For 60 minutes today we looked like a team that was going to struggle as we were getting soundly beaten by a Cas side lacking a load of regulars then in the last twenty I don't quite know what happened but we looked a totally different side. Throwing the ball about, great attacks, marvellous finishes. Maybe we should just play 20 minutes every week. Special mention to James Batchelor. What a great try. I didn't realise he was so fast. Play like the last twenty boys and i don't think we've anything to fear.

difference was they took of their first team squad - a lot of concerns for me after hearing about this match

You missed an F off.

Glad you said that I'm no longer allowed to

Don't know what you are on about.

TBH that doesn't really matter

Have we got another season of you NOT supporting Trinity.

it was the proverbial game of two halves

Had Cas kept their players on it would have been a cricket score. Gloat all we want about winning, the difference was massive. But better we realise that in a friendly than when the season starts and gives us time to work on what went wrong. Definitely a reality check for everyone though.

Sorry but I'm not buying into this we only won because cas took all their players off. Last time I checked Rangi Chase, Monaghan, Moore, springer, Webster etc were all first team. And it didn't look like they'd given up.
And the last time I checked Batchelor would probably still count as an academy player and he made a massive impact, running through Chase.
Not getting carried away. Massively concerned with the defence frailty we showed, especially on the right edge. They looked all at sea. But towards the end of the first and thoughout the second half we played some quality rugby that would have given any side problems.
Nice to get the win, nice to have a feel good factor, still work to do.

I don't buy that - we were pretty tame with the ball first half and made a few handling errors, all of which were punished pretty much. I thought the scoreline was harsh at HT.

Second half, we were passing better, offloading more, running better lines - that's not something that them having a younger side out would influence too much.

I don'y buy that either IHC.

I mean Crowther, Batchelor and Johnstone are really seasoned pro's arent they.

Wasn't their second have half back pairing Chase and Roberts.

Roberts Gale Lynch and McShane all off at HT .

That second half was against a side that had loads of 19's in it. I dont care who cas had at Halfback, their pack was full of kids or second string players. Wally Lewis didnt make us a good team and he was better than Chase and Roberts put together. The best Halfbacks cant do anything unless they are on the front foot, simple as that.
I also think that Cas will finish in the top 4, they could even win the league leaders this Year.

I've learned over the years that anyone who reads anything into a pre-season friendly wants their bumps feeling, and 2015 taught me to ignore all omens until after Easter. We were world beaters after the first two games, and we know how the rest of that season panned out.

Hey you wanna believe that you go right ahead. For me it changed when Wood came on then when Finn started to organise it became a cricket score in the other direction THEN THE DIFFERENCE WAS MASSIVE or don't it work like that?

So for fear of being edited for being mildly confrontational I reckon you need a reality check, but then I always have.

Indeed.

So this was the ONLY bearing of the match and how it changed? Those two player's coming on for you ....that's it?
What makes you look funny is that you accused cas fans of living in a bubble in another thread!

In the last twelve months you've told us Finn is a hooker, Howarth a stand off and Annakin a centre. No offence, but I think I'll go with my own judgement thanks.

Vastman ask Chester and Kear what they thought, your nonsensical, rose tinted ramblings are cringe worthy and embarrassing. We were miles of the pace in the first half against an excellent Cas side, they stuffed us in all departments. we turned round our performance in the second half against a much weakened Cas side. As Chester said men against boys in the first half and men against boys in the second half. Its not a big deal to accept these facts, it does not make you a turncoat or a closet Cas lover. As said by many better get that performance and attitude out of the way now rather than when points are at stake.

I agree that Finn stepped up in the second half and your boys threw it around a lot - that's what you wanna see from a side in a friendly. Some of the tries you scored were great. But you'd need to be very biased and/or a little naive to think that the floodgates didn't open when we threw all our U19's on - by the end of the match the only recognised 1st team players we had on were Chase and Monaghan, both who you guys thought were a bit crap anyway.

But like you said in another post, friendlies mean jack all. We'll see what happens in the season.

How can you not buy that? We took our main 1st team off at half time and put our 2nd team on. That doesn't change the fact that you played some great rugby.

Have you come on here to just snipe? or would you like to [iactually[/i contribute to the forum?

Bit OTT Philip, sent you a PM - regards

How can you not buy that? Yes we had some kids on the field but they had more.

1st half - our first team getting pummelled by their first team

2nd half - our first pummelled their reserves/u19s.