All well and good but ... the 2021 Grand Final was decided by 2 points.

Yeah, Saints 2 tries Catalan one try



A good goal kicker is obviously important but Saints won their last two grand finals with Makinson as goal kicker, and before that Coote - who’s decent, but not a patch on Ratchford goal kicking wise. Smith started 2023 terribly with the boot but certainly grew in to it for Wigan.

We need to have one eye on the future, keeping Ratchford on the sidelines means more game time for Wrench / Thewlis & Hayes. It also gives Thewlis & Hayes practice and experience to take on that goal kicking position in future.

For me Ratchford is playing the squad role which he should've had for the past two seasons. As a squad man covering most positions and with his experience and goalkicking - it's perfect.

True. We need to get Thewlis and Hayes practicing kicking as hard as Ratchford does. Should be obvious decision for Hayes if he wants to make himself indroppable.

Which completely backs up my point.
Thank you for that example.

Whether it earns Ratchford a place I'm not so sure BUT I think underestimating the importance of goal kicking is wrong.

I always want the extras that a Whitehead, a Hesford, or a Hodgson offered as it can create winning margins and skew a score line so that the opposition have to change their approach or accept defeat. Having the extra two then getting the ball back what's not to like? I'm sure that Leeds and Sinfield made the most of it on more than one occasion.

In 2023, of the recognised goal kickers (players who kicked 30 or more goals in the season), Ratchford had the highest percentage at 86% with Harry Smith and Tommy Makinson at the bottom of the list at 65% and 63% respectively. If Smith had matched Ratchfords record then he would have landed an additional 31 goals for the season (league, cup and play-offs).

That's an average of 2 points per game.

The point, in case you missed it, was that 2 points can be crucial especially in tight games where defences are on top. we got lucky at Hull KR.

Any how Im not sold on Wrench just yet for other reasons. We are weak defensively on that right edge. We will see.

Wrench v Ratchford shouldn't be a discussion. If both are fit then Wrench should play every single time. I find it strange that we've been banging on about youth and sticking with them and 5 games in and some are panicking. Yes Wrench has been culpable a few times in defence but he's also scored/assisted tries that Ratchford would have got nowhere near.

These kind of mistakes would've been made by Welsby, Percival, Marshall etc etc when they first got into first team. If Wrench is showing no signs of defensive improvement in 10/15 more games then we might have an issue. He may cost us a game - so be it, we need to crack a few eggs if we're to move on. Ratchford should be emergency back up only.

I agree with this, but it's more than just dropping Ratchford, it's leaving the team without a recognised goal kicker that's troubling (not panicking) me.

Ratchford`s goal kicking hasn`t always been as superb as it is now.

Prior to Wire bringing a specialist RU goalkicking coach it was virtually as inconsistent as we are now seeing from Thewlis and Hayes.

If Ratchford isn`t able to pass his goalkicking skills on to our younger kickers, then the club needs to bring in a goal kicking coach again.

Then, like Wigan did with Smith, we persevere with Thewlis/Hayes as goalkicker - if in their pursuit of excellence we lose some close games then we suck it up.

Also worth noting that Ratchford bottled a high pressure yet routine kick at goal. Still think he'd be shaky with a pressure kick.

Fair enough. Yes that was sad to see, he clearly bottled it didn't he.

This is very true, he was a bit so-so for a long time, then became very consistent. Maybe get the same RU goalkicking coach back for Thewlis/Hayes et al.

I’ll stand by my statement.
Goalkickers rarely lose you a game, but they can occasionally win you one.

The percentage opportunity of kicks comes from tries and poor discipline.
And that is predominantly where games are won and lost.

We are not playing Rugby Union.
.

Quote ="wirecation"My view of King is that he looked fairly ordinary on sunday. Yes he takes the ball up a lot but i haven't seen much creativity from him. ie line breaks, offloads to his winger, running decent lines. If we want him just as a battering ram we may as well move him into the second row.'" https://twitter.com/WarringtonRLFC/stat ... gX75A&s=19

Quote ="wirecation"My view of King is that he looked fairly ordinary on sunday. Yes he takes the ball up a lot but i haven't seen much creativity from him. ie line breaks, offloads to his winger, running decent lines. If we want him just as a battering ram we may as well move him into the second row.'" https://twitter.com/WarringtonRLFC/stat ... gX75A&s=19

Nice try and a nice assist but I highly doubt that would work against a big side in a big game. That defence was abysmal.

I think as much as anything it shows how much Matty Ashton has developed notwithstanding the level of opposition.

Maybe but as we saw in the 2009 challenge cup final, Huddersfield had been famed for their compact swarming defence, once it was shown we had the nous to go over and around them they had to adjust accordingly, taking them out of their game plan.

You might not get a try every week but no one was expecting king to kick that, it'll catch some compressed defences out

Looks a natural fit on the wing doesn't he.

Ashton is brilliant. Doesn't get the hype of Johnstone, but I'd think he's pushing him to join Young as England winger.

England/GB have a wealth of wingers.
From Young and Johnstone to Makinson and Charnley (who is back to his old self and enjoying his rugby), not forgetting Hall, Tom Davis as well as Ashton.
Im happy Ashton is at Wire though.

Johnstone is a very good winger, but I actually think Ashton has a slightly better all round game. He's faster too.

I wouldn't swap Ashton for any winger in super league. And if we put him up for sale EVERY club would try and sign him. An absolute class act.

Are you saying that when under pressure he couldn't hit a green door with a banjo?