Enjoyed the match today thought it was entertaining if a little frustrating at times. We need to up our game before playing Fax though. Thought Pitman looked very comfortable and did some good work in defence to close down breaks. 6 from 6, and a quick chance to have another pop at Rochdale next week.

Jamie Acton was MOM by a mile, some of the shots he put on today were brutal

Thought it was a close exciting game. Rochdale's kicking game was superb. Think part of the reason we struggled today was because we never had more than 7m, everyone (both teams) was off side every play of the ball but that doesn't help our creative attack. Look forward to seeing it on Centurions TV to see just why Acton was sin binned, to me looked like their player gabbed him and punched him in the head and there was no retaliation. Still a win is a win and against a tough team that really fought hard.

We seem to have enough in the tank to prevail but I wish I knew why our defence in the last 3 games is not of a standard that we saw in our first 3 league games.

Next 3 away games will not be easy imo unless this is addressed.

It shows how hard it is to get things to please everyone as a coach as frankly I thought that was generally a poor showing today.
We nearly got beat by a team that seem to played with more enthusiasm.
I don't expect 50 point wins and Rochdale won't be bottom of this league but it was a lazy day in the haze today for far too many of our squad players.
I presume we had injuries so hopefully its full strength again next week as otherwise Rochdale will dump us out of the cup.
We looked good when we decided to play RL and get the ball wide and generally scored when we did that, we did however try and wear them out playing up the middle and it became a poor match.
I think when we did have a spark (after the scuffles , big hits) we showed what we are capable of and looked urgent and interested but it was too little in a 80 min game and when Rochdale started to get a foothold it looked like we couldn't get a rhythm going to keep up.
Loads for PR to get stuck in this week (maybe start by looking at who is going to close down the opposition kicker as today we only did that in fits and starts).
However we won and that's not a bad sign considering the performance so still a good time to be a Leyther.

How many yards forward does our number 6 make?

Challenge Cup looks like a tough draw for us now.

Saw a lot of the one man rugby creep in in the second half, didn't pass the ball or use the wingers much.

Acton had a good game for me, some big hits stopping Rochdale going forward. Was trying to get the crowd going too

His kicking game was good tho.

Who was our worst forward though ? Well I think he is usually very good but not today.

In response to Leigh 24-7's post.

Trouble is for some reason we are not playing as well as we should be.

It is not folk like me who need to be convinced' I turn up every week' it is folk who used to watch our lads who we need to get back and 34 22 against Hornets will not do that however good Rochdale played.

Rochdale's 7 looked very good, their 6 kicked us to death, and we scored some great try's first half.
At 22-4 and them having knocked on from the first set we should have turned the screw but we started trying to play harlem globetrotter style again instead of forcing the pressure we forced the pass - we need to find some composure here to kill the games off as this has happened in the last 3 league games
We need to get pace on the game by playing short and fast before opening up out wide, they found their belly and controlled the ruck, and I would be looking at Foster to improve this area.
They scored 3 off kicks, so defence is fine but we need to target pressure on the kicker and ours could learn from him
Liam Kay was outstanding.
Our game needs to get up a notch to that of the first 6 games (incl friendlies) for the next 6 crucial league games

Im not to worried yet and we have shown that we can play SL standard plays in patches. Ryan has forced a few wayward passes in the last few games and it seems we are giving far morel forward passes than usual (the likes of Leeds and Wigan get away with it week after week) maybe it's something we're trying to emulate and if the reff missed them we would have had at least 3/4 try's each in the last 2 games.
Scoring 52 points every game would be great but watching a close hard fought game is far more entertaining (so long as we win )

Kay was brilliant, he's been quiet in recent games but he always wanted to take it up yesterday, he's unbelievably strong the lad is. Also Acton has to play more often for me he's a quality player, he gets teh crowd going and we get him going, although the attendance was down, I thought the roar when the players came out and lined up for kick offf was brilliant. And that set were we were just smashing them. Need to wise up though, letting poor teams score so many

Rochdale kicked perfectly into the sun for their winger to run and jump, rather than Kay having an issue imo

Would like to see him at 6 with Brierley at 7 for a few games. He would be much more of a threat that Riddy.

Ridyard is also a great player but I would be tempted to take him out of the firing line and give him a much needed rest next week and give Kaye a chance at half back.

Ridyard appears to be carrying a couple of extra pounds at the moment for me and I think I am right in saying, he is yet to touch down this season.

That said I do rate young Ridders highly though.

Well I would sooner be looking down at other teams from the top than looking up at any.

As would everyone, but if anyone suddenly thinks we will now secure a top 2 finish as we are 6 games in and unbeaten then complacency will inevitably undo us. We must continually look to improve to ensure we succeed.

Which is what this thread is all about.

The next four away games - Halifax, Featherstone, Dewsbury and Sheffield could well shape our season. The 'meaningful' games are about to be upon us, and we need to sort out the defensive frailties that have suddenly appeared in our game.

Like Liverpool, the seasons in our own hands now...win the rest of our games and we finish top!

Well actually it isn't, the title of the thread is 'Rochdale predictions' of which I indicated would not be easy, so being complacent can't be the case in my earlier posts warning, but again I will say I would sooner us be on top playing not to our best than not on top.

and....Oilchester City !!!

I do think Riddy is better than you sometimes might think, we always look worse without him. However he has had a quiet couple of games and Kay's talents are a bit wasted out on the wing. I know he's back playing in the reserves but how far off is Pownall from 1st team fitness to go on on the wing if Kay is moved to half back?