after what i thought was rileys best season last year in terms of his defence as well as try scoring i find it a little worrying that a couple of games in teams seem to be targeting his wing more and see him as a weak link in our back line.
its not an all out aeriel bombardment to target his lack of height but quick hands out wide which seem to result in him flying in off his wing to make a tackle at every opportunity thus leaving his opposition winger with a stroll in at the corner.
i applaud his efforts but he should be leaving his centre and back rower to cover the inside tackling and hold his position more,i wouldnt like him to become another kevin penny type player who despite scoring the trys becomes too much of a defensive liability.lets hope the coaches can eradicate these lapses from his game as i think this season points difference could be really vital.
i like reilly as a player and hope this is just early season rustiness but we need everyone up to speed quickly as after a tough start the games coming up look difficult enough,as a team the table tells no lies so onwardsand upwards wire.

Blame Eddie Hemmings, early in the Sky commentry he declared Riley to be one of the most under-rated players in Super League, poor Riley then had the most uncertain game I have seen him have!!!

Seriously I think the issue was communication inside him leaving him in a zone of uncertainty. Not much to worry about this early in the season, but he probably needs a "cuddle" rather than a bawling out, so as not to lose his confidence.

I know....let's hound him out of the club like we did with Kevin Penny....He's too small....can't catch a ball...can't tackle and his belly has spots.

No comparison between Penny and Riley. Riley is leagues ahead in ability. And if it was simply people hounding Penny out, why is he now only playing at Championship level.

Every single player in the team has strengths and weaknesses, good days and bad. The coaching staff will work on these with each and every player, using Emma's game video to pinpoint specific aspects. Riley is a great attacking winger, but his stature can be a problem, as can his positional play at times. Atkins and Riley seem to work in tandem most of the time. Riley will make an initial halting tackle on his opposite man, then the much larger Atkins will come in and smother man and ball. That didn't seem to happen against Cats, possibly because Atkins had his hands full ? ( I have not watched a replay ).

Either way, just like Carvell's overuse of the offload last season, these things can be worked on and solved. GOB had a poor record for tackling at one point, Myler was not great either - but look at him now. And how does the diminutive Burrows manage to play amongst the forward giants in the game ? Solutions will be found.

Do people really think it is down to one player? Surely it is a failure of the structure and communication of that left edge? Riley is often caught defending the space between the opposing centre and winger as his inside defender (Atkins) is often caught ball watching and wedges in too much. Add the fact that Myler also defends that channel and it is inevitable that other teams will attack that way.

one of the most reliable wingers in the game..ive not got a problem with his defence or attack or size...some people would find fault with owt

he didn't have his best game on Friday. The attempted tackle on Blanch for his first try was terrible... He looked like he was trying to put a coat round his shoulders as he ran past him.

The second try was poor positioning, he just got sucked in.

The 'oohh lets not say any bad thing about a certain player' line trotted out on here sometimes is ridiculous. If a player has had a bad game and has made mistakes then they're fair game for criticism... They SHOULD get some.

If you thought riley's defence was sound last season you obviously missed the grand final. How he escaped criticism for the ben jones bishop try is beyond me. I don't like having a go at players, but people shouldn't be immune from criticism just because they are a local lad and we want more of them in our team. Riley has improved into a decent super league player and i was one who didn't think he would make it this far. However, he can make blunders just like any other player and still has several things to work on.

Was Penny hounded out of the club?????

Tony Smith has an excellent record of giving young players a chance and he clearly didn't think Penny was good enough.

Riley has made a couple of mistakes, it happens. Now is a test of character for him.

I remember about 2 years ago when he played full back against Catalans away, before the game a few posters on this board were saying he wasn't up to it. He went out and played a blinder.

i am not saying he should be hounded out of the club,his defensive positioning so far this season isnt up to scratch,he shouldnt be flying in off his wing to make tackles when a wingers ultimate goal after scoring trys is to stop his opposite number scoring,if the men inside are not doing the job then they will become fallible but deserting his post only puts the onus on him,
syslak,i didnt miss the grand final but i would say there were plenty of other key players in our team who had worse games than riley in the grand final,overall last season i thought he was one of our better performers.
kevin penny wasnt hounded out either when it came down to it all he had in his game was pace.

