Leeds scored after about 4 minutes, would prove they aren't that slow don't you think?

Likewise. He did pretty well on the odd occasion we played him at 6 as well.

just let it go FFS and on the game i was pleased with the forwards thats been our downfall for the last few seasons and welham cost us the game in my opinion bad decision not to pass at a important time

Not really, just that rovers were slower. Sounds like leeds were pretty rubbish last night and still won. They'd have probably lost to a top side

Why? I was just showing chadders that his logic was flawed

Probably so good thing Wigan, Wire and Saints are otherwise occupied this weekend

Indeed, but they rarely put the top sides against each other 1st game up

Obviously you've used your fc back catalogue of the last ten games against Leeds to advise us on how to beat them

Con always fancied himself as a 5/8, and it's a Knights thing that playmakers spend a lot of time working on 20 and 30 metre passes - watch Scotty Dureau for instance - but a couple of guys named Ryan Stig and Jono Ford were team mates of Mika and those guys can drill a 30 metre pass in their sleep (Jono is halfback for the Cook Islands and Newtown - 'the Stig' is second choice halfback for the Knights).

Is it only 10?

Anyway, chapter 1 in the richard agar guide to coaching is "whatever you do, make sure you lose to the bosses team"

Never ceases to amaze me how poor the passing skills are of seasoned pro who earn significant sums for playing rugby

My take on the game is we were very competetive for most of the game, showed some good passages of play and our forwards were on top for long periods in the first half and with a bit more composure (which should come after a few games of playing as a team) we could have scored a few more. Regarding the penalty count, leeds did hold down as long as what we did, it just looked neater and less of a struggle than some of ours so more unlikely to get penalised.
What bugged me about bentham was his eagerness to stop the clock and hurry up our drop outs but allowed brent webb to throw the ball away and wait 30 seconds before stopping the clock, while also things he pulled up as knock on's in the wigan friendly were ok in a super league game.

He didn't affect the winners as leeds proably edged it over 80 mins but I feel 18 points flattered. My view of leeds is they looked a better team when Peacock was off the pitch and Burrow looked sharp but think a few more teams will attack there right side this year. Good game to watch, both teams will go well this year if that was anything to go by and the game as a whole does not deserve Bentham been the main talking point.

It will be interesting if hall continues to impress at 6, when green comes back, would sandercock consider dropping murrell and playing hall/green at 6 and 13 as this could be one way of getting the best out of both players however that appears to be a long way in the future so onwards to Wakefield and feel that we should avenge last years defeat after watching there game back on sky.

Green at 13 would work well IMO if Hall is doing the business at 6 but your right, it looks a long way off before we come across that scenario.

We played well, I was impressed with the speed in which we shifted it around and the sliding defence has improved greatly. Bentham was inconstant in his decisions and played to the home crowd at times (it happens at times), which an experienced top ref should not fall for. One thing I did notice, when we defended the west terrace end we were given a tap 20m restart and the ball was thrown to Welham to take a quick tap, Bentham shout 'wait' and WALKED back into position giving the Leeds defenders ample time to line up, but when the roles reversed he was like a greyhound out of a trap and allowed Leeds to get a quick tap in and make some good meters.

All in all, if the penalty count had been the other way I am sure we would have edged them.

Let's be honest, we've all gone to a SKY game and come away convinced that the ref was massively against us, only to see that maybe tehy weren't when we watch teh game back the next day

Stuck together two images as it panned the crowd at the end of the game. Well done to everyone who made the journey. At this point as I remember many people had left on the hooter. So their was even more at the game

Many a true word spoken in jest. When your chairperson rolls up in a car with R1NO on the number plate,you know what you are up against.

Just seen the highlights on super league full time. I was pretty certain that Watkins first try came off the back of an obstruction and now after seeing it on tv it definitely looks obstruction to me. We was in control of the game and leading at this point so it was a bit of a game changer.
Wasn't Bentham the ref on saturday night who disallowed a Salford try for obstruction as well?

It was defo obstruction but suppose it either goes for u or it doesn't was disappointed with a few of bent Benthams decisions.

That's exactly what I've been thinking - I was sat right in front of that Watkins "try" and even Leeds fans behind us said it was crossing. Then whilst watching Bentham disallow Holdsworth's try was further proof in the pudding that the guy shouldn't be refereeing our games.

I'm not going to any away games he is refereeing from now on because it's the same old story where Mr Bentham is involved.

Dont blame u cos we feel the same

Well done to Leeds though for playing for 80 minutes. We need to learn to do the same.

Just watched the highlights and thought your ball movement was good with lots of runners causing the defence issues. To beat the top sides regularly you'll need to start finishing some of those moves off directly - the two first half tries from close to the line shouldn't have been scored as they were down to really poor defence from Leeds - and get your own defence a bit tighter.

so ok what are persons overall views on the first game, things will get better im sure.

Didn't the first game used to be a repeat of the GF most years?