[quote="Big lads mate":161rlmah]The only thing between the teams way that doylam with the whistle, amazes me their interpretation of the game[/quote:161rlmah] Don't want to ref bash, but he made some shocking decisions..... Anyone remember the Kelepi tackled without the ball in the in-goal at Wire and he just played on??

[quote="burtonsrlfc":3c62mjpd]First time that I can remember, coming away from a game delighted with the team performance, albeit miserable that we lost. Effort and skill all 100%. Special mention yet again to Mike who just isn't human with the mins and workrate he produces![/quote:3c62mjpd] For me, McMeeken is the difference. With him playing 70/80 mins a game in the front row it’s essentially like having 2 international quality players in the team. How long he can do it for, I don’t really know. When Rodwell and Atoni are back that’ll take the pressure off him hopefully but he’s unreal is the lad. Genuinely international class who if he carries on playing like this will walk into the test team against the Aussies later in the year.

[quote="Trojan Horse":2rz0s08b]Exactly, a lucky bounce off a crossbar was the difference. I said as soon as the ball was passed to Max it should have gone left to Russell. Max was under all sorted of pressure to get that kick away. But you know what. The players should all be praised after that. We will beat many teams playing like that this season. Keep it up because it’s working.[/quote:2rz0s08b] That small centre of ours didn’t look bad against Gildart did he

I got that lost in the game and the way we were playing last night, I actually forgot the players that we were missing. What is really pleasing is no matter who is on the field, we are playing very much the same, perhaps not as clinical and definitely miss a bit of punch in the front row but it`s a sign of a very well coached side and more so a sign of quality outside of our first choice 17. Years gone by, if we were missing 7 or 8 first team players, we would be getting well beat by most sides. I can`t help but think if we were as close to KR were to full strength last night, we would have been a good 10 points better than them. On a side note, how good are we to watch with the ball?

I went into the game and with the players missing that we had I was hoping that we would give it our best and keep the score respectable but came away thinking we could have won that, regarding Hargreaves, what a waste of money he’s proved so far, I’m 64 and could make more yards, they should have kept Storton, what a signing he’s been, outstanding

I was unsure how dropping into the Championship would be for us but it's really improved our expansive rugby. Our movement of the ball along the line has been superb so far.

[quote="Pat Bateman":1mv8pcop]That small centre of ours didn’t look bad against Gildart did he [/quote:1mv8pcop] I’m glad you’ve finally jumped fully on board the Oli Pratt Train. Lads a real talent.

https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/new ... ngs-988083

https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/new ... ngs-988083

[quote="Butcher":2fw0hp1n]Gutted. I thought the scoreline was a fair reflection of the game, but wondered if we might just nick it at the end. Rovers defended really well and found a way to win, but we can learn a lot from that. Some impressions from the game (not conclusions about players, before anyone jumps on): Jowitt really is top drawer - potentially international class. Just thinking about a thread on here with @AnotherCasFan, in which they were sure Niall Evalds was a better player than Jowitt. You only have to put them against each other like tonight to see the difference. If Reece Walsh had thrown that ball to Johnstone you'd never hear the end of it. And what did Evalds do on the ball? Where was he during Oli Pratt's try? Jowitt was fantastic start to finish, barring a wayward kick. But he's got enough credit with me to miss a few of those. Walmsley isn't physically strong enough. He made some great runs in the second half, but if there's ever a body in front of him he gets whacked then dragged backwards. He's a superb finisher and drier weather will suit his game better, but so much of Super League is grunt and 'arm wrestling', and he just physically isn't powerful enough. What an athlete Oli Pratt is. The kind of player you look forward to watching each week. Caused them problems all night. Hall did Hall things but was apparently chucking up in the toilets at half time. Not much to learn about TJ is there. They contained him to making hit ups all night, aside from his try which he took well. Lino needs Trueman. He defended well tonight and he looked okay on the ball, but his kicking just wasn't good enough. On that showing, Olly Russell isn't up to it. He looked just like he did at Huddersfield - steady and toothless. Plus a couple of daft moments in the first half - a ball steal and a dead ball kick - that put us under pressure. I haven't written him off after one competitive game, but we need better than that. McMeeken and Pitts worked their s off again. Look forward to seeing the stats again, but they're carrying our middle so far. Doyle was steady. Defended well, passed accurately, didn't make any mistakes, but also never threatened Hull KR, who had two very threatening hookers in their team. Uele did okay but definitely won't be skittling defenders like he did in the championship. Quick play the balls though. Storton took some monster carries in the second half. Honestly barely noticed Croft. Didn't do anything wrong, and I know a lot of fans really love him but for me he's just filling a gap at the moment. Thought Vagana went okay. Still too slow to retreat and a few gaps opened up around him which fast teams will punish, especially in summer. Similar for Faatili. He's got plenty of potential but let's be honest, at this level he's not going to replicate what we've seen on his highlights reel. Harvey Smith looked good out of dummy half, but I'd like to see him use his speed and run more. There were a couple of chances for him to do that but he played it safe and passed to first receiver. I also don't think he won one collision in defence and that worries me. Overall that didn't feel like our game to lose. We're down on troops and still staying all the way with proven Super League teams, and that's what good teams do. We'll be alright, but we need a rest and a handful of our starting side back fit. After that we'll be grand. More confident next Saturday.[/quote:2fw0hp1n] I agree that Jowitt has looked really good in his first two games , and was better than Evalds yesterday . However , at the time of writing Evalds was a proven SL FB , Jowitt had performed well at SL level but not to the standards we have seen from Evalds in the past . That said , if he continues to improve then he will be right up there with the best of them , but it is still early days . Perhaps I didn't give him the recognition he deserves , and although I don't think you can judge someone on a season in the Championship , he has certainly improved considerably and looks the real deal at the moment . Good luck to him in the future (except against Cas of course )

