I don`t think you can fault the effort of the team last night, losing 2 players through injury didn`t help with our rotation which meant other players were having to do longer spells on the pitch and we had to shift players around to fill the gaps.

Matt King did well for the Jon Clarke try, Chris Bridge`s solo effort was top drawer, the Gareth Carvell try albeit if you went by the rules it should have been chalked off was great to watch a prop laughing and toying with the opposition.

We couldn`t handle the speed of Kyle Eastmond, we also missed a lot of tackles and came up with quite a few errors. Matt King spilling the ball when we were in a strong position at the other end of the field lead to a Saints break away try, he also charged out of the line and got caught in no mans land for the Ade Gardner try right on half time. He did save 2 tries with some very good defence but the errors cost us 2 tries and let down his good defence for the others, it wasn`t just his errors that lead to St Helens scoring points.

Chris Bridge`s poor kick where Saints got a fortunate bounce lead to them breaking away for another try, Ben Harrison who was immesnse last night came up with some errors himself which lead to Saints points.

Its not being negative, its looking how we conceded some of our points and a fair few of them came from our own errors.

The positives for me were Ben Harrison`s performance, his hits in defence were huge and his willigness for work is second to none. I`m not sure his long term future will be at 13 though as i don`t see him as a natural ball player and a link between the forwards and the backs, he seems stuck somewhere between a 2nd rower and a prop.

Other positives were Gareth Carvell who always makes good yards and looks strong everytime he runs the ball, Paul Johnson did well when he came on, Michael Monaghan looks far more comfortable at hooker and he came up with some nice plays. I also thought Mike cooper looked strong when he came on and Saints had to work overtime to stop him.

Overall i would say it was another good performance against Saints but its somewhere that we have been before, more often than not we always seem to find a way of falling away in the last 10 or 15 minutes whether its fate conspiring against us with injuries or we can`t keep up the same tempo for a full 80 which is what you need to beat Saints.

Saints always find the extra energy from somewhere and the extra gear, they didn`t have a full rotation either in the 2nd half and like us they had some inexperience on the bench, it just feels like a bit of deja vous where we fell off the pace towards the end of a Saints game and also we were a little unlucky with injuries as well.

Rob,
Agree with quite a lot of that, but I think you're being a bit harsh on harrisons ball skills - his pass off the floor that led to one of our tries (forget which one) was top draw.

The Monas / Clarke switch worked well also (but need a out and out scrum half).

Theres no new positives that haven't been brought up the last time we played Saints, and the time before that, and the time before that.

Roby exposed our marker defence while Eastmond found gaps the size of keyholes and set up passes while his team mates ran the correct lines. I'm struggling to see any positives from Carney's performance, but as this is his first first-grade game in two and a half years I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

With that loss you are in 8th spot with 7 games(I think) to go, do you think you will make the play offs?

It's working in your favour that it changed to top 8 play off system.

Would you be happy with 8th spot ?

Another riveting post...

That was world class centre play.

Some body mentioned Harrison's performance, from a saints fan i thought he played emence a really good performance and he has a very promising future.

I'd of took eighth when I was stood in the away end at Wakefield, or when I watched the Catalans take us apart in the second half at the HJ, hell I'd of even took it when we turned Bradford over at their place.

Before last night we were on a good streak, brought to an end by one of the best teams in the league. Forgive me, and the rest of us, if we don't write our season off due to one defeat to the team at the top of the league.

I wouldn`t go that far, he brushed off Kyle Eastmond which you would expect him to do given the mismatch in size between the two. If it had been Matt Gidley he was brushing off then fair enough your in the relms of saying it was world class centre play. It was good play and a nice offload to a supporting player, world class centre play is what you see Greg inglis doing on a regular basis for Queensland or the Mark Gasnier of old leaving world class players chasing exhaust fumes.

On the whole more positives than negatives. Difference was Eastmond.

Different opinion.

The easy thing to do would have been to give his winger the ball when early in the play. His decision to hold on, wait until he had 2 options, and then pass to Clarkey was world class.

Play the balls ares are slow theres are lighting fast thats the difference.
We are moving rapidly in the right direction given the start we had to the season we can only be happy.
Just need to bounce straight back now that will be the biggest factor on if we have moved on.

Correct Ste. The play of the balls were the difference. Saints play the ball and hit a runner quicker than any other team in the league. It's one of the reasons they have been so dominant in the modern game.

I just do not understand why any other teams seem to be able to copy this style of play.

I like the look of this kid. I thought he was Wires best player.

Very tough lad.

We lost by a bigger margin - at home - than we did under Lowes at Know-it-all Road. Not much to be positive about really.

Positives for me; the performance and emergence of Ben Harrison and Mike Cooper.

Negatives for me is that we are one injury away from a crisis at half back. We lost Grix and Clarke and were stuffed after that.

You must have some halfbacks in the academy though surely?

Harrison and King were excellent.
Cooper did some good things, very encouraging.
Monaghan did some good tackling.

It was dissapointing to lose and players could be singled out for each try perhaps but i thought we did really well to be in the game after 70 minutes with a number of young players in the team and then losing players and having to switch it about further.

Again, we struggle with the kicking game when Briers is injured, would be nice to have more than one creative player

Harrsson played very well, both in terms of commitment and application.

However, it was actually Harrisson that got pulled out of position by Eastmond's dummy run which allowed Wellens to make a break from the short pass (from Graham), Eastmond scored from support.

I'm not criticising Harrisson, I'm just pointing out that heart and talent get you so far, but these days the team structure and coaching is more important than ever and, at the moment, that's where you're behind Saint Helens, they've just got that little extra in terms of structure and patiant play.

You've got some great players - I really rate brige when i've seen him lately ( I like him in the centre) and he showed a great step for his try.

Paul Johnson showed a lot of his old ability and obviously finished his try well.

Carvell, apart from being the fastest prop I've seen since apollo perelini, is an absolute monster. You've possibly got the best set of 4 props in the league with a very capable back row in support and you don't lack talent in the backs. You just need to put it all together.

I certainly fancy you over Wigan for the semi final, and you not relish taking you on at Wembley.

I, however, don't see you every week, and what I don't know is whether the completion rates, missed tackles, kicking game, defensive structure & repeat sets are improving - that's what I'd want to see from tony smith, and [ithat's [/iwhat will get you up the table.

Unfortunately no one who Smith thinks is capable of making the step up yet. Contrast to Saints who have Eastmond, Wheeler, Lomax and Ellis who I think is a half back and its quite depressing really.

We do, a young lad named Gareth O'Brien. Bit of a throwback to the old school, not particularly pacy, but can pick a pass and has a pretty accurate kicking game.

I've always thought it to be difficult to know if a young player is going to make it, sometimes it is obvious, eg; Sculthorpe and Harris as they make things look easy. But I do think O'Brien is only a couple of seasons away from making a go of it.

Just to pick you up on that, Smith has stated he hasn't had the time to check out the Reserves and Academy, so I think you are ab it off in your second guessing there.

How long has he been here. Surely TS is aware of the players in the reserves and academy, and if not he should be.

I've heard good things about O'Brien, but how much younger is he than Kyle Eastmond or Richie Myler?

Maybe that is an indication of the level of work required on the 1st team. I'm pretty sure he has the people in place to tell him who's ready to be tested, who he trusts.

I suppose if you wait long enough...