I'm going to have to be the one that says it but I'm not sure Johnston is ready yet.
He was poor against Fev, dropping a lot of ball and like it or not Solomona dominated today.

Personally I'd play Walton and move either Gibson or Tupou to the wing.
For now.

https://audioboom.com/boos/4099621-bria ... castleford Think the most telling point from this analysis is that Cas have just come back from warm weather camp and Wakey have been flogging the players. it showed.

https://audioboom.com/boos/4099621-bria ... castleford Think the most telling point from this analysis is that Cas have just come back from warm weather camp and Wakey have been flogging the players. it showed.

Don't agree at all - that's the way to destroy a player. If these were real games maybe, but to do it to him because of a few friendles shows zero faith - might as well give him to Cas now and save the bother.

I don't know whether you see it as a positive or a negative but you're right.

It's one thing getting off a plane from walmer climes and playing an exibition match in front of your own crowd. We'll see how it pans out in a few weeks time as to who's really got it right.

I've already said it but these games mean nothing - the SL games are the ones that do and that's always a different ball game - all teams only have so many wins in them so don't waste them on these games.

Been a supporter for many. many years, but never bothered with pre-season friendlies and never will. They're just bulled-up, meaningless training sessions with over inflated admission charges. Results such as the Leigh v Wigan game bear this out

I wondered this morning if we got beaten how long it would be before some so called fans would be on here to have a moan .im not sure some of them actually follow trinity!
It's gong to take time for the team to start gelling,and we certainly will not iron out any problem areas by the time we have completed our friendlies.iam pretty certain also that brian smith will have also pinpointed our problem areas from today and will act accordingly?so to all the idiot brigade ...you need to brace yourselves because there will be some more losses to come, before we start getting things right . It was never going to happen over night.
Cas looked good, and it looks like Mr powell wants his settled team off to a better start than last years 0 : 3...we played a good team today and can't expect to be doing the things they are ,from the off!
Your right about friendlies vastman. Win em all and were world beaters... Loose em all and were crap. There is just no pleasing some people..
Let's see how the season unfolds first!
UP UP TRINITY...

Got that right mate... Wigan never seem to win their friendlies !!

What's the difference between dropping a player because of poor performances in a game and dropping a player because of poor performances in training?
It's nothing to do with destroying a player it's about having the right players on the pitch on game day. He's still young, he will improve but the way to destroy him is to leave him in the team when he's not at the right level (defensively)

Feel free. I was disappointed today, but not despondent! We showed frailties, but that's the point isn't it, to find them in order to work on them. I wasn't bothered that we lost at all, but we were well beaten in the second half and you have to credit Cas for some pretty decent play that we could not manage ourselves.

We will probably get more benefit from today's game than Cas will, provided the information is used correctly, and of that is here is little doubt!

Still looking up, but today was challenging.

Once again, 98% of tries scored on the edges have their Genesis at the play the ball, defences work from the middle OUT, if you get a lazy marker who doesn't push out onto the A defender then the A cannot push out onto B and so on. What happens then is the attacking team gain an extra player (or two) on the outside which means the outside defenders have to jam in, in an attempt to shut the play down but that's exactly what the attacking team want as it means they go out the back and create the overlap.

If the outside defenders don't step in then the attacking team hit the lead runner who goes between the inside defender who's turned in or been static and the outside defender who's stayed out on his opposite number.

In both cases the problem starts because of lazy inside defenders!

Being caught in no mans land out on the wing is not necessarily the wingers fault but a systemic breakdown which requires lots if coaching in order to fix it!

Those writing Tom Johnstone off because Solomona got a bag full of tries need to learn how the game is played!

Spot on. The thing we need to fix up most is in the middle of the park - this is where our 'strength' is, but we were beaten there today and hence beaten out wide. We contained Leeds and hence gave ourselves a chance to win that game.

Sorry but I thought finny was bloody garage and miller was nowhere ,tbf Luke gale ran the show

Spot on comment, have to agree 100%

We let mcshane run 10 yards every time from a ptb our second marker should be hitting him not stoud watching,we are so nieve in defence

miller was targeted,his defence was good for a small man.Powell got his team to run at him which took him out of the game.Miller and Gibson I thought were our best players out there regarding commitment.

What pees me off is we know Johnstone is suspect in defence but hope is attacking abilities will give a balance. How come he receives his 1st pass out on the wing in the 78th minute?
Also, Tupou and Lyne, who are both pretty lethargic managed to cover their side pretty effectively.

