It was the tatics today that first half that were totally wrong. Trying to play expansive on a narrow pitch down hill was silly. 3/4 drives from quick plays was what we should have done. Another prop or forward at 13 was what should have happened. The errors were because we weren’t playing direct enough. Strangely something we did uphill in the second half. The forwards won that second half with direct plays. Rodwell and Uele took some big carriers today and probably MOTM candidates.

I’m sure Powell will have had some choice words at HT but the team rolled their sleeves up and came through. We just made it harder on ourselves rather than Batley.

The errors do need tidying up a bit though.

Fev beat Widnes today

Messy and scrappy but a wins a win. Felt a bit for Olpherts today.

Also very strange we played better going up hill, that must have been some rocket Powell gave them.

6/10 first half, 8/10 second half for me, with Uele my M.O.M
With Sheffield nilling 'Fax at The Shay then it looks like they are likely to be our nearest rivals ??

We probably haven't had a coach who could do that since Kear.

It's a fallacy.

Whilst it's notionally easier to run down hill, when playing rugby, the passing and catching of the ball is much easier going uphill.

Same as playing against the wind, as opposed to playing with it.

Good on the forwards in the 2nd half, kaleb is an accomplished forward , he ie only signed on for 1yr
I would offer him a 3yr deal now before poachers come in !

Well at 14 - 12 to Batley and Trinity playing up that bloody hill I was proper worried , it wasn't as though Batley were throwing tricks at us we simply couldn't stop giving penalties away and kept letting them out of their own line , proper frustrating .

Thankfully we upped our game and won comfortably in the end .

Proper weird afternoon including the warm sunshine .

Agree pack looking good for S L Lot of work to do in the back 7 to get ready for SL

Thought he had signed for 1 year with club having option of a 2nd year. Uele has got a big engine on him and he is a real grafter. He will only get better too.

First 10 minutes it looked for all the world like a cricket score was on the cards , then a switch turned off in the team and we reverted back to our old ways and let Batley grab a hold on the game and were worth their short held lead . Round of the kitchen springs to mind in the changing room at half time ,and Uele finally dragged us back into the game crashing over the line and the crowd collectively let out a sigh of relief . Still clunky still one out rugby and lots of unforced errors /mistakes but at least we have enough to get us out of trouble nowadays , but jeez it’s taking some time to settle into a pattern that looks like its a planned move instead of off the cuff

Was certainly tough going today.

Uele my Mo today.

Hes improving every week and I thought today was his best game so far for us.


I think Matt Ellis enjoyed the appreciation of the supporters in that second half

Enjoyed that today.
Nice set up Batley have there.
Think we put the cue in the rack after going 12-0 up....
Full credit to Batley for getting back into it.
Have to say that the ref was "generous " with a few decisions for them...


I would surmise that DP "had a word" at HT.....


I don't subscribe to the playing up the hill as a disadvantage - It's about how you play and tbf, 2nd half was a real step up.
Good stuff from the forwards, not sure about LK at loose, but they did well.
Lach never really had a clear cut chance, but a lovely inside pass for Crofty to score.
Caleb (just) MOTM.
Up the Trin.

Early doors in the season and very happy with the forwards pack we have , plenty of pace and power and if and when we get the call to step up into the big boys league Imo they will be ready to take up that challenge and hold their own . The back line in the other hand is our Achilles heel I feel at this present time and will need some strengthening in the near future going forwards . Some obviously are still very much work in progress other I feel are at their level and some tough calls will have to be made if we are to hit the ground running in the future . Long way to go still this season and lots more rugby to be played

Did I imagine it or was Max put on report?

Match report in the League Express says he was. Can't say as I noticed myself.

Agree here. Wasn't someone on here a while back had been told by a Batly player that playing downhill can be as hard, if not harder than uphill especially if you are defending - retreating 10 yards running backwards uphill is a quad burner.

I noticed the referee raised and crossed his arms, so I guess the mid air tackle was put on report. Max will be ok for the Toulouse game, but could be at risk for the Sheffield game.

Luckily made it back in time from a stag do yesterday and made it to Batley in good time. I've been to Mt. Pleasant before as a neutral but always with a bit of a soft spot for Batley but that's the fullest I've seen it. We're travelling well at the moment and hope it stays like this all year. It's a nice ground and probably the most unique in RL a really pleasant place to watch rugby, if you'll pardon the pun!

In regards to the rugby, that first 10 minutes felt like it was going to be a blowout, we looked like we'd score every time we touched the ball. For whatever reason though. our discipline was worse than I can ever remember, didn't feel like Batley made many metres themselves and it was mostly off the back of silly penalties. It didn't help that one of our wingers had a clanger every time the ball came near him. Was quite suprised that DP left him out there when he dropped that ball on our own line in the 2nd half.

When Caleb came on, the game changed, he had a serious impact on today and was by far the best player on the field. Lino went really well again and took control in the 2nd half. Not sure Myles is quite ready just yet and we definitely missed Gale controlling the game.

2 points is 2 points though, tough test on Saturday but finally back at home after a month away!

Doesn't really matter if you "subscribe to" it or not. Year in, year out, there are a statistically significant higher number of points scored playing down the hill than up it. The fact that you just happened to watch a game where that didn't happen is neither here nor there - anyone who has watched a reasonable number of games at the Mount knows the hill is a huge advantage overall. That isn't changed by the odd game where other variables might prove even stronger (such as a much stronger, full-time team playing a part-time team).

He will be okay anyway. Max didn’t even attempt to tackle him and there was nothing in it. Even a penalty was generous.

It may be deemed easier attacking downhill, but at the same time, you have to defend uphill. And Batley spent a lot of the second half, tracking back, up hill and were quite visibly out on there feet in that second half.

Max should be fine. He went for the ball, should never have been a penalty.

Really enjoyed Batleys ground. My daughter loved how close the players were.

In terms of the game, weird first half where everything we did after 8 mins, either was an error or a penalty. Second half, much more composed and enjoyable

I tend to agree re Max - I thought he was very unlucky to be penalised.
I'd also like to say how pleasant it was to go to Mount Pleasant - its a great little 'proper' rl ground.
The approach to the ground is much better than the mudbath that surrounds Post office Road and I actually rate it higher than the Rovers ground.
OK there is the slope but I think that's more noticeable to look at than it is to play on.

Batley was brilliantly organised by their officials.
At the approach to the ground giving goodie bags to kids.
At the turnstiles very efficient getting people into the ground.
Really friendly and helpful stewards.
Good microphones and communication from the field to the crowd.
Well done Batley.
A lesson for all clubs there and I hope the better than average crowd helped your finances.