I totally understand the sale of players 2 seasons ago, I was thinking more of the players to go before the start of the present season .

To be fair, we could have won both the Saints game and Salford game with a bit of composure. If we had done that, we would be level on points with Cas, Hudds and Wire. Then there would be no talk of this whipping boy nonsense.

So we've had a few hammerings in a row - big deal! Obviously it's not great at the minute but it's not like we're cast adrift. If we're still getting battered every week in another 4 games, then I think that the "end is nigh" brigade might have a bit more credibility.

Fair comment, we are much closer to that than I realised.

The 2 big holes in our current 12 are Paea , Anderson, and Ashurst (for Ryan) which has made us a bit "soft" but, I agree that we should be more competitive than we have been.
There is zero expectation from top to bottom at the moment and maybe, its the attitude that is lacking, plus some grunt in the pack.

Maybe I'd started taking to much notice of our "injuries" and been taken in by the party line.

It was noticeable at the Catalan Widnes game that Betts left out some of his top players, maybe he targeted the Hull game at the weekend as a more likely win, and if the likes of Hanbury, Brown, Tickle, and O'Carroll were carrying slight knocks it would be easier resting them for what he might perceive as a more winnable game.

The problem is though that 2 front rowers are out, and our 5th choice is also out, so we have dropped our no.1 and no.3 and replaced with 6th and 7th in quality. That's a big loss.
We have been without our Godinet which impacted both McShane and Washbrook effectiveness.
Kirmond is clearly carrying an injury but Ashurst, Annakin and Molloy being able replacements are all out so the choice is to keep Kirmond half fit or go with another much lower option.

Add to that any other miss like Smith missing a game and we have some really big holes in our team.

As i said we are done on front row rotation but up to press Scruton & Dan Smith have played every game and Simon has been available for all but the last one so i'm not sure we can claim to be down to 6th & 7th choices, they would be 3 of my top 5 most weeks, ahead of Kirke who i've never particualarly rated. Personal choice though. We also didn't have to continue picking Smith or Simon to start at loose, we could have utilised Ryan Trout or Crowther better imho to get the best usage from our prop rotation. In reality we were only one prop short and we brought in Griffin & Hand to fill a gap for a while and whilst not world beaters they are capable of doing a job in the group of four.
As for Godinet yes he has been a big miss but it was Websters choice to move Washbrook and mess up the teams balance. Why not give Sammut a spell there instead, he has some experience there in the past? If he doesn't think he is capable then he has made a major mistake in recruitement by not having any other cover at 9 in the squad. What we'd have given for a Matty Wildie to fill in a few weeks.
As for Kirmond i've said elsewhere at 50% fit he is a passenger and i'd much prefer to see one of the 'lower options' play instead whilst he gets himself right. It would at least give the team a little extra energy which Danny just isn't physically able to provide at the minute.

Yes the injuries are obviously going to affect us in some ways but i personally don't believe that it has to follow that we get battered every game as seems to have become the case recently, the teams we are putting out are better on paper than that. As we stand today (not withstanding what is coming up, whether fully fit or selected - thats coaches choice) Hall, Riley, Owen, McShane, Scruton, Dan Smith, Lauitiiti & Washbrook have played in every game plus the aforementioned Tim Smith has been available for all bar one, as has Kirmond, Ryan, Miller, Collis, Simon and Sammut. Thats 15 players that have been available for 8 out of 9 games, abeit in Simon and especially Sammuts case they haven't always been picked. That is a quite settled side which is often seen as an advantage. I don't expect miracles but i do believe we could, and should, be competing better.

This is how I see it, fine lines.
HKR after two losses at the start of the season, squeezed past Wigan with a last minute try, whilst we got pumped at Widnes.
Their season has taken an upturn built on the back of the Wigan game.
Same could have happened if we had squeezed home against Saints, could have led to us getting wins against Salford and Hudds.

