Given the fact that only 1 of the 3 players you mention played on Friday I really don't see your point.

I would rather run on to a up and under then wait to defuse it

Did you notice one of our tries came from a high kick

Only one of those players played last Friday. And it's not exactly unusual for wingers or FB to be bombed on the last tackle. We scored a try ourselves from a last tackle bomb in the same match.

You worry too much IMO.

I thought Raynor was pretty solid under the high ball?

Well if you can read then my point is there to be read !
To put it into simple terms for you IMO its clear to see we have the three afor mentioned players who are all obviously cack under the high ball.
Although only one of the three played against Wigan I just thought Wigan concentrated on the high ball against us instead of the low grubber.
Just a thought but it got me thinking teams are maybe going to target us in this area knowing we struggle under the bomb as both tries showed the other night.
Like I said its just a thought and maybe I will be wrong. I was merley asking if they practiced these kind of things in training and if not why not !

True !

They are practiced and in fact they are practiced on the pitch prior to the majority of games (if not all), unfortunately it is nigh impossible to replicate match conditions in these practices.

Oh and apart from the early season last year Motu was pretty safe under the high ball.

I agree with KT and I hope they prove my doubts to be wrong but IMO if I can see a weakness in our team it would be this !

So mote it be !

Its not just Wigan who put the high kick up just about every team does" it if it come off" it come off ..I like to bet we do it more on the last tackle

I have to agree with you there, after seeing the try again on TV it was just one of those 'spot on' plays.

SPOT ON!
End of Story!

It's not a case of not being able to catch a ball, they all can with feet firmly on the ground, it's the inability to jump and catch were the problem lies.

Nowt gets past you mate! You tactical genius you.



Unfortunately there isn't a great deal more we can do, other than asking the centres to offer more protection and the wingers to jump higher.

Doesn;t help the players when no pressure is put on the kicker. Smith had an age to set up the Richards try and also an age to kick when Calderwood tackled Richards to stop a try.
If no pressure is put on the kick it makes their accuracy so much better and the job of the defender is increased tenfold.

He is! He's just not very tall so he often gets out jumped by taller players. Recently he's started leaving some bombs to the attacker and then tackling them as soon as they hit the floor, a good tactic for a smaller winger.

I am not aware of any player, let alone any winger who can jump from a standing start (due to the accuracy of the kick they are defending) to win the ball from an on rushing attacker the majority of the time.

This is a weakness for every team and the reason the high kick is so successful for all teams.

I wouldn't be overtly worried, its just one of those things.

Its always a bit of a lottery when a kick goes to the corner, which is why its a good tactic, even if you don't score you can often get another set of 6.

Its every teams problem and not just ours.

thats what i thought!

Thats the thing, 9 timesout of 10 the defending winger is flat footed and on his own try line, where as the attacking winger has a 10m or more run up and leap.

It is down to his centre/second row to try and combat the attacking wingers run and give himsome form of protection, but the thing they are weary of is leaving the man they are marking in case there is a pat back.

Agree we need to put more pressure on the kickers though, buti suppose the thing this highlights is it was the only way Wigan could break us down all night !!

Indeed , We must have put more bombs up last Friday than the whole of last season.

Spot on.

Hes one big unit Richards.

Raynor isnt bad under the high ball...

spot on.

We could turn the corners of the pitch up a bit like they do at Bradford so our wingers start their jump from a bit higher than the opposition.

Sorted...

Its not that big of a deal except for when you play Wigan as Richards is just a freak and basically a Aussie Rules player on a rugby pitch and all you can do is let him catch the ball and hope you can stop him putting it down like Calderwood did in the 1st half.

The fact Tim Smith is 1 of the best kickers in the world makes it even more difficult