Taking the victory over Wakey..Are we in contention in this one?

It will be very tough....... I predicted two opening loses....... hopefully not.

Salford will be a much improved squad to the one that last visited the LSV, Leigh can't seem to handle pressure when it really matters..... hopefully they'll learn from their mistakes!!!

Always in contention and good enough to win.
The SL teams have seen enough of us now to understand our vulnerabilities.

Can we handle the pressure and be smart enough?

[iAll[/i the matches have the potential to be very tough.

And Leigh can handle the pressure. First half on Saturday brought its own pressure but we were class. Second half was a different story but that wasn't about pressure. It was about switching-off and thinking we had the game won by half time. In fact, when we went for the 2 points penalty I was cursing. We'd decided to [iplay safe[/i at that very point (that's not Leigh!!). We had the momentum back at that moment and should have gone for the throat. It was hot, we should have kept the pressure on the Hull KR line, etc etc.

Concentration let us down in that second half on Saturday (same thing happened at Warrington first 20 mins of second half) but concentration is not something we've had to be big on this season. Many a time we've either blown teams off the park first half so matches were effectively over by half time, or our opponents have pushed us close (Halifax, Bradford, Sheffield etc) but they haven't had enough quality to finish us off (London aside obviously).

I've been to Salford this season (free match!!) and I believe we can win there. Our attacking play scares the life out of teams (Hull KR first half didn't know what had hit them). Opponents want to defend boring drives and a kick, they [idon't[/i want to be chasing Leigh around out wide or dealing with Hock and Barlow (even Hopkins, Emmitt, Moimoi and Wilkes!!) offloading to Brierley and McNally through the middle.

We need to continue with how we play, whilst also working on our concentration, which should then help us make better decisions when it really matters.

Play as you did at the weekend and you will beat Salford comfortably. HKR are no pushovers and you ran them close.

HKR, Leigh and Widnes will be in SL next year, and then either Salford or Bradford.

You are aware the second half score was 30-2 to Hull KR?



It's going to be another close one, but I am hoping our strong home form will see us through. I hope to see plenty of you make it over - ps be warned, if you park on the AJ Bell Stadium car park, it closes for 30 minutes after the game and therefore causes some decent sized ques. So if you want a quick exit, you might be best parking at Barton Airport (£5) or a short 10/15 minute walk at Salford City Roosters ARLFC (£3.50).

And you lost the 2nd half v Wakey (the poorest team in SL by miles) 20-18 - so what's your point??? HKR are a better team than both Salford and Wakey, and was always gonna be tough for Leigh to maintain.

My point is a scoreline of 30-2 in 40 minutes of RL isn't good going, particularly when said team havent got both of their first choice half backs playing. Yet you said if they play like that they'll beat Salford, bearing in mind Salford beat Hull KR a few weeks ago (with Albert Kelly playing).

That Wakefield team we played yesterday was much improved from the ones previously played this season. Once they add Godinet and Ali into their 17, they'll be even tougher to beat. Don't write them off.

You should keep up Mike. Wakey had many new faces yesterday as they have supplied a side to be competitive in the 8s - Brian Smith has been very shrewd - - yesterday Ali, Locke, Kirmond, Godinet were missing. They will be hard to beat and Saturdays match v Bradford will be a yardstick.

Leigh have a lot to do now as they couldnt even overcome a Kelly less HKR.

Salford CAN be a decent side and they can be awful. Depends how motivated they are IMO.

Leigh shouldn't worry about the Hull KR game, it was always going to be a defeat. Nor should they worry too much about Salford. The key thing is to beat the other Championship sides and Wakefield. If you can nick one off the other SL sides great as it will possibly allow for a defeat to Bradford.

The Salford game will be another extremely hard game, all the Leythers who thought Leigh were going to go unbeaten in the 8's ,were on another Planet,it just was never going to happen no team lies down and gives up.On Sunday Salford will be firing on all cylinders , a win will put them 4 points clear of Leigh, in my opinion we need to win 4 of our remaining 6 games to stand a chance of being in the 1-5 spots, can we do this?Of course we can,there is nowt wrong with the Leigh team or any individual players , you can't score if you don't have the ball,Leigh will bounce back hopefully starting on Sunday,I can't wait.Cmon you Leythers.

Salford controlled the game really well in the first half yesterday and that is probably the best I've seen them play. If that team turns up again next week I think you'd be second best.

If the disruptive, headless chicken Salford that we've seen a few times this year shows up then all bets are on and you could nick it.

