble and look at loans where required if possible to plug gaps. Gone are the days where you can carry cover for every position. Many clubs have used loan market, Halifax, York to name two along with ourselves

Fleming isn't the problem ( I think the criticism is overdone considering the overall performances), it's the 6 other signings we didn't make to support the premise we were making a serious attempt at promotion.

I don't buy Toulouse are a SL team. Casty, White, Hansen led the front row. Who would sign any of them? Gigot, Hitchcox?
I look at Toulouse and Fev and see them exact same squads of ex- SL players and good championship players down to 25/6 that you've needed to win the championship forever. Without 8/9 players Toulouse will finish bottom. And we're 10 signings away from that level. It feels a bit dishonest to pretend.

The Bulls have funded the best squad they can within a budget. in terms of aspirations, it’s professional sport selling tickets, they are going to say they are going to give it their best shot

I’m not sure I’ve heard any club say they’ve no chance of winning owt before a ball is kicked

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make re Toulouse. Obviously they will recruit if they get promoted. The squad they have now is not the squad they would start a SL season with if they go up, because it doesn't need to be a SL squad yet.
However, I think they do already have some players who would not look out of place in SL. They've done very well to keep hold of Kheirallah and Ford for as long as they have. Both are better than some of their counterparts currently playing in SL imo.
I want them to go up and I want them to be the first promoted team not to come straight back down (or implode).

Exactly, we sell more tickets and we're significantly worse than the top two who have spent more.
Whereas we are marginally worse than 2 clubs who we also sell more tickets than and probably have similar budgets.
Either way in terms of 'professional sport selling tickets', 5th and being slaughtered in 3 out of games with the top 2 looks an underachievement on and off the field.

If the key achievement this year is the use of last years donated season ticket money to pay off debts run up by Chalmers in preparation for more of the same next season then it needs to be called what it is.

The point I'm making is our budget is self evidently tiny. The board either in terms of sponsorship or investment are bringing precious little.

Says it all when our most attacking threat in the second half came from a player we have just signed from a second string RU team who had only trained a couple of times and played for only 20 minutes previously. Give him a start on Sat in place of Oakes who offers nothing from centre on attack and plays more like a 2nd row.

Also give Jack Sanderson a spot instead of Brown. He's in the 21 most weeks but never gets a start. Also let's hope Scurr is back this week.

Not too sure he has the legs yet but he is a really really promising player!