Someone is bound to say its all his fault

So lets have a look at how he did!
First tackle of the game, penalty laying on, fully justified, so that was err our own fault
First try, in goal judge indicated a good touch down, closest touch judge indicated that he did not see the grounding but had no reason to disallow the try
so our own fault for not getting the ball dead

Salford Full back knock on! ok 50/50 call o that but niether TJ helped him out so hey
Next play after that looked very much like a knock on but i was in line with it and a good 60mtrs further away than the ref
LMS try! 90% of the other refs would have pinged us for obstruction on the 20mtr line!!
so all in all maybe 3 decisions that we could have challenged, and 1 was in our favour and we scored from it

As for the rest!
At least the ref was running around the park in the first 20 mins, better than our lt did
It was not the ref who failed to find touch from a penalty given 10 mtrs in fromn the touch line
It was not the ref who put the ball dead from the kick off after we had given away the 8 point lead to set up Salford for the next try
It was Matt Gafa not the ref that missed the tackles in the centre
It was not the ref that threw the interception pass!
It was not the ref who gave up on the chase from the same interception that was Will Sharp
It was not the ref that chased down Will Sharp (our speedster) when he made a break, instead it was 5 or 6 Salford players that ou paced him

So lets not blame Mr Alibert
Lets blame the utter disgrace of a performance put in by the so called proffesional players

Rubbish, course it was his fault. Failed to make touch from an easy position. Kicked out on full from kick off. Ensured our team was not even thinking of a short kick off when we did. Just don't know how you can't blame him.

so an overall look at how I saw the game
Despite the fact I am still fuming

Lets see who i remember!
Curtis! No real complaints, did come up with some good last ditch tackles, especially in the 2nd half when Gaffa missed his tackle
On to Gaffa! Does not look fit, missed too many tackles, no pace any more!
Will Sharp, never give up on the chase, on the interception try by Salford 10 mtrs out he gave up, so try under the sticks "keep chasing" u never know what will happen, if he is our speed merchant hmmmm there were at least 5 if not 6 Salford players who had to turn to chase him and all out paced him
Too much running sideways rather than fwd
Salford must have kicked for there winger to chase 3 or 4 times, Will on at least 2 of those occasions initially was ambling back to get the ball

Rob P, he must be getting frustrated at what he has around him

Chad! hmmm cannot forgive the panalty that went infield from where he kicked it, and was it Chad that screwed up the kick off (schoolboy stuff)

Tony Clubb, looked busy at times but again went sideways and ended up losing 5 mtrs in one play

Luke G
tried hard but again too much running sideways and not much support or runners off him

Fwds in general, lazy! not too bad with ball in hand going fwd but when Salford kicked deep and we were running the ball out, half the squad took 2 or 3 sets to get back behind the play

Any positives?
very few
BUT LMS offload for the try under the sticks, and his try! was he our quickest player on the park today, he had been down having treatment on his knee 5 mins before
Lamont!!! came on the park and showed enthusiasm and excitement

all in all utter rubbish with occasional bits of interest
Players seem very demotivated? (Coach? fatigue? who knows)
no enthusiasm
no interest in fact

They all look like they just want the season done with

good tackle form Kaye (?)

Will Sharp just hasnt progressed this year..I have to question his ability to perform as a Super League player ...He isnt as fast as we all thought he might be and doesnt seem to have the speed of thought and awareness when in possesion of the ball...This is something that I dont like saying but it now seems painfully obvious and his position in the team questioned in the future...

Really interesting to read your account of this afternoons game 'mickyb1234'

I was unable to attend the match this afternoon, this being only the third game I've missed all season.

So can you please tell me your views on the Salford City Reds players and I'm sure you will give me an honest reply just like your honesty about your own outfit.

Cheers JR

Is Will Sharp fully fit? I thought he looked to be running in a slightly laboured style when he tried to hit full pace today. I have a suspicion he may have played with something which hindered his movement today.

Not trying to make excuses. All in all it was a pretty dire day but it may explain why Will looked slower than he has on previous occasions.