He had a poor game in defence, it doesn't mean he's a poor player. I remember him having a poor game against Hull a few years back in a similar vein.

One of his best attributes his is ability to learn from his mistakes and improve in ways that people on messageboards have regularly claimed he never could. He'll kick himself for a couple of poor reads and sort it out for the big games later in the season.

His problem is that Atkins is an unreliable tackler so Riley's probably subconsciously no confidence in him and so comes inside to help. Centre and Winger cover the edges, so don't blame poor old Riley, Atkins shares some blame.

As pointed out earlier in this thread, Riley is not 6' 7" and will have to adapt his defence accordingly. He can be exposed to the high bomb landing in his area but he has coped before and will have to use his noggin.
I most certainly am not writing him off, he just needs to further develop certain aspects of his game.

Kevin Penny was made to look bad by Matt King's eccentric centre play often leaving Penny as last man in defence of a two man overlap. Same thing happened to Riley last week only the eccentric this time was Atkins.

Never mind the Grand Final, I've still not forgiven him for Catalans away in 2007!

Players are coached to defend from in to out, inother words from the play the ball out to the touch line, not from the touch line in. So if Riley is left with space outside him it will be due to players inside being out of position. The props or second rows not being in place would result in Riley being dragged in to cover the gap between himself and his centre. So not really Rileys fault. We score loads of tries like this and these tries are usually due to good attack rather than bad defence.

Whilst I am not criticising Riley's defence in general, there is no way you can blame Atkins for Blanch's second try.

I'm sorry but this is just incorrect! (I'm not here to either blindly knock or defende anyone either) as was the comparison earlier on with Penny.

The fault for the tries lies squarley with Riley and his habit of coming in off his wing to "assist" in tackling the centre. Look back at the two tries from friday and you'll see that our defensive line was set correctly (unlike in the Penny era when we had some issues with compression and he did occassinally get hung out to dry) . In both cases there was absolutley no reason for him to come inside and leave the wing exposed. This isnt the first occassion either, it happened against Wigan & Castleford (he was an unneccessary 3rd man in on 2 occassions against the Tigers) That close to the line you have to hold you position, mark your man & have faith in the players inside you.

There's no evidence to suggest Atkins in "unreliable" in defense and therefore its his fault not Rileys. It was entirely Riley's fault that Blanch scored just before the half - man on man, by the touchline and instead of shutting him down or bundling him into touch, he got carried over the line for a try.

He's been weak in attack too - you cant fault his workrate and eagerness to come inside, but his hitting the line is weak and he goes down too easily. Yes he can score & he is quick, but only if he gets a clear chance. The first Monaghan try took some scoring and he beat 3 players to get the ball over - Riley had an almost identical opportunity in the 2nd half, but cut back inside, hit the line weakly and took the tackle.

I know the above sounds like a proper rant and Riley bashing (and all the Riley lovers will be up in arms), but its not meant to be that - it's my view of him based on current and last year's performance and not wearing any kind of tinted glasses, for or against. As someone said before just because someone is local doe'nt mean they're free from observation or criticism along with everyone else. I dont dislikeRiley as a person or player, nor do I doubt his passion & commitment - I do doubt whether or not he's the potent strike weapon you need on the wing these days.

(Typing done - sits back & awaits the ensuing pro-Riley backlash

)

*Hi Kev...Chris here...It's my turn now...any chance of a gig at your place buddy?*

Every try conceded is ultimately somebody's *fault* Are we to scapegoat the whole team on this basis ? We won't have a team left if this is the case...

Er no, not every try is someone's fault - sometimes they're just the result of some great rugby by the opposition. In the case of the Catalan tries on Friday however, they were a result of Riley's poor positional play & inability to effectively tackle his man.



Where in that post have I said anything about him being a scapegoat? I just tried to put forward an reasoned observation.

reasoned observations wont get you very far here im afraid.

Scapegoat <..............................> Hero

Thems the rules.

I wouldn't really blame Riley for the first try. Blanch is a good finisher and you would expect your winger to score in those circumstances.

having read all this ive just checked our results this season and our league position..2 wins from 3..2nd in league..and theres folk on here whinging about riley and atkins....anyone would think they were at fault for 3 defeats

I don't often agree with you, Sir AM...