rotheram

[cumbria 1]

dose any one else feel like the team has gone backwards in the last 2years. It was only 2years ago we were unbeatable at home we were the only team to take points off hudersfield when they went  up we drew with salford aswell beat castleford. But this year we have been beaten at home buy three sides in are league and drew with barrow.  Maybe in the play offs we could change the game plan because if we carnt beat these teams at home we have no chance away or on a neutral ground. Maybe dave could drop the 5 drives and a kick game plan and give us a chance in the playoffs

[haven lad 06]

could it not just be that the other teams are better than us (i know leigh arent but we have a few dodgy results every season)

[Bora18]

obviously weve went backwards over the past two years, but as already stated the standard of the league has went up during this time. Lets face it Rotherham hasnt got the best players to work with, still a cracking team tho!!!

[Full80mins]

There's been no structure to our play for most of the season and there's only one man that can be blamed for that.
Why does it take three tackles for our forwards to get back?
They seem happy just to walk back and leave it to the backs.

[Bkenz92]

We have went back but with a few meant retiring at the end of the season i think Dave can get us some great replacements i would give him one season 

[Fomerly of Northumbria Uni Haven]

We overachieved in the last two years of Steve Mc's reign, and I think some supporters need a reality check with the current size of the club, we are third in the league but we are at best the fifth biggest club

This is a much better team than the one that drew with Huddersfield though, when we could hardly win an away game, didn't we get beat by Huddersfield by a cricket score in the same season

[cbandg01]

We are over achieving for the size of club we actually are.

We have not (apart from Blackpool final) been taken to the cleaners by anyone this year. Even the Castleford away defeat was more close run than the score suggests.

We have been able to pick up 5 bonus points in our defeats, two from Widnes and one from Castleford.

We have beated Halifax (fourth best team in the league) four times on the bounce this year and because of this we're entitled to have their team on our mantlepiece as trophies. This alone means we are far and away better the teams below us and not too far behind Widnes and Castleford .... a tribute to our seasons achievement.

Two poor defeats (Leigh and Doncaster) shouldn't have happened......... but sh*t does happen on occasions in any walk of life.

As for tacklers walking back .... while backs take the ball up ............ that's not unusual and happens in SL too, and as your refering to the forwards in this sense then what do you expect of them on occasions, their part-timers, not supermen.

Finally, five tackles and a kick is also a valid tactic, as it plays to our strength (forwards), keeps the defense tight and pressurises the opposition into making mistakes.  If we opened the game up more looking for the likes of Calvert chipping in with wide running tries we would invite counter attack and would get slaughtered by the better teams in the league.

Finally, all the above means the team and Dave Rotherham are doing a fine job on our behalf.

[haven lad 06]

i agree with everything you say up until the 5 drives and a kick you say this is the reason that we dont get slaughtered by the bigger teams it is also the reason we havent beaten cas or widnes this season thei defences are just too good for us to score more than them by simply trying to barge our way past and also if it is playing to our forwards then why the hell are our backs taking 3 out of the 5 drives? its all well and good saying "oh the forwards are part time" but that is our excuse for everything, when we dont play well "oh we are part time we cant play well all the time" when cas or widnes beat us "you lot are full time we arent" i wouldnt be too bothered if it was once or twice in a game to give the forwards a little rest but its every time the opposition puts a kick through its broadbent with a drive then calvert either runs straight and get crunched or runs sideways then maden tkes a ball up then broadbent might have another go and then a forward. no wonder we just do 5 drives in the opposition half the backs are to nackered to put any moves on

[popularsider]

i would like to see from scrums carl rudd or leroy kick for craig calvert

if he doesnt get the ball he will tackle the man down field putting pressure on the opposing team

if a team gets wise to it they drop a man back wich then creates an overlap for our attacking line

[haven lad 06]

exactly we used to do it but dont even look like we think about it now

[cbandg01]

Rugby has to be a percentage game.
Kicking for Calvert and looking for him to chase through and score tries / make deep defensive tackles is risky and potentially gives the ball to the opposition in an open play/ broken play situation.
Open or broken play situations are the nightmare senario for most RL teams. About 80 % of the time they finish up with the ball holding team taking some form of advantage (a try or massive gains in yardage).
Calverts tackling is weak to say the least. The only kick through option (generally) is for Sice, who does create havoc in defensive lines when HE kicks through .... because he is quick and a far far better tackler than Calvert.. Unfortunatly Carl is an impact player, and isn't on the field all of the time. Additionally he isn't the best at anticipating through kicks, but does wonderfully well when he kicks through for himself to chase (e.g the Widnes game on Sunday last).
The real attacking answer for 'haven and most teams is a fast and joined up half back pairing.
We have one half of that partnership .... Duffy  .... but need the stand-off to go with him.
I think Leroy presently is the better partner to Duffers, with Rudd at Loose Fwd. ....... but next year we need a new standoff to Duffy, with Leroy coming on as an impact player (if he stays signed on).
Halfbacks are the key answer to the problem, presently we don't have the pairing to score more trys.
Don't be too critical of the five drives and a kick tactic ...... it''s the safest option while we don't have the correct halfback pairing.
reading recent posts, (players expected to come in next year ... if true) ... seems to suggest DR / BOD see it my way too.

[popularsider]

got to disagree

look at warrington from scrums all they do now is kick for kevin penny because they now how quick he is, he also has the advantage as a defender would have to turn around, if penny doesnt get to the ball he tackles the man he is not the strongest defender either like calvert but he seems to make the tackles and i think craig calvert would aswell, we need to start playing to calverts advantage his speed i dont think anyone in this league is as quick as craig lets try it and see what happens if it fails well we tried it didnt work idea goes out the window but lets atleast try it

[cbandg01]

Try it on Thursday and see what happens.

If we get beat then so what ......... watch this site then ........ DR MUST GO etc. etc. will be all over the place.

It's an option we could use more often, but look at Calvert when he does get chances to run .... unless you can get a Cumberland bus sideways through the gap that's presented to him he 'crabs' sideways making no ground  OR the opposition grabs him while he's making up his mind and tosses him into touch.

He is accepeted throughout NL1 as being a weak link in our team. ........now you want to use him as a key strike force....... I don;t think so.

Calvert IS improving but I still get the colly wobbles whenever he has to field a ball / make a tackle and VERY frustrated when he can't commit to a gap and use his speed to put defenders on the back foot.

[popularsider]

give him space he wil score tries fact

name someone in nl1 quicker than calvert somone who could give him a 10 metre head start at catch him?

we need to kick for him more often

[Full80mins]

He's definitely a weak link in defence, but in attack should be our most potent weapon.
If we played to his strengths, then his positives would far outweigh his negatives.
But then, that's a big IF.

To me, we should keep on kicking the ball down field from a scrum on our line until the opposition drop someone back for it.
Then we exploit the overlap that has been created.

Then again, that would be some type of tactic.......

I've said ever since the days of Les Quirk that we should kick from a scrum on our line.
Very occasionally, it may backfire, but more often than not, we would benefit.