Balmforth great in attack scored two tries but I suspect it’s the defence and the ruck smith has an issue with.
Elsewhere thought Hodgson was the best on the park, Tindall up there with the worst.

Maybe Smith sees Balmforth's future at loose forward, especially with Hodgson coming through and impressing.

Ideally both have a future at the club, not just one of them.

Squad will be even weaker next year when Pearson reduces the playing budget even further

Tindall struggling for form judging him on todays performance.
Hodgson played well. Litten seemed to have a paddy when brought off.

It was hard to really gauge the performance given Giants were mainly made up of Academy players by all accounts.

Hodgson was easily the best player on the pitch, his distribution from 9 really is first rate.

Balmforth went well but like somebody else said he got caught out of the play on the floor a few times and you could see he was angry with this. His second try was him letting out some of the anger as he was just monstering through them.

The fact as Academy player in Ben Johnson was picked at 1 says a lot about where TS sees Littens future.

Our defense is bad in general so id take Balmforth missing a few tackles but actually doing something in attack. An aging Houghton will tackle all day but its getting us nowhere ultimately.

Ive not seen anything from Tindall so far.

Yet Smith continues to play Houghton who can defend but doesnt have an attack mode and poor ruck speed

Playing with fire if that happens, wont take much of a dropoff in pass sales for crowds to drop off and dip below the IMG 7.5k threshold. We are then solely relying on he stadium for good points as the 3 year performancss average will be dipping even further.

The fortunate thing is with Fev having money troubles and doubts about travel costs for Toulouse theres not a queue of strong applicants from the Championship.

I think that under the current IMG format our SL status is relatively safe. With or without an A-grade rating we are still, given our current circumstances, comfortably one of the top twelve clubs in the sport which keeps us within the elite.

My big worry would be if in, say two years time, a decision is made to abandon any ranking process and to go back to straightforward on the field promotion/relegation.
If, in that scenario, the promoted team turn out not to be the usual sacrificial lamb (such as Leigh last year) then we suddenly find ourselves in a straight fight with Cas/Salford/Leigh/whoever to avoid the drop. Having pruned the squad back to the bare bones, in the name of cost cutting, believing we were safe come what may, there then becomes a genuine chance of relegation for us rather than a theoretical one.

We all know what the sport is like for carrying out sudden U-turns at a whim. If we continue to go with ever weakening squads we will run the risk of being caught out by a sudden turn of events. Relegation would most likely see the end of the club in its current set-up. We are not equipped to survive outside the top flight.

A few years ago I would agree that Danny’s defence was great but Father Time has caught up with him and after 20mins he’s spent. Yet we still keep him out there instead of spelling him, so sadly his defence is not what it once was.

I see you guys are down to11th now of course it's all a part of the Tony Smith project.

Giants struggled against a enthusiastic London last week in the first half
Is there any chance we could be enthusiastic
Is that part of the culture ? To be enthusiastic ?

Giants decided to put London to the sword after a half time rollocking

Rovers took the foot off the gas last night as they did against us last week in the 2nd half

So we will find out if we have turned a small corner or if Smith has decided that it’s all irrelevant unless we win !

I assume he’s talking about the Culture being irrelevant unless they win !

And that is my point. If your only criterion is what happens on the pitch then fair enough. But if positive changes are happening behind the scenes ‘culturally’ to help us on the field for several years ahead then I have to support that. I don’t like being hammered every week but if I can rationalise it like I have then I won’t translate my angst into calling for Smiths head

Nowadays missed tackles result in tries so I reckon this coupled with fitness may be Smiths problem with Balmforth. Houghtons tackling has been vital to us over the years, his darts from dummy half too. He’s not James Roby but never get the criticism of Houghton as a player. He’s no captain though

It’s his passing from dummy half that gets me…he always takes a step and the defence is up…all the other hookers ping it from the ground and make sure we are on the front foot.

You've hit the nail on the head re current IMG format. Whether we like it or not it is the correct decision to focus on the club's financial stability as opposed to splashing cash we don't have on players that may / may not perform well. The current situation is hard to take but it will be well worth it if it results in a stable, sustainable club with a squad that has been "developed" rather than "bought" that is capable of competing. As you say, the sports administrators penchant for a sudden U turn is our biggest risk.

I don’t think it can be a fitness thing. The kid looks shredded he has really leaned off. It’s just his ruck control in defence.

I went for a walk yesterday, through the Walton street entrance, round the stadium, then over the unlocked walkway, I noticed to the left of the stadium, the astroturfing caged courtyard, looked a right mess, it looked like it’s just been left with no maintenance, don’t really know if this area is part of the Stadium control, or others responsibility, but it seems to fall in with the rest of the malaise at present, no money, no paint I suppose.

To the game this afternoon, Saturdays don’t sit well with me to be honest, I prefer a Friday night or a Sunday, just me I suppose, with all the goodwill and hope in the world, I would love a win today, against a team, assembled with pots of money, hope I’m wrong but can see Swifty and Jake relishing the chance to send us further, the slightest pressure we fold like balserwood cut outs, fearing the worst, hoping the best.

It's going to be a nightmare this afternoon for full backs.

Good job it's a kids a quid.

Reckon it would have been a record low crowd.

Game over lol.

Another cracking start and behind again well before 5 mins have even gone. We are just beyond .

My decision not to go so far looks the right choice unfortunately

Judging by the crowd I think many have chosen to give it a miss today.

Nice try from Sutcliffe let’s hope we might have finally woken up.

No coincidence we look better when our ptb is much quicker and sharper.