Did Whiting play?.

Have to agree, a group of us said last night that we really have missed Calderwood and if he leaves at the end of the season (due to injury) we are going to struggle to find someone to replace him.

Likewise. He's a very good player with a top attitude. If he is leaving, I'll be sorry to see the back of him.

Thought he was a good signing when he came, real shame about his injurys.

I thought whiting shared the fb and so rolls with tansey, with tansey doing the harder aspects of both parts.

I have to say, I don't think it was such a good idea to keep switching them. We won the game, so it's hard to be too critical, but Tansey dropped a couple of high balls at key moments and put us under pressure. Whiting, I think, is better under the high ball, better in defence (his nightmare tackle on Newton aside), and returns the ball stronger from a long kick. Tansey obviously excels in the attacking parts of the FB role, but when he's playing halfback, I'd prefer to see Whiting at the back all the time.

One thing I don't get is why when he did make the howler, we didn't get a scrum, no advantage was played from the knock-on by the Rovers player (Briscoe I think)

That's the issue, he just keeps picking up injuries.

In terms of performances he always adds so much to our game through his enthusiasm, okay he bombed a try but he helped set up two others.

I really though the try he bombed was going to cost us but the kick for Berro's try was sublime and he was great in defence.

If his hamstring has gone again I think that might be the last we see of him in a Hull shirt.

It was great to see him again last night and he plays with a smile on his face. Yes he coughed a glaring try, but that aside he was involved throughout. Such a shame about his injuries, I like the bloke and he adds more variety (and laughter - it's a bit like watching the keystone Cops sometimes!)

Made himself look a muppet with that miss but redeemed himself 100% and more


A quality player who seems to still have the enthusiasm and team spirit to stay in our side for a good few years yet with an injury free run.
Will be sorry to see him go if true but after last night and the amount of service he got (did he get a pass?) i can't see any replacement doing a better job.

Imagine how many he'd get in a season if had someone like Gidley inside him.

You hit the nail on the head there though. There's been much talk about recruiting a top class winger but I think the money would be wasted as our wingers seldom find themselves in an attacking position to use their skill.

True. Our wingers see most of the ball when they are running it out of defence on the first or second tackle.

Yeah - but as a coach you change your tactics depending on the personnel you have.

If we had a top class winger on either side, i reckon we'd see the ball thrown out there more.
Keep Briscoe on 1 side, and maybe invest in a another pace merchant like the guy from Huddersfield or even peter fox (he's quick!)

Im not saying we 'should' buy those guys - but we need some pace on either flank.
And if we get that - we change our tactics.

Our current GB winger isn't 'top class' enough for you?

I don't think we would, we're simply not capable.

singular......we have 2 wingers, when BOTH become top class, then it'll change the nature of the play!

Your saying our style of play is based on who is playing on the wings? Really?

Doesn't make sense. If it were the case that we weren't throwing the ball wide because we didn't have two top class wingers, surely we'd throw the ball wide to Briscoe's side all the more.

Collectively I think our group of wingers Briscoe,Calderwood,Lyne,Hall and Tuffour as a unit not as individuals would match any other team's for overall speed it's not their fault they don't get utilised.

well youve just shown how much you know about the dynamics of tactical play.
If im Justin Morgan, and i know Tom Briscoe is a real threat, i would ensure that the threat is snuffed out early. You neatralise the opposition threat early.
With this in mind - Agar would be an idiot to try and play through Briscoe.
Thats just common sense and good tactical observation.

Now - if we had a threat on both sides of equal magnitude, the oppo would have split attention, be more strung out, hence opening up gaps in their defensive line!

Simples.

How is he stopping the threat of Briscoe?

Through whatever tactic he employs! But it'd be a prominent tactic and a real area of focus.

Such as? C'mon its supposedly "simples" so give me an example of how Morgan went about snuffing out the threat of Briscoe and how this wouldn't have been so effective if we had the same threat on both wings.

I think you'll find the thing that is 'simples' is Northern Star.