Overall mate,

Not the best performance i seen from yr lot either! Big difference I think was a desire to win
You obviously have some speed merchants and i dont just mean Wilshire

noticable players today
Paul was distributing the ball pretty well
littler not as busy as he usually is, or not from what i saw anyhow
sibbit was noticable in the middle

Think it was McGilvray scored the intercept, he looked dangerous all game and was surprised a few more of the kick chases he got offered did not pay dividends, probably my stand out player for your lot

the LMS try through the middle was a massive hole, and did expose a weakness for you, that KR could well exploit
We got ripped apart on the wings by Bradford, your wing defence looked strong enough to me

Thanks 'mickyb1234'

As he seems to spend most of the game running the ball up like a forward for most of the game it is hardly surpring that he is looking

kna..red

At least he gave chase, unlike many others.


Maybe its because he is tired with his workload of six players. It seemed that 33% of the time we were in possession Will Sharp had the ball.

More concerning was how we made a total mess of scoring after the break. Almost every team above us would have turned it into a try, maybe that's why they are above us...

I have to agree with you that there is far too much running sideways by most of the players. The forwards in particular cant run onto the ball beacause they have to hold back because there is no space for them to run into. This is something the coaching staff must be telling them to do because so many players are doing it.
Much as I admire Purdo he is not the sort of captain who gets the team going or is a general on the pitch. These players need someone to tell them what to do.
I dont believe the players don't care - i just think they havnt got the energy to do what they are being asked. Maybe we peaked early on in the season and now the tank is empty.

Yes we dont have a lot of depth but the retaining of Jonny Grayshon, the signing of Mick Nannyn and Gardner had us all shaking our heads but these were BMs decisions. Are these really the best that BM could come up with.
I would add Wells to that list of names. How can a seasoned professional winger allow himself to be bundled into touch like that when we are trying to build up some pressure with tackles still in hand. The guy has no speed anymore, doesnt break a tackle, and has completely forgotton where the try line is. As ive said before, being a 'solid' full back isnt enough. The club should stick O'Callaghan in now for the rest of the season. We need tries - and someone with pace.

I will post further later but Alibert only made 1 error today, and that was not awarding a knockon late in the second half when Smith(?) was writhing at the play the ball and played it backwards for Alker who clearly fumbled. Otherwise he was spot in my eyes. Why people were crying when he awarded Salford the ball when it was a clear knock on from a high kick I will never know. I was right in front of it and it was a clear knock on from Quins.

I agree that will did at least give chase
and i dont deny that he does a stack load of work especially first and second tackle coming out of our red zone!
But it still is a worry that he could not go the full length with the start he had , it was the fact that there was at least 5 players catching him!!!

The comment about JW yep he is coming to the end of his life in the top flight as such, but bit like Will S he grafts all game
I have no prob with a winger getting taken in to touch now and again
What worries me is when people like Luke Dorn does one of his looping runs and then gets bundled like he did against the bulls

Maybe the training regime is wrong
Maybe the attitude in the camp is wrong
there is certainly a problem with fatigue with all the squad
maybe 1 year we can peak at the right end of the season

That was Curtis. Shame for him because I agree that otherwise he was one of the few bright spots.












Just one example. Curtis made an excellent break in the 2nd half. No support at all except for Gafa who, to his credit got there, but then lost the ball. I looked at the rest of the team - they were just strolling up the pitch. No urgency, no enthusiam, no effort!

And what was Dorn thinking about when he slipped that tricky inside pass to McGilvray? Didn't look, just tried to be clever.

I don't want this squad to scrape into the play-offs, it would be pointless.

I thought he was weak on Salford's offsides close to their own line.

You are so right with both of those Lister. There was hardly a grumble from our supporters about Alker's knock-on, yet all around me people were screaming at the ref although Wells clearly knocked on.

(I got a new pair of specs yesterday, BTW.

