I just cleared it with Bullseye that it's okay to start doing a ratings / stats thread on matches for the last few of the season. I think it'll be good to be able to just glance at the stats and see how we are performing when we need to up our game so...

Bulls v Warriors Sun 19th July

Dave Halley 9 - My rating would be a 9 due to the fact he was switched positions several times to accomodate for Platt and still put in a good solid performance. His kick returns were once again immense.


Rikki Sheriffe 6 - Nothing special, but not many mistakes. I still continue to think he is one of the slowest wingers in the league. Amos Roberts made him look like Paleaasina yesterday.

Chris Nero 8 - Seems to be on form at the moment, got another try, amde a couple of breaks and was solid in defence.

Beaverrr 7 - Played well in the centres, we look a lot more solid defensively down that side when we have him there over Sykes. A solid showing but not a gamebreaking performance that we have come to expect.

Michael Platt 7 - Tbh I didn't think he did all that badly. To say he's just been moved back up from the reserves and kept swapping with Halley he didn't do badly. He had that first try disallowed and looked good in it aswell. A couple of knock-ons but both came from bad passes in my books. If Semi's fit next week he won't lose his place for Platt though.

Paul Sykes 9 - A deserved MoM for Sykes yesterday. He can have 20/10 for effort in my books. I think he must have realised his own shocking performance last week and he certainly rectified it yesterday. He looked creative, nippy and like he was hungry to win. His tackling also seems to have improved. Didn't notice any knock-ons or silly penalties from him eother. Well done Paul. One fit, it's got to be Sykes / Jeffries at HB due to reasons below....

Paul Deacon 5 - Another bad performance from our captain. He looked slow, lacked creativity and looked unwilling to attack their line. Tbf to him he looked to be putting all his effort into the last quarter but to no avail, to be replaced by Jeffries in the 17 if fit.

Andy Lynch 7 - Nothing special, but solid from Lynch. No errors, ran the ball in well and tackled hard. He never has a bad game, keep up the good work Andy.

Terry Newton - 4 His worst performance of the season. For once it seemed reversed, we looked like headless chickens with Newton on and like a quality side with Godwin on. He made several errors and gave 2 penalties away. When we were going well in attack, had taken the lead in around the last quarter and Newton comes on

. He throws a shocking pass to Cook who -unsurprisingly- knocked on. Newton then gave a penalty away and knocked on once again. Wakey, you're welcome to him.

Nick Scruton 8 - Was once again impressed with Scruton, I think he has proved to be a great signing. He runs hard, tackles hard and seems to be one of the few looking for a quick PTB. Didn't see any errors on his part yesterday either. Seems to be on a good run of form and I hope it continues.

Elliot Whitehead 7 - A solid performance from the youngster, him and Donno have shown why they should be included. Didn't miss any tackles and looked good in attack.

Michael Worrincy 4 - Easily his worst performance in a Bulls shirt so far. He missed 2 easy tackles, 1 of which went on to create a Wigan try. He knocked on a couple of times and just looked generally to have a real bad game. Everyone can have an off day, but I think it should be either droped or starting form the bench for Worrincy next week.

Jamie Langley 5 - Didn't do anything worth noting in attack, didn't see an offload from him at all. Got through a lot of work in defence as usual though. Donno to start at LF form me atr Celtic.

Interchanges

Wayne Godwin 9 - His first outstanding performance for us imo. He was a constant threat to the line when running from dummy half, his passing was pin point accurate, and we looked a lot better and sharper with him on the pitch. well done lad.

James Donaldson - 8 Great performance from another youngster. His try lifted the whole team and made us look capable of at least putting up a fight. He looked extremely fit and capable of keeping up at SL level, his defence was brilliant and he was like lightning in and out of the defensive line. A quality performance.

Matt Cook 7 - Another one who seemed to lift us when he came on. He looked to attack the line with aggression, solid in defence and mad eno errors.

Sam Burgess - 6 Nothing special, ran the ball in well and sound defensively. I don't think it helped that he seemed to be being subbed every ten minutes and changing position. If we need him at Prop play him there, make your mind up Mac.

Yeah I like these sort of threads.

Platt - A little nervous at first, settled down after the first 20 mins though - 6.

Sheriffe - Ran sideways to much and didn't gain enough ground going forwards, yet again beaten by the pass on the right - 6.

Menzies - Nothing spectacular, should have wrapped Leuluai up on the last tackle in the lead up to Wigans second to last try - 6.

Nero - Stayed in position well to recieve pass from Halley in Bulls second try. Solid in unspectacular. - 6.

Halley - Looked lost on the wing but as soon as switched to FB looked dangerous again - 7.

Sykes - Kicked well and passed well, got stuck in on defence aswell. Best performance in a while - 8.

Deacon - Badly lacking idea once again, didn't find any distance on his kicks and still looking dodgy in defence - 6.

Lynch - As always dependable, ran the ball in hard and tackled strong - 6.

Newton - Poor by his standards, put us under enormous pressure when we should have been building pressure - 5.

Scruton - Same as Lynch, dependable and without beating the world - 6

Worrincy - Poor decision to rush out of the line for Wigans first try, didn't make any ground with the ball and seemed lazy - 5.

Whitehead - Took the ball in when was asked to against a tough pack, tackled well - 6.

