Smith was really good today, close call between him, Lawton and Hatton for man of the match imo.
Smith was really good today, close call between him, Lawton and Hatton for man of the match imo.
Smith has been really good all season MT just some who put everyone down. With a bit of luck they are now gone so some players can now get the recognition they deserve especially Smith and Lawton👍👍
In all fairness it is hard to argue that he (or many of the other player) were really good when we were losing at home to Dewsbury or being tonked at Batley. Though I would agree that Smith and Lawton were unfairly singled out by some fans at a time when the team was underperforming. It reflects well on the players and the coach that our form has improved so markedly.
Great win today congratulations to all the team.
I think today’s result shows the error in coming back to training later than other squads
Having spoken to certain players I believe we returned to training 5 weeks later than some. Wether this was due to Halton refusing to open the stadium or the board saving funds by using furlough, or indeed some other reason is open for debate
i think it’s clear though if this is true the games we lost early on in the season due to lack of fitness could and should have been a different result. Newcastle a case in point
oh what might have been
Excellent Result Today . Congratulations To The Team And Everyone Connected With The Club . The Coach Seems To Have Hit On The Right Combinations , Smith Would Be The First To Admit He Was Well Off The Pace Earlier In The Year ( Could Have A Lot To Do With What A Previous Post Mentioned About Going Back To Training Later Than Other Clubs ) But Now The Team And Smith Especially Seem To Take To The Field With A Confidence Which We Weren't Showing Before . The Kid Hatton Has Really Worked On His Game To Cement His Place In The Team As Have A Number Of Others . Absolutely Made Up To Be Celebrating A Win At Bradford Because From Memory We Haven't Won Very Often There Have We
Great team performance today - to a man. Although they were a different proposition without Brough that I am sure they would have been. However, Odsal away has always been a tough fixture for our club and for that reason it had to be a great team display today. For all the organising of the team by SMITH, the cutting edge provided by LAWTON and OWENS, the dogged endurance of the hard yards by CLOUGH and COOK, I thought today worthy of a special mention were TYRER, CROSS and HATTON in particular in the way they ran the ball back from endless sets of kick pressure once again by a heavy penalty count against us. They powered the ball back from our own 10 time and time again to great effect relieving the hard working and rotating forwards, who were thin on the ground again with GRADY and FARNWORTH missing. A great team effort and fabulous work ethic for each other - a hallmark of our coaches playing days.....great to watch again - at last! They are improving as a team week on week. Well done to all.
For me, Tyrer is the only player that even during those first few weeks could hold his head up. He’s been outstanding for me even more so since our turn of form
Actually, thought ELSE had a great game - and got us on the way.......well done Lewis, too. He looks very nippy and a handful at the ruck.
Couldn't give a monkey's about Brough missing, who's to say we wouldn't have won anyway ?
Excellent performance from all the team. It’s always very hard to win at Bradford, especially when they have won 7 on the run up to a fortnight ago, they had also had a weeks rest ahead of this game. We also won while using just 15 players, as the 2 back subs weren’t used.
A great win. We played the ridiculous pitch far better than Bradford, which is poor on their part given it's their home ground. It was far too narrow, in-goal was virtually non-existent, and it basically meant nothing could really be done on the last tackle.
The narrow pitch suited us as it meant we could minimise the work required by forwards by getting the outside backs involved more. To win this game without O'Neill (Tomkins), Farnworth, Grady & Spedding who would all be in the first choice starting 17 is a great boost.
Hatton had his best game in a Widnes shirt. Smith has been great since switching to 13. Thought it was a really workmanlike, well managed, and confident win.
Massive game against Halifax next week. Shame they sneaked past Batley, as we'd have been right on their tail.
What was the damage to Craven?
An excellent result yesterday, especially with the number of players missing. The Halifax game will be harder, but with a full squad available (excluding the long-term injured) and O'Neill and maybe Doro back, another Yorkshire win is possible.
It is great that we are talking about making the play-offs, but not sure we can do it if we continue having to put two non-playing backs on the bench. We are probably another couple of injuries away from more embarrassing results.
Of the remaining 11 games, 6 are against teams currently above us in the league (Halifax -A, Featherstone - H, London - A, Batley - H, Halifax - H and Bradford - H) and the other 5 games against York - A, Dewsbury - A, Whitehaven - A, Oldham - H and Swinton - A.
I would say that on current form, all are winnable, with the exception of possibly the Featherstone game, but this very much depends on having the key players available. The two Halifax games may be the key games for us.
I just hope that we can continue the current form for the remainder of the season - and look forward to some decent crowds for the home games after lock-down. I think the first home game when hopefully the crowd restrictions will be lifted, is against Batley on 1 August.
