I noticed vs Hudds they were attempting to target him when they had ball in hand but without much success. There was on occasion where he was slow to get back as the result of a knock I think. This meant the line moved up and he was slightly behind them leaving a small gap however when the Giants went at it he sprinted into position to close the hole and put in a big hit.

Just to tidy this thread up a little, he was on for 32 mins in total. Down on the 40ish you might expect but certainly not massively so. Despite looking goosed, as he always does, he took the 2nd last hit up, taking 2 defenders with him which allowed us to make a break on the very next play.

There really is nothing to see here, so to speak. I expect him, like all the players, to improve as the season wears on. If he drops off rather than improves, that would be the time to offer criticism. Not 2 games in after being very impressive in the first 2 and solid if unspectacular in the 3rd.

Like you say, doing a great job so far.

I fell into the trap of “he’s knackered, Hudds are gonna target him” and they did and he pummelled them. They didn’t do it again and for the second week in a row I was left saying “you idiot” to myself

Castleford

Byrne 11 carries for 63m 27tackles

Havard 12 for 54m 24 tackles

Partington 11 for 65m 31 tackles

Smithies 9 for 66m 34 tackles

Bateman 15 for 81m 28 tackles

Farrell 17 for 126m 30 tackles

Isa 8 for 54m 25t

Mago 6 for 56m 9 tackles


Sam Powell didn’t register a single carry.

Wow, when the opposition know your 9 isn't going to run that's an issue

Unbelievable really. Haven't rewatched the game yet but surely a stats error?

In the last two weeks he’s run the ball once for a metre. That’s in 160 minutes of rugby.

I’ve backed him many times but that’s hurting us and it can’t go on for me. It puts zero doubt in the oppositions mind and I can’t dress it up, it’s not good enough. In awful conditions at Catalans last week for your hooker to take in one carry for a metre is mind blowing really. You have to be stealing metres in those conditions and keeping the risks to a minimum.

Is it Powell tho, or is it Peet?

Powell didn't run under Wane, he did under Lam and now he's back to not doing it.

There'll be people far more technically minded than me, who can explain the benefits of it - but to me it looks baffling. Like you said, the markers can push out as they know he won't run.

He ran the ball of a fashion under Lam, I.e near the opposition line but he still didn’t get out of dummy half much in our half our even the oppositions half, unless it was within their ten metres.

It’s tough to say if it’s Peet but I’m inclined to say maybe not because he did run the ball in the first couple of games a bit but these last two weeks it’s been absolutely non existent and at a time it’s been needed more than ever due to the weather.

By my arithmetic, 36 missed tackles in total. That's too many.

How many minutes did Mago play on Thursday - can't have been many.

Is he another Paleaaesina?

A really good effort from the forward pack last night against a good Hull set-

Singleton- 15 carries 90 metres 30 tackles
Byrne- 9 carries 58 metres 9 tackles
Havard- 18 carries 114 metres 44 tackles
Mago- 11 carries 91 metres 12 tackles
Smithies- 13 carries 89 metres 33 tackles
Partington- 11 carries 59 metres 30 tackles
Farrell-18 carries 177 metres 25 tackles

Some world class metres from Faz right there and against 13 men.

Superb numbers against a good pack.

Havard is going to be so good

They're both overseas signings and both props. Think that's where the similarities end.

Havards footwork is outstanding. It’s so subtle and he does it really close to the line, so he’s always making good ground. His engine is absolutely superb as well. There’s no doubt in my mind that he will go to the absolute top.

That's a fantastic stat for Havard last night.

Some fabulous numbers there NK. That was the game I watched. I was starting to think I'd watched a different game!



Harvard is the best young prop in the game. No question in my mind. He could be anything he wants.

Loving your work on the 'world class yards' too

Fantastic player Farrell.

Although your subtle dig at Walmsley fails a little considering Walmsley plays half the game time that Farrel does.

And also gets easy metres retuning the ball from restarts...

A dig at Walmsley, me? Never. All a light hearted joke.

Faz really is an incredible player. I always just wonder if he doesn’t get the plaudits he deserves because he’s just so understated. If an NRL second rower came in and out the numbers on the board Faz does they’d be billed as an absolute legend.

I just hope we can keep him here for another few years yet.

Over on the Hull board they're saying Satae took the ball up 5 times last night, now that's something to moan about

He's the most consistent player in Superleague by a country mile.

Me too. Unfortunately I seem to remember that the NRL has been sniffing around him for some time. Enjoy it while he's here I guess.

All the forwards stepped up last night, the only downside was Partington's penalties, I think that's why they subbed him at the end as he looked the most likely to give a penalty away in a kickable position to end the game, other than that I was happy with all the forwards.
Is it just me though or does Mago look to be running mre lateral at the line instead of direct like he did in the first few games, it must really take the sting out of his size advantage if he is running at an angle rather than direct, would much rather see him running direct off the ruck, than on the angle from a tip on