Oh please…

I admire your attempt at balance but this is two much for me. He is and always has been a soft player as the NRL proved very quickly. He's not a terrible player but he lacks ticker it's that simple. Now don't get me wrong he's still way braver than most who post on here but at SL level it's the smallest of differences between good and not good enough and for me Mathers isn't and I've been consistent on this as has Try scorer.

Now he's out of position which is IMHO unfair on hime it's even more exposed.

So I agree with the OP he needs to grow a pair - however far more to the point is why is Agar playing him there an an act of almost criminal stupidity.

Why cant people just take his legs, he's obviously very powerful so avoid the first man in going high and let the second man do that instead

I'm not saying he should be on the wing, though before Owen arrived I'm not sure who else I'd have played
But I saw him be brave. Ignore it if you like. He frustrates the hell out of me and I wouldn't give him a new contract but as far as I am concerned he tackle Carney in full flight head on.
I simply said it, not for balance but because it is mostly being ignored.

Fox. He's not a great winger but he's way better than Mathers - why was he ignored I don't know but I think its fair to say he was an alternative and a better one IMHO.

Either play Mathers at full back or not at all!

Can it be really that simple??

Especially against Carney because he's ertainly got more upper body strength than Mathers. Is he injured?
Or just another of Agar's mindnumbing decisions?

Give what a rest.
Bit touchy there vastman.

Not often you see carney dragged into touch.
He's a strong bugger

No ones denying that, however it was right in front of me and he was on one leg - big and strong as he is he can't defy the laws of physics. We had a hugely strong winger in Semi Tadulala but he could be put into touch if he was too close to the line like Carney was. Mathers made no effort even though he read the move and was in a perfect position, he simply bottled it.

talks a marvellous game on Twitter all his pre game preparation etc and his fancy diet. All he is interested in is self-preservation and keeping his good looks in tact.

And golf.

Any idiot can see that Carney is a real handfull, I think he has 13 tries this season. He would get in any SL team. Putting any of our wingers up against him Fox, Riley, Lyne, Mathers or Tom Johnson would do no good, in order of preference , ie ability to tackle and bottle, you would go with Riley, Fox, Johnson, Mathers, Lyne . So our coaching staff put our best tackling winger on opposite wing and put our least brave in the tackle winger up against the beast that is Carney. A good coaching staff would have put Walshaw on the wing, our own beast, who has a big heart and is our best tackler in the back line ( inderstand that this is not saying much ). You will note that Walshaw made 24 tackles and missed zero. Wella Haraki is having a great season, Walshaw looked after him no problems. Total lack of thought, planning and Rugby understanding from our coaching staff.

If we had put Walshaw on the wing, as you suggest, who would have 'looked after' Wella Haraki?

Taking into account that sicknote, robbing a wage Calmhorse and Lyne were actually injured I would have played Ryan and Collis in the centres, with Walshaw and Riley on the wings. ( that said I think Collis is finished and now looks like he couldn`t give a toss but sadly he was all we had available and now he will have his usual four weeks off as he has chiped his nail varnish). For what its worth I would have played Mathers at fullback as he is our best organiser and gives us the best chance of having some sort of structure in our defence. I would have played Godinet at 7 , Sammut at 6. I would have started with Moore and Anderson at prop and MacShane at 9. I woulkd have played Kirmond amd Molloy in the second row with Anakin at 13. My bench would have been Scruton ( playing with instructions that he is allowed to break out of a jog and is allowed to show some agression ). MacShane, Fairbank amd Sykes.

You were doing OK till you called Carney a beast - he isn't, he's powerful but can be stopped, Foxy did it - that lets Mathers off to easily. Almost any winger in the championship would have put Carney into touch on that particular occasion.

At first I thought Mathers had bottled it, now I think he wilfully missed the tackle!

Full flow there. I'm not here to defend Collis as he is a real sick note but I saw his ankle go and on this occasion it was for real.

So long as we beat Larndon and Dulls our season will be saved. Shame that's what it's down to.
Many of the biscuit men will be leaving at the season end and let's hope our revolving door brings some heart in this time.
Up the Trin.

Why get so hung up about Carney Vasty ? It’s only a nick-name.
“The Beast” and “Tank on the flank” are marketable nick names. The latter used all the time by the Sky team.
He’s up there with the best in SL – Charnley, Hall, Makinson and Monaghan.
He is a handful for any tackler let alone Mathers. There was 4 men around him in the corner for his first try and all 4 failed to stop him.

I'm the one with the hang up



You lot haven't shut up about him since sunday just because he beat the draft dodger - don't worry we saw him and your insecurity is noted.

Strangely though, contradicting the Mathers 'no bottle' issue, there was an occasion where he tackled Carney in full flight, front on, and then as a couple of others came in Carney was brought to a halt.

Sorry but I selected MacShane to play 9 and also be on the bench, I meant Wildie on the bench. For what its worth and whilst I am still mad I also think the squads attitude stinks. All this talk of not been worried etc etc after they beat Widnes who were missing 9 first teamers made me sick as we know that our squad is weak minded and dim and actually believe all the hype. We need them to understand that they are in a relegation battle, Bradford will get two points back and they will beat us at their place unless there is a change is attitude. Injured players need to report to the ground after they have had their treatments and be made to do 8 hours work for the club per day, ( they would soon be back to playing rugby ) painting, cleaning toilets etc etc. We need a simple game plan, no mistakes style rugby and we need some agression. we need the player to understand that agressive running, one out rubgy with quick play of the ball is all we should be trying to achieve, scoots from play of the ball and a good kick chase. Our players are so thick that we make five lateral passes and lose five yards, drive it in for gods sake with agression. We need to get our players to understand that they need to defend as if their lives depend on it. Everyday this week after the two hours they spend in work they should be made to watch the Wigan Leeds game and watch the Wigan youngsters play with a real pride in the shirt, play with agression amd defend as if it means as much to them as it does to a fan.

The fact is that if we would have changed the team from the previous 2 weeks and gone with (as someone stated earlier in this thread) Godinet at 7 Sammut at 6 and Mathers at the back, and lost like we did on Sunday - They would be the same people on here slating Agar for Changing a winning team as they were before !

Jack old lad surely the tackle your referring to left mathers no choice Carney ran straight at him I guarantee Richie knew there was no way out or he'd have took it his self preservation clicked into gear and he clung on for dear life

Well ! He could of manufactured a slip.

Oh come on TS. If you criticise you should be able to spot something good too.
He isn't my favourite but he made that tackle fair and square.

Which begs the question why he couldn't put him in touch when he ran past him an inch from the touchline