Has had a fantastic first spell so far. Seems to have really picked his game up recently and looks back to his best.

Great stuff. Sounds like Phelps is playing well again too?

Yeah he's taken a few difficult kicks in the swirling wind and is linking into the line really effectively. Lots of passing at pace from him and Turner which is good to see.

I now look forward to Dowes and Radders coming off the bench. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say.

Shockingly brilliant

would have scored under the sticks too if Big sam hadnt tried to bulldoze the fullback instead of passing,

Phelps was furious


Dowes is having a fine run of form, not one of his greatest fans, but fair play to the lad he stepping up to the mark, and he can only be applauded for this, same with Radders, good to see, and be proved wrong

Indeed, but a concern if giving them another contract will make them revert to being $41t/average again.

Oh i agree Standee, see how it goes with him, and would give him no more than a years contract, as you rightly point out, they both (more dowes than radders) have been very average in the past couple of seasons, but good to see they have upped their game this season

All four props in decent form right now - pretty solid front row IMO.

you bet!! as good as anyone in SL on current form, hame had a good spell too

Dowes was one of the few who had some fire in his belly, top drawer today. The lads who arent sure of their spots every week were our stand out players, Dowes, Radford, Luaki, Turner - some of the others attitudes were terrible.

For me the change in Dowes is he seems to have lost his 'niceness'.

Looks a lot more agrresive these days

I have noticed Dowes is trying to be light on his feet, hes not just hitting the line, hes spinning and stepping. I think he or someone in the coaching staff have realized hes not got the bulk to bend the line like Moa or Omealy. Its really working for the kid, hes pulling in 3 defenders every time and I think he is making as many yard as the other forwards, not as spectacular but just as effective. On this form hes worth another year without doubt. My MOM yesterday by a long way.

Thats a bit harsh. Care to name any players who in your opinion had a "terrible" attitude?

There were a couple of issues yesterday. One was we tried to be too expensive at times, resulting in Widnes intercepting ambitious passes (one of which ended up as a try).

The other was when certain decisions didn't go our way (Sculthorpes clear knock on from the 2nd half kick off, Turners dis-allowed try (still not sure why, I was about 10 yards away at ground level and it looked ok to me) and another knock on from a short kick off after Briscoe's 2nd try), our heads went down and we ended up conceeding tries.

Agae has been criticised for the brand of rugby in the past, so its not a surprise that when the result was not really in doubt we start flinging the ball a bit. Ensuring the players are fully focussed is where the work needs putting in.

However, its hardly "terrible"

I just thought a lot looked disinterested, and overall we were lethargic. Certainly Yeaman, Manu and Tickle were all way down on recent weeks. Thats down to a bad attitude in my opinion. Our line speed in defence was poor and the ease they scored their trys, especialy the first was terrible defense.

We won, thats the main thing.