PS , his pass to send Johnstone in for your first try was sublime

Watched it back on tv now. So many players had great moments in the game. I think it's the thing Powell mentioned, that we are a good team. As a team we kept supporting each other. It wasn't without mistakes but every time it happened someone popped up to support. Add to that the slickness of the passing when we were attacking and the fact that we had a number of 'next player up' players in the team, Powell has built a really tight unit of players. That will stand us in good stead for tougher days. Individually Jowitt was mostly outstanding. His pass for Johnstone was world class in my opinion. His tackle to stop Burgess was outstanding too. His drop out for Tom and his fielding of the kick where he had his foot over the line really shows his Super League quality. Shame he couldn't keep hold of Lewis for the try and the kick out on the full. Pratt really showed his skills. It hasn't been mentioned but he was playing on the right rather than his usual left. Many can't actually do that. He did it and looked outstanding. Sky will be talking about him every game now. Walmsley needs to work out how to get available for a pass when he makes those half breaks if he stays on the right. Pitts made 50 tackles and only missed 1. That alone is outstanding but his leadership on the field can't be underestimated. I like the Croft/Vagana split too. Croft does a lot of hard work and then Vagana comes on and really shook them around when he was hitting the line. McMeekan playing 80 minutes is ridiculous in today's game. He was good value when others would be getting tired but it will be good when Atoni and Rodwell come back to ease the strain.

[quote="PopTart":qk8emuf6]McMeekan playing 80 minutes is ridiculous in today's game. He was good value when others would be getting tired but it will be good when Atoni and Rodwell come back to ease the strain.[/quote:qk8emuf6] It will be interesting to see how DP handles McMeekan when we get some forwards back like you say. I’d love him on the field for the full 80 for his leadership and influence every game but it just isn’t going to happen. Personally I’d play him for the first and last 30mins of the game so he gets a decent break at half time and comes on firing till the finish! Seriously looking forward to getting some of the big guns and strike players back to see how get on.

On Walmsley I slightly change my mind. We definitely benefit from Russell getting us off the line but no one was able to do that today. Walmsley still got over 100 metres when he didn't actually get a run in open play. He doesn't get post contact metres like Russell but he gets to the line fast. He also made a potential try saver on Lewis when he was away. So lots to work on but he did OK in a tough game.

[quote="Another Cas Fan":3qka96hw]I agree that Jowitt has looked really good in his first two games , and was better than Evalds yesterday . However , at the time of writing Evalds was a proven SL FB , Jowitt had performed well at SL level but not to the standards we have seen from Evalds in the past . That said , if he continues to improve then he will be right up there with the best of them , but it is still early days . Perhaps I didn't give him the recognition he deserves , and although I don't think you can judge someone on a season in the Championship , he has certainly improved considerably and looks the real deal at the moment . Good luck to him in the future (except against Cas of course )[/quote:3qka96hw] Classy reply, fair play to you

[quote="PopTart":373d5346]On Walmsley I slightly change my mind. We definitely benefit from Russell getting us off the line but no one was able to do that today. Walmsley still got over 100 metres when he didn't actually get a run in open play. He doesn't get post contact metres like Russell but he gets to the line fast. He also made a potential try saver on Lewis when he was away. So lots to work on but he did OK in a tough game.[/quote:373d5346] I like Walmsley and want him to thrive. He might be an all round better winger than Matty Russell. Would Russell have made that ankle tap? Maybe not. But at this stage in the season, when teams are fit and switched on, and it’s damp and cold, you need someone who can punch their nose through and find their front quickly to swing momentum in your favour. It’s unusual, but we might see Powell picking his wingers based on the conditions and the opposition, which would be a real luxury.

