Thought I'd share in case anyone interested.

12 errors last week and 9 pens (about par for the course this season) but missed tackles down to 21 from 36 the previous week (70% of those were by 3 players being Cook, Colbon and Bryant.)

Howell didn't miss a tackle (though went off early) and Witt hasn't missed a tackle for second week in a row.

JO'C and Dixon had clean sheets.

Re Bailey, he was the top off-loader in SL last year with average 2.5 pg. This year only 6 in 8 games.

Make of them what you will.

Succesful offloads in the tackle can win you games and certainly help you get upfield on fewer tackles. Thats why Saints Wire Wigan etc., always seem to be in a try scoring situation from every six tackles. RL is a territorial game and field position is a critical part of it. I suspect Bailey wants to offload as before but the support players are not there for him.
Not sure of why those 3 players were high on the missed tackles as i wasn't there but its strange that those 3 were responsible for 70% of them.

If they can't tackle get them out. We really suffer from line breaks and the inability to recover. Let's prevent this at source-Make the tackles

What does Dan Stains margin metre predict for the Wakey game?

I will let you have my considered thoughts in due course.



TBF on the 3 players missing tackles last week, seems to be a one-off in that they all had a bad day together. They're not usually our worst offenders.

Are you on tackle watch? get on Powells team

Dont wear a skirt when climbing the ladder to the viewing point in the stand

You need to consider the work load of these players; Matt Cook for example made 49 tackles and 8 carries last week,,

Howell misread a play last week that led to a try - doesn't count as a missed tackle.

This is crucial. It's not just line breaks killing us - it's the percentage of line breaks that lead to tries. I'm a big fan of Luke Dorn but I'm coming round to PC Plum's viewpoint that his attacking value is now less than his defensive cost. But it's not just Dorn physically missing tackles, there's a general lack of quick thinking/reading play before it unfolds.