)

The Dorn break and dropped pass, from what was a pretty poor pass really summed things up really
Whay not take the tackle, and build pressure, it was a panic last pass, could not really blame Gaffa for dropping it, but he did have a marker all over him so keeping hold and building would have been beter option!
BUT thats easy enough for me to say sat in the stands

The scary thing with the kick off out on the full for the penalty after Salford scored I wish i could have put a tenner on it
I said it would happen as we lined up the kick!! its what we do!!!!! and ever so predictable
On that front
why oh why do we not vary the kick off now and again?????

I do agree though I dont think i really want to go in to the play offs with the way we are playing

I know I've only been watching London rugby since 2002, but seriously the last 2 months - and the last fortnight in particular - have got to be the most depressing period I've experienced. At least in the seasons the Broncos flirted with relegation you knew the players just weren't competitive, and you got a sense they really, really tried hard and grafted with their limited means. What are the positives now? Nothing, nada, nowt. No heart, no passion, no resilience, no common sense... no optimism for the future.

Quite how I feel also. People are whining about sitting in the wrong stand and using that as their reason for not getting a season ticket. If things continue as they are, and McDermott is still coach, I probably won't bother either and I would suggest that my reasoning for making such a decision would not be uncommon, and certainally a more important concern for the club over those who don't like the view.

Is Luke Dorn contracted for next year? What an utter shambles. Threw a silly interception, a lovely hospital pass to Gafa after a break up field, woeful kicking game as usual (theres no point in doing a cross kick if nobody is following). I await someone telling me what a brilliant try he scored but a 16 year old should be able to take advantage of a 4 vs 2 situation.

Make LMS captain and build the team around him, he and a select band of others are the only ones that care. Lamont and Clubb also I would suggest.

I have been one of Wells' biggest supporters and defended him for ages but he's been very poor in recent weeks, basic errors - people say he should be playing full back, but I don't think this is good enough. He clearly is not fast enough to play on the wing anymore, all he does is cut inside because he isn't fast enough to beat the man on the outside.

What happened to Ward? Why was Haggerty determined to get himself sent off?

A serious clear out is needed at the end of the season. Players who are not good enough IMO (forgetting contracts for now):

Gafa
Wells
Dorn
Gardner
Heckenberg
Williamson

Sharp needs to seriously buck his ideas up too.

We need a decent half back, a utility back and a better hooker than Kaye who has been shown up recently IMO.

He was playing injured. On everything else I agree

apart from the ref - if you are going to ignore off sides (for both sides) then be consistant - don't randomly pick out offsides, all or nothing - I think his gaffes were weighed evenly to both sides - it comes to something when you are worried a sorry refereeing decision might influence the outcome of a game !!!

Yer fair shout tbh.

Yesterday's game was between two very very poor teams indeed. If we'd been up against anyone other than Salford or Celtic we would have been absolutely smashed by 40+.

Rob Purdham did his best and Louie showed pride in the shirt, but everyone else - Jesus wept.

Lets be honest, the season is over. We were absolutely p*** poor, and I cannot see where our next win is coming from at the moment.

I think the way things are right now the team/coach etc are very lucky they haven't been at booed off.

Oh, and chances are that Celtic Crusaders' average attendance this season will be better than ours. Everything's just peachy then, eh?

Lamont tried his best when he came on, I think he showed alot more heart than the majority of his team mates yesterday.

Yesterday was a low point in my time watching London RL(I didn't get to the Bulls game last week due to holiday although I'm informed that was worse)

We were dreadful yesterday. Our attacking options for 2 months now has been nothing short of pathetic. I cant think of one good move we put on yesterday. Mcdermot has to be held responsible. It was he who replaced Mclinden, Hill, Paul etc with run of the mill talentless players. He has ruined Gafa, he insists on playing Wells, he has brought in Dorn as a 6 who couldn't organise a kids party. The 2 Aussies who I suspect are on big bucks are no better than Golden who I suspect is on a fraction of there wages.

Salford were equally as useless which makes it harder to swallow.

The season cant end quick enough for me. The errors we made to let the Reds in at the end were worse than a decent amateur team would make. What was Melling thinking about.
Im sick of it and sick of reading McDermotts post match comments. He should put his hand up and start taking some of the blame-he's the team manager.