[quote="Big lads mate":25erz7ur]I went into the game and with the players missing that we had I was hoping that we would give it our best and keep the score respectable but came away thinking we could have won that, regarding Hargreaves, what a waste of money he’s proved so far,[color=#FF0000:25erz7ur] I’m 64 and could make more yards[/color:25erz7ur], they should have kept Storton, what a signing he’s been, outstanding[/quote:25erz7ur] Jeez, he's not [i:25erz7ur]that [/i:25erz7ur]bad...... Oh, and I'd ask for a re-count re your age too sunshine....

Great night and a very good performance. At times I found myself just wondering, what has happened at my club?! Think Max will be disappointed with his attempt on Lewis and it his one on one defence is still an area that needs to improve if he is going to kick on to the next level. Going forward though and his organisational play looks very good. In regards Walmsley I think he went ok, he does get dominated in contact which slows the play the ball down but he does cover ground quickly to make the pre contact metres. With him being long limbed and awkward it’s going to be very difficult to improve on that contact issue without significantly bulking him up. I’m loving what McMeeken has brought to our team. His presence and leadership are as important as his on field ability. Looking forward to Saints next week.

I said in an earlier post that it shows how far we've come in the last 18 months when I'm gutted that we didn't turn over the second best team in Super League last season . However what struck me more than anything was just how as a club we look the real deal going forward , it felt on Thursday evening that we are a big Rugby League club ready to compete at the highest level in the comp . I don't mean that in an entitled Rhinos way , I mean that we will compete for the silverware but with our own unique identity and I can see the club growing even more whilst retaining that unique identity we have . I believe we have one of the most iconic sporting names in British sport , you could dispense with Wakefield and still everyone would know who Trinity are and what sport we play . With our original founding membership of the Rugby League , our history , Belle Vue and are iconic name we are hugely marketable in the modern era who sit right in the heart of Rugby League land . Whether we like IMG or not and it's controversial there's no doubt that we are also testament to it given the huge improvements at the club off the field . This club is going places and you know what , the vast majority of us believe it is rather than simply hope as in the past .

[quote="BarnsleyGull":12e4vsav]Jeez, he's not [i:12e4vsav]that [/i:12e4vsav]bad...... Oh, and I'd ask for a re-count re your age too sunshine.... [/quote:12e4vsav]

Whilst a win would have been brilliant on Thursday evening, I can honestly say that is probably the first time I have come away from Belle Vue having lost and not feeling disappointed. To say we had half our first choice players missing due to either injury or illness, the players that came in certainly stepped up and pushed Hull KR all the way and with a bit more luck could quite easily have won that game. Before the game kicked off I looked around at the stadium and just thought how far we have come in such a short period of time compared to where we were 3 years ago....a magnificent new East Stand, new pitch, new floodlights, new screen (with another one to come), new terracing in both North and South stands, new changing rooms, 1st class facilities for the players and supporters, new function and bar areas and, on Thursday night it was all on show for a capacity crowd of 8000 fans.....somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming

[quote="FIL":20cjttxq]Whilst a win would have been brilliant on Thursday evening, I can honestly say that is probably the first time I have come away from Belle Vue having lost and not feeling disappointed. :[/quote:20cjttxq] I'm with you 99% of the way but I do think that final kick from Lino just took the gloss off the evening.

Couldn't agree more FIL

[quote="Wollo-Wollo-Wollo-Wayoo":rddzx6ka]I'm with you 99% of the way but I do think that final kick from Lino just took the gloss off the evening.[/quote:rddzx6ka] That kick resulted from the missed conversion because if we had levelled the points then we would only need to set up for a one point attempt. I actually have no problem with the missed conversion it was not easy but I suppose any chance to prejudice a player you appear to not like for some reason only you have a rational for.

[quote="Wollo-Wollo-Wollo-Wayoo":1z7bni8y]I'm with you 99% of the way but I do think that final kick from Lino just took the gloss off the evening.[/quote:1z7bni8y] There was no glass taken off the evening imo. I'm proud of everyone of the players who took part in that game. There was no weak link and like others have said we may have been defeated but there were so many positives to take from that game and I reckon DP will be the happier of the two coaches.

[quote="Scarlet Pimpernell":2rbo52al]That kick resulted from the missed conversion because if we had levelled the points then we would only need to set up for a one point attempt. I actually have no problem with the missed conversion it was not easy[u:2rbo52al] but I suppose any chance to prejudice a player you appear to not like for some reason only you have a rational for[/u:2rbo52al].[/quote:2rbo52al] Hope his memory doesn't extend to the length of his bitterness towards Lino as it did against Scott Grix after his error against St Helens.