I'm not sure you can point a finger at any other one player and say they are responsible for a loss, loads of things in a game can happen differently in a game that could potentially change the outcome, a fumble with the line open in front is obvious but there are a lot more subtle things too. Russel has made some errors, yes he has carried pretty well but I think the most damming thing for him is that he hasn't been responsible for a try, no scores or assists in 3 games and as a winger that's probably why he has been dropped (assuming he isn't injured which is entirely possible). I really hope that the team looks more balanced with mitch brown, if not I am not sure what other options we have in the squad, maybe Matty will come back stronger who knows, I haven't seen anything of Taylor Prell so can't say if he would be worth a go. Only other option could be Atkins on the wing? We are so short of backs.

I don't consider myself to be in any particular camp as far as Russell is concerned. However, our attack has been so left focused so far, I'm not surprised he hasn't come within a sniff of a try scoring opportunity.

Had Roberts been fully fit I think our attack would have been more balanced and we would see Russell in more try scoring situations - he hasn't had that shot yet in 2018.

He's averaging 135m per game ball in hand - which shouldn't be ignored, however, he's made far too many errors and cost us tries or put the opposition in strong areas due to his errors, it's a constant issue with his game, and needs resolving (amongst other things) if he wants to be in a good side.

I'm looking for Brown to come in and offer an aerial threat, be a safe pair of hands and be a good defender. He wont make the yards Russell does, so work will have to be made elsewhere, and he's hardly Martin Offiah, so he's not adding any extra pace.

I'm sure there are wingers out there that offer what Russell does without the issues he brings with him, and a club with grand final aspirations should probably be looking for better on the wing. He's under contract till Nov 2019, so this year is a big one for him, we've shown before we're happy to pay off contracts for under performing players, or to make room for new players coming in.

I like the fact Price has dropped him, sends a good message and hopefully he can come back in at some point as a stronger player - if he has it in him.

Does anyone have any news on Jack Johnson is he injured or just out of the 19? I think he's a better proposition than Russell on the wing and certainly at FB and must be ahead of Taylor Prell in the pecking order?

Agree with almost all of that but 2 of our 3 tries were scored on the right last week by Atkins and Russell should have scored another. We have attacked that side enough for him to get over and he hasn't. If it turns out that he's our best option after we have tried a few other combination then fair enough he should be back in.

UR, yes I have liked Jack Johnson when we have seen him at fullback especially, he's another player worth a go.

Didn't you watch the game vs Widnes. Our attack went up the middle and down the right.

Kicked right, through the hands to the left.

It's where the points came from.
The best chance down the left was fumbled by Bryson.

Time to forget Russell now, i've raised before my concerns around him and it's good we're utilizing the full squad. Next question is, how much time do we give Brown? Judging him of 1 match (bar an absolute stinker) isn't enough time IMO. I'm hoping for a solid performance from a man who wants a contract next year and to move on from the past few years of one season players (Bailey, Cox, Sandow et al)

Good to see you number 3. Perhaps using the time spent finding emojis might be better spent reading the posts you reference.

I am not a number... I AM A FREE MAN!

As I thought. No evidence offered of anyone making a causal link between forum posts and Prices's actions which is what you asserted here.



I am flattered you have categorised me.

* [urlhttps://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/causal[/url

To be fair to him he was responsible for Huddersfields last try where he could have reasonable been expected to ground the kick dead.

Utter rubbish. How can a forum member exile a player?

This is a RL forum for people to share opinions. Russell had it easy. If he turned those performances in during the Wilderspool years he would have been booed from the terraces, never mind harsh words on an internet forum.

“As though” is an interpretation not an assertion. Based on context as well as content.
I presume you are still looking for any evidence of me calling Russell a good winger.
Of course, you studiously avoid dealing with the issues raised in my post about your specific post, but that was only to be expected.

Yes he was the main responsible party for that try, however the point I was trying to make is that one event in the game doesn't make him responsible for the defeat. I'm not advocating him in any way he's not had a good start to the season and I don't see the future being Matty Russell. I just don't see how you can blame just 1 player for a defeat even if he is probably a weak link.

IF anyone is basing their opinion on Russell or any other player on one game then they deserve to be challenged, like i said above, i wont be judging Brown off tonight's game. Inevitably i will compare him to Russell's performances but i wont be calling for his head straight away.

Russell's problem is, he's gone backwards. The last try i saw him finish well was for Scotland in the WC. Other than that, his performances in the Warrington team for at least 12 months have been very poor. He's also lost his overall pace. In a strange way, i think i'd have more patience if he was dropped last year for performance, but i was getting more and more wound up seeing him named in squads when his performance wasn't commanding it.

I think this is it for me too. Tony played him (and others) come what may and I think that's what got peoples goat and probably Russell got the flak for that as he is not going to drop himself.

For the avoidance of doubt I would love Russell to turn it around into being a top winger for us. This may be just what he needs.

Stop it, your now starting to talk sense, that would upset the people that like to take offence to our supposed negativity and witch hunting

LOL. The inference was clear, you outlined that forum members were "delusional" due to thinking that Price was influenced by them.

I am not looking for evidence of you calling Russell a good winger as I never made such a claim. Here is the original post which has got you all hot under the collar.



Then you went off on one in your typical abrasive insulting style about "usual suspects", calling forum members "delusional" and "back clapping" and making arguments against posts that I never made and that only exist in your imagination.

Price was fare to give all the current squad responsible for winning the last 10 games from the previous season the chance to prove themselves before sweeping change.
I think Mattys got a fare crack and now the time is right to look within the squad to look for improvement

Agree with you, to be honest Matty Russell has been winding me up for a long time, probably for the same reason as yourself which is mostly not his fault. Like I said earlier I don't think the future is Matty Russell his errors probably outnumber his good moments and his try scoring stats are poor. It's time now to find out if the future is in the existing squad or whether we need to recruit. Brown should really be given a run of games to see whether he fits in or not.

A big problem we have with Russell & Lineham is that neither of them are designed for jumping to catch a well floated kick so straight away the effectiveness of both our wingers is limited. At least Lineham has some size to barge his way through if he decides to use himself as a Ryan Hall type winger but Russell doesn't even have the size or speed to do that. Russell is more designed for catching a well aimed pass into space & rushing the line...unfortunately too many of the passes intended for him either go to ground or into touch or get dropped. A few years back we had the luxury of the likes of King, Hicks ,Joel & Fa'afili who got a lot of their tries off the boot of Briers who we have still not replaced in terms of effective tactical kicking.

Very true. Shows how spoilt we were with Monaghan and King in particular - they were exceptional at that.

As was perfectly clear my post was not just about your post but typically you are so egotistical that is another of your assumptions. If by abrasive you mean I don’t accept your view as gospel then guilty as charged.
Still you don’t deal with the issues I raised about your post, but go off on another tangent, and resort to personal abuse...which strangely is the criticism you aim at me.
On a different note you have rather taken me by surprise tonight by actually praising the team. Well done you.

To be honest mitch browns overall performance and the better balance of the team vindicates earlier criticism of Russell. We still need Russell to be an option though so I hope he knuckles down and is ready in the case of injuries.