I'm not reading to much into it,, from what I observed, 3 of there tries looked in touch, silver wood was shocking, there line speed was good as always offside,
Our forwards matched them and worked hard, however our backs were torn to shreds, cas were fast and there backs look a unit that have had seasons together under there belt,
Kirkmond missed is man on numerous occasions
Finn will not play that bad again
Miller needs to pull his finger out,
And cas just like Fev found our weak wing and took advantage, Gibson and Johnson really left exposed on both games,
And agree with previous Luke gale ran the show always dangerous,
Lynne had one chance and took it, great finish,
I watched Warrington get hammered at the jungle 46-6 last year, it's horrible place to go, friendly or not,
No conclusions to be drawn till after weeks 1-3 of the SL

Why should the 2nd marker be hitting/tackling him?

I'm not writing Johnstone off at all. He is very good and in attack is outstanding.
But if he drops the ball under no pressure and let's tries down his wing he has to be questioned, whether he is one of our own kids or not.
Confidence should be built but it won't be built if people keep running past him.

If it's the slide on the defence I'd still like to see him make a tackle to force the mistake. Needs work but worth it.

If he drops the ball under no pressure then fair enough there's some individual coaching to do with Johnstone.

The second part of what you've said is the bit I have an issue with, he may or may not be a good defender, the truth is we don't know because he's constantly being let down by his inside defence and the issues they're having in working consistently to a system.

The important word about today's game is friendly, why worry it was a run out nothing more. At best they help with getting players match fit, the players know points are not at stake and looking at the attendance many of the supporters did.
If you look at the friendlies this season by all clubs, you would be worried if you are Hull KR and even Wigan and Saints have not exactly set the games alight. I doubt the latter two will be hitting the panic button.
We have just survived probably our worst season on record so let's just be happy we have another season to correct our errors. We will lose games all teams do, what matters is that we have progressed from last season and I believe we have so let's wait and see.

Friendlies dont mean much but I thought that today you really expected all your creativity to come from from Finn and that really wont work. Miller needs to get more involved and there needs to be more passing amongst the forwards.
The problem is that there is not a lot of time to sort it out, because if you get in to a losing habit, heads will go down and the bottom four will again be your fate.

The same excuse with Johnstones defence was used last year, and we had different centres. I think it is an easy cop out, he is good in attack, but woeful defensively.

I do agree though, I thought Finn was shocking, and to me it has highlighted the fact that he has spent most of his career in the championship. I think we need an extra half back, to add to the competition and fast.

I also think we need to change, the wingers, I do agree that Johnstone isnt yet ready to play week in week out, just like Jowitt

Howard surprised me today, he was one of a few who played well. I disagree that our pack matched theirs we struggled to gain 10 meters where as they were achieving that easily. I think we missed Anderson and Simon (who is yet to feature), their forwards seemed much quicker and bigger than ours and literally bullied us for most part of the game Grant Millington and Andy Lynch were outstanding and laid a platform for the rest of the team. Ashurst was solid and A Tupou showed glimpses of what we are to be expecting from him.
Regarding Johnstone, yes he is one of our own however if he is selected when we next face Castleford him and Gibson need to communicate more and prevent passes down their left edge, they need to be in Solamonas face because lets face it Cas have two wingers that are very quick, good under the highball and can finish in some ridiculous fashion as well as being strong. I dont think B Tupou is a in a million years, IMO Joe Arundal should be picked when we play them in 3 week as he is solid in defense and also capable of helping out our forwards coming out of our half with his carries.
My 17 in 3 week if all fit would be:

BJB
Johnstone
Walton (Solid and strong in defence)
Arundal
Lyne/B Tupou
Miller
Finn
Scruton
Howarth
England
Ashurst
Kirmond
Arona

Moore (Moores strength is his aggresiveness in defence)
Sio (covering 9, and all backrow positions)
Anderson
Simon (Cover to front and backrow at a push)

A few players in at 18 are versatile and IMO would be better defensively and match Castleford better.

I dont recall the incident where he dropped a ball under no pressure, in fact just the opposite . Cas put up high kicks to him and challenged in the air, attempting to catch the ball high above their heads. Its very difficult to defend against as all the pressure is on the defender as it does not matter if the attacker fumbles it.
Its a very good tactic and created the first two tries for Cas, first one against Johnstone and the second BJB. Ironic really as these two players are both very good at doing the same thing, yet we dont seem to contest attacking kicks prefering instead to just make the tackle.