I have played and watched rugby all my life and reckon I can judge the sport pretty well. Friday nights super league between Saints and Leeds was one of the best, most intense games I have seen for a long time. In contrast Sundays performance of Haven/Sheffield was like a bottom of League 2 table tussle. (Admittedly we are comparing full timers against part timers) and when I listen to the summary by John Cox and Dave Rotheram on radio Cumbria, they have obviously watched a different game to myself and all those dissatisfied fans that stand around me. ( don't get carried away by the score, they weren't playing anybody)The game was strewn with errors, we lacked a leader/playmaker we are continuing to play one man rugby where no one supports the player making a half break. We are so naive in the tackle, how many times do we see 3 haven players smothering an opponent in the tackle then easing up before the tackle has been called "held" only to see the ball being slipped, our sliding defence was found wanting but Sheffield weren't good enough to take advantage of it. On the way to Sundays match I was hoping to get some confidence that the first half of the season had all been a bad dream and we could compete with Widnes next weekend, but I am afraid there was nothing in that performance that showed any evidence of proffessionally coached rugby, they played as if they were strangers and nothing seemed rehearsed.
Call me mister doom and gloom but take a box of Kleenex to Blackpool ( I will be ) cos at this rate it will all end in tears. Finally Karl Sice was supposedly dropped for lack of form, that being the case why are Seeds or McAvoy not playing centre instead of the consistently unreliable Jackson. He leaks so many tries and bombs attacking opportunities by either knocking on or delaying passing till the gap has gone.
I'm sorry but as a team I think Dave Rotheram has succeeded in taking us back 5 years