Langley - As always took drive after drive and made tackle after tackle, he also made some good ground in the second half - 7.

Subs

Godwin - Looked busy and went looking for work, got stuck in with the defence - 7.

Donaldson - Eager to get the work done, tackled Feka everytime, took loads of ball up and took his try well. Top Effort - 8.

Cook - Made a notable difference when he came on, made ground, looked busy and tackled hard, should have been on earlier - 6.

Burgess - Nothing spectacular but did his job - 6.

Team effort and performance - 7.

Shows the difference in ratings, as the T & A bloke (I didn't see who it was, but wasn't Craven) rated Burgess as our man of the match in today's paper.

His comments on Donaldson though also said something like "Did well for this first start", even though it showed him as on the bench.

If I was giving my ratings...

Halley - 8
Sheriffe - 6
Menzies - 7
Nero - 7
Platt - 7
Sykes - 8
Deacon - 6
Lynch - 7
Newton - 4
Scruton - 7
Worrincy - 5
Whitehead - 6
Langley - 5
SUBS
Donaldson - 7
Godwin - 8
Cook - 6
Burgess - 7


I didn't think anyone played well enough to deserve a 9 to be honest, but that might be me just being tight.

I thought Burgess's huge hit on Fielden that jarred the ball loose was pretty spectacular.

Huge?

Well it wasn't pattercake was it? It was a big shoulder that jarred the ball loose. I saw it with my own eyes. The reaction from the crowd suggested that they thought it was quite spectacular.

Wouldn't say it was huge though. Good tackle, aimed for the ball, was nothing on the scale of his Momoi hit, which was huge.

The Moi Moi hit was his finest moment IMO.

You could tell he was really fired up for that game.

Ratings for saturday's game.

Halley 6 - Poor by the standards he has set himself this season, but not a bad performance really. Good play in attack though.

Sheriffe 6 - Nothing special, as usual.

Platt 6 - Nothing special, not many mistakes.

Nero 8 - Another good performance from Nero, solid defensively, and looked really threatening in atack.

Tadulala - 7 Not the best from him, but solid nevertheless.

Sykes 7 - Good performance, seems to have sorted defence out, offered alot for us in attack.

Deacon 8 - His first good game of the season, looked good in attack and alot sharper than recent weeks, his kicking was better aswell.

Lynch 8 - A quality performance from Lynch. Really went in hard in defence, bullied them in attack and did well to get his two tries and was really close to sealing a hat-trick.

Godwin 7 - Good performance, didn't do much wrong.

Scruton 7 - Solid performance, was excellent in defence.

Morrison - 9 - Very good performance, if he keeps that up it could be a mistake letting him go. Was excellent in defence and quality in attack aswell. My MoM.

Whitehead 8 - His try was superb vision from him, solid in defence and didn't do anything wrong.

Langley 7 - Ok performance, was amazing in defence and was really giving it to them.




Newton - 7 Average, not much wrong.

Burgess - 8 Played well till he limped off. His break that set up Deacon, who then setup Halley was really good.

Donaldson 7 - Solid from the youngster, good in defence and looked good in attack.

Worrincy 7 - Improvement on last week but not excellent. At least he didn't leave a gap the size of a bus this week in defence.

Overall a good performance, but we will have to up our game against Quins. Our completion rate was excellent aswell.

No s*** Sherlock.

Thought i'd dig this up seen as we've been playing well.

Bulls V Catalans

Halley 8 - Supported well in attack, made a few good runs, solid in defence for most of the match, apart from letting 1 weak try in.

Sheriffe 8 - One of his better games imo, didn't have to do much for his try, but was much better in defence and gained some good metres for us early in the tackle count.

Platt 9 - Quality in defence, offered quite a bit in attack, starting to show a reason for his 3 yr contract maybe?

Nero 8 - Quality again, did well for his try, and looked dangerous again with ball in hand, shame he had to go off, it'd be a big blow for him to be injured given his recent form.

Tadulala 7 - Nothing spectacular, helped the forwards out well, should have come inside when he was forced (easily) into touch.

Sykes 9 - Quality again from Sykes, given his recent performances I won't have as many problems with him at SO for next year as I thought I would. His footwork for his try was immense.

Deacon 8 - Didn't do much wrong apart from his terrible pass to Platt, took his try well, his in game kicking was okay, and he's starting to look sharper.

Lynch 8 - Good solid game from Lynch.

Godwin 10 - My MoM, was excellent imo. His try reminded me of a Jimmy Lowes type dive for the line, his passing was pin-point accurate and his running from dummy half was killing the Catalans defensive line.

Scruton 8 - Had a good game, gained some good metres and was excellent in defence

Langley 8 - Got through his usual defensive efforts along with some go forward this week, good game Langers.

Morrison 8 - Worked hard again, came up with some quality plays to get us over the line and was good in defence

Menzies 8 - Superb in attack, solid in defence, what we've come to expect from the Beaver.




Donaldson 7 - Wasn't given enough time to make an impact, but helped out on the big forwards in defence as usual.

Worrincy 6 - Did okay, didn't leave any gaping holes in the defence.

Burgess 8 - Lifted the whole team, did well to create his own try and was punching holes in the defence for fun.

Kopzcak 8 - Had a big game today, made alot of metres forward and was solid in defence.


Overall a good performance again!

If we keep this up we may see a + points difference by this time next week