Leigh can't handle the pressure... they've played two decent sides this year (Hull KR and Warrington) and have bottled it both times (I'm not counting Wakefield and Salford as they had loads of injuries).

Thats the problem with playing in the Championship, you can play for 60 minutes and not lose a home game in 2 years, but when you play against the big boys who play for 80mins its a totally different story.

Agreed up to a point. The psychological pressure is probably more difficult than the physicality. It's difficult to suddenly have to concentrate for the full 80. That applies to all Championship clubs but could also be a problem for some SL teams ... how often will Wakey Salford Widnes players switched off this season. Hopefully the Championship will become more rigorous a workout in the future. It's not just about a bigger salary cap.

You're not a Leigh fan, are you?

Against Salford, in a close fought match, Leigh played for 80 mins and came out on top. Neither side "bottled it" that day. (I [iam[/i counting that one).

Against a Wakefield team, that was near enough back to full strength, Leigh came back from 24-6 down away from home to win, showing lots of "bottle". (I will count that one too)

Against Warrington, Leigh played well for the first 40 but then switched-off just after half time and the match went away from them. But they chased and never gave up. Losing by just 5 tries to 6 in the end. Again, plenty "bottle" was shown from the lads away from home against SL opposition. A few key moments also went aganst Leigh that day (Brierley tackled without the ball as he was about to receive and go under the sticks), so it was a case of unlucky rather than beaten out of sight.

And finally Hull KR. First half was almost too perfect from Leigh. Showing plenty off "bottle" to rise to the occasion and lead the SL side 24-6 at half time. Second half, some might say they "bottled it" (like you are) and that [icould[/i be a valid argument in some quarters, but, for me, they switched-off mentally, couldn't raise themseves again and subsequently made poor decisions, which allowed Hull KR to grind us down with their SL experience.

For 2 years Leigh hadn't lost at home. Handling all the "pressure" that comes with that. And when they did finally lose, it was largely their own doing.

I think Leigh fans think we'll get in Super League because:

- We got to the Challenge Cup quarter finals
- We've won every home game for 2 years

We nearly lost to Bradford, and they didn't have Gaskell in their team............. I hope we pick our form up because we'll be lucky to finish 5th. Bradford look very dangerous at the moment! They've got a young squad and I think they'll be back in Super League, either this year or the next if they can keep a hold of their young players.

We beat Bradford earlier in the season and they [idid[/i have Gaskell in their team...

We could go on debating all day, mate.

As it stands, we can still get in top 3. Definitely get in top 5. And then that will leave it down to our "bottle" in the million pound game.

There is still all to play for yet and, we have not become a bad side overnight! We need to learn from this defeat as it was largely self inflicted! We must improve our field kicking and put pressure on our opponents, we cant keep doing it by running at them all the time! I hope our confidence has not been damaged? some of the players deserve to lose their place after their KR performance, some players were visibly found wanting in the stamina dept!personally I would like to see Sarsfield and Haggerty involved and Acton too they all have something different to offer? although, Ill leave that decision to the Coaches!
Got my seat today, why give up now after 61 years


I hope all our fans will get down to the Ding Dong Bell Stadium and make their voices heard, we are still a very good squad of players and excellently coached!

As a KR supporter I would comment as follows. I don't think Leigh can or should change their style of play. It has served them well over the past two seasons and I see no reason why it won't serve you well in these qualifiers. I was expecting a loss and at half time I was convinced that we would indeed lose. I think that what you have to learn is that there is a time to stick the ball up your jumper, drive for five tackles and then put in a decent kick and let the opposition worry about getting out of their half. You can't play at 100 miles per hour all the time; your players need a breather. By all means hit Salford with all you've got and if you succeed in getting a decent lead then start thinking about how to keep it and frustrate the opposition. You don't have score in every set. You have to build pressure and keep your foot on the oppositions throat.

That's fair enough,but also our discipline let us down as well. I'm sure rowls will address this matter.

You say Salford controlled the first half but watching the tries you conceded in the first half your tackling was an absolute disgrace tackle well and you would have won easily

Can't wait for Sunday , nice to see Marwan again.

Bet you have prawn butties with him.

This.

I know it's gone now - and it's all ifs and buts - but when was the last time Leigh "took the 2 points" when they were right on an opponent's goal line??

We changed our mentality right at that moment. I'd be interested to hear about who made the call.

And before anyone says the extra 2 points gave us a 3 score lead. I know that. But another possible try and maybe even more than one set on Hull KR's line might have really finished them off at that point. Plus it would have given us a further confidence boost. 2 points so early was too negative, imo.