Yeah and if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle. We didn't win those games because we wasn't good enough to in the end, simple as that. You could counter your rather pointless arguement by saying if Cas would have had a bit more composure they'd have beaten us, or if we'd have played Hull KR at any other time of the season they'd have beaten us etc. But it didn't happen did it, we won the games we deserved to on the day and lost the ones we deserved to lose. And i think you'll find people do think getting a few hammerings in a row a big deal. No we are not yet cast adrift but if results go against us this weekend as they seem to be we could already be 3 wins behind 8th spot and thanks to those hammerings effectively 4 with our points difference. That would be very tough to claw back as other teams are obviously have stronger, deeper squads with more cap spend than us as our great inspiring leaders keep reminding us. So confidence drops, crowds drop, income drops and so on. The fans have a right to be annoyed at what they are seeing as it hasn't been anywhere good enough for weeks.

Another concern is we all know that MC likes to run a tight ship and will have set a projected income figure. If crowds are affected by our form and statements saying we are now focussed on round 24 and as such income is down will he have to sell before the end of the season to balance the books?

Yeah I get the "If my gran had wheels she'd be a bike" argument, but what I was trying to illustrate is that when the squad was fit we had 2 wins (against decent opposition), 2 close defeats (to decent opposition) and a hammering from arguably a less decent side. As soon as we started picking up the injuries, the small squad told and we rather predictably, started getting battered. I reckon when we get back to full fitness we'll be competitive again, we had a decent go at Leeds.

Write off Wakey at your peril I say, we've come out of much, much worse situations than this and lived to tell the tale.

Could we have done with another loan prop for a big warrington pack? www.superleague.co.uk/article/31 ... ts-on-loan

Could we have done with another loan prop for a big warrington pack? www.superleague.co.uk/article/31 ... ts-on-loan

My take on it as well Trin,you do know you might need a tin hat at the ready though.

so Scruton banned for Warrington game as well. Definitely save my money this weekend I think.

What did MC say at the start of the season.
Think it was somewhere along the lines of 'not as many season tickets sold but up on money generated from them last season'.
Maybe he has done his sums and allowed Webster to come out with the comment he has done, because 1: he knows how fickle the fans are and 2: to take some pressure off the players, to make them adopt the underdog tag, so we can play with a bit more freedom and a bit less rush and push.

Wonder if gilmour will get a game soon

he might now that scruton is missing

If so he should bring some leadership on the pitch

www.totalrl.com/saturday-biggest ... -monaghan/ Great

www.totalrl.com/saturday-biggest ... -monaghan/ Great

That tells you something about where Warrington are at the moment.

In the normal run of things, Warrington would be confident of turning us over, especially at their place.
The article on total.com, shows how bad things are for them at the moment.

Having said that, the bookies are giving us 22 points on the handicap, which indicates a straight forward win for Wire.

This season is already shaping up like Kear's last season in charge, most fans expecting us to get well beaten every week.
It's all very depressing but, one day we will break the cycle and it could be against Wire

Difference is this squad on paper, even with the injuries, is much better than the one Kear had in 2011. I don't expect a win today but given how far off Warrington have been this season and also the fact they have a young kid making his debut in the halves and another young lad making his first appearance of the season on the wing i expect us to be competitive at least. I think we should just beat the 22 point handicap. Anymore than that and questions should be asked.

At least with Kears squad although we expected to be beaten every week there was effort in abundance. With this years squad the players seem beaten before kick off.

Wonder if it will be Owen or Riley who suffers that embarrassment?

Saddened!
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Gold RLFANS Member

Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2003 3:52 pm
Posts: 26145
Location: Warrington
You lot are so lucky you are playing Wakefield. They are so weak that your Under 16s would comfortably beat them, so it's the perfect time to play them. Had you had a tougher game, say one of the Hull sides, I'd have you down for another defeat. You will score 50 against the pussycats and everything will seem okay again.

How I really hope that Trinity put up a real fight of it and surprise not only Warrington but other Super League clubs with their fight and desire to win today.

Don't get me wrong because I'm strapped in right beside you on the "we are crap" bandwagon but the team did compete for the early stages v Catalans and more so v Leeds.

Saddened is just a spoilt brat.