My review of the season so far.

7 games into the season and I must admit I am left feeling a bit disappointed with the performances we have put in. Before anyone starts I fully understand that for the first few games we had a new team , injury’s and I wasn’t expecting us to run away with games but I was expecting a little better especially from the Warrington / Hull Fc game.

Wakefield – We were poor, we played well until chase went off and in all honesty we were lucky to come away with the spoils. Having said the most important thing was to get the win and it was our first competitive game, so I wasn’t too concerned.

London – I thought we did ok, we improved but as we know it was against a very poor London side.

St Helens – We got absolutely dominated by a very good side, but to get nilled at home was disappointing.

Widnes – Whilst I thought the game could of gone either way had a couple had a couple of decisions gone our way the performance for me still wasn’t the best and we didn’t really look like scoring until that magic try from Johnson, having said that I thought Widnes played well so maybe I’m not giving them enough credit for the win.

Warrington – On paper most people would have had this down as a loss, but I felt Warrington were there for the taking that night. Warrington played poorly and at home we should be taking advantage of them.

Castleford – The team responded, maybe the Koukash outburst gave them a kick up the bum but I thought we played well, the difference for me being Rangi Chase not Sean Longs input as some people are suggesting. We still should of killed the game off in my opinion and we allowed them to get back into it however I was pleased with the overall performance.

Hull FC – After Hull’s poor form and coming away from the Castleford game I really thought we would go to Hull and give them a game. Hull had a few injury’s and I felt we would go and run them close – The game was over after the first 10minutes in my opinion. To have 4 sets of six in attack and not look like scoring set the tone for the match, we again conceded far too many points and our defence looked poor. We also had 5 sets on their line in the second half and again looked clueless. To have a total of 9 sets on your opposition line and not score isn’t good enough. The performance was no different to any Salford squad I’ve seen over the years.

Whilst I think it’s too early to panic we need to win our next couple of league games – Bradford away and Huddersfield at home are must wins. I understand Huddersfield may be difficult but if we really want to be realistic about finishing in the top 8 we need to pick up some momentum and not just be happy with picking up the odd win here and there.

For me the main area we need to improve is around the ruck every game we are getting dominated and Tommy Lee is clueless going forward, im glad Theo is in at interchange hooker as injects a bit of pace when he comes on. We also lack pace out wide and apart from Johnson we are very slow in our back line.

This isn’t meant to sound like im moaning it’s just how I feel after the performances I’ve seen. FWIW I think we will go to Hull and win on Thursday but the challenge is then backing it up the week after.

Hard to disagree with any of that in my opinion (although I wasn't at Hull so can't comment there).

The Warrington game was the most disappointing for me so to see how much improvement there was from that to Cas was really refreshing. However, it would seem from the comments of those who did attend on Friday that it was very much a case of 1 step forward, 2 steps back unfortunately.

The Bradford game is now massive for us, win that and we're still in the right ballpark for reaching the top 8 and it's hard not to see us improving as the season goes on. Getting Hock back in the next week or two will be a big boost for us but sorting out the ruck area has to be priority number one for the coaching staff you'd imagine.

I agree with the comments around our ruck area. I think this is a position we have been consistently outplayed in all season. Don’t get me wrong, Tommy Lee is a good player who works his socks off but is he a modern day RL hooker? I wouldn’t say so. I remember him bursting onto the scene as a youngster back at Hull and wasn’t he scrum half? That’s certainly how he plays the position, as a scrum half who has been shifted into 9. I have no qualms over his defence, or distribution but his eye to spot a gap or exploit the opposition from a quick PTB is poor.

Our defence outwide has been generally poor so far too which has surprised me. However I think this is more down to individuals learning to play as a team and a unit, rather than poor coaching.

However I haven’t been impressed with this season is Meli. He was a fear of mine before the season as it was obvious we had bought him to play out wide, which is odd considering he played last season in the centres for Saints. It sounds harsh so soon into the season but I am glad he only signed a one-year-deal. I imagine he’ll be on a decent £100k+ package and we should be able to recruit a much better replacement for 2015.

Tim Smith an Rangi Chase have been a disappointment thus far too, however their saving grace is the amount of minutes they have spent on the pitch together. I’m expecting an improvement from them over the next couple of weeks.

Bradford is a massive game for us as we must win. If we can get a decent result there and carry that into the Huddersfield game, we should be looking at another 2 points. They haven’t had the best of starts yet and if we have ambitions of a top 8 place we have to beat one or two of the bigger clubs at home throughout the year.

What's your opinion on the saints guys so far.
Meli and TP?

genuinely interested how they are getting on

Both can't be great but more and more just seemed to be going through the motions at saints.
I think Saints are stronger without them.

Meli's been poor. TP has been steady.

I think one shocking thing this season has been the lack of team spirit. I expected Morley to create that in the team on field and to coast when in reality he has been impressive when on the field but seems unable to inspire others.

In hindsight the time spent in South Africa seems to have been ununproductive, pretty sure we'd have been better served actually playing proper games as a method of bonding.

I know not many would agree but I'd look at making Hock/HH captain to see if their no nonsense style inspires others and it might just focus Hock a bit more.

Hansen is a future captain and I think the moment Morley hangs his boots it will be passed over to Harrison. As for the present, I think Morley is still the right perosn for the job considering his age and the doubts I had over his signing he's been immense so far and is getting a fair bit of game time.

I've never known a season the club has had such a turnaround in playing & backroom staff .
nearest was John Harveys 1st season in charge 1999, with 15 new debutants :-
Paul Carige - Eels
Hudson Smith - Balmain
Darren Brown - Penrith
Bobby Thompson - Penrith
Chris Morley - Warrington
Joey Hayes - St Helens
Mark Johnson - Hull
Neil Baynes - Wigan
Julian Penni - RU
Garen Casey - Wakefield
Carl Briggs - Wakefield
Craig Makin - Widnes
Gareth Hewitt - Academy
Warren Ayres - Academy
Jim Forshaw - Academy
W-6 D-1 from 27 rounds

I've always associated a big turnaround in players with an unpredictable season , no matter the talent signed , they take time to settle down & play as a team .
A few players have started well I don't need to name & a few look like they are struggling or have got niggling injuries , I wouldn't want to right anyone off at this stage , I remember Ray Cashmere having an indifferent 1st season & a storming 2nd.
Basically it's now time to roll the socks ' Down ' and get stuck in . They all knew the challenge they took on when they signed to the club.

I agree morley is right at this moment in time although i didn't think so at the time you signed him. However he is spending more time on the pitch than i expected. He's never been a big shouter but manages to get his message across. As regards attitude, if they won't play for moz then they won't play for any one else.