I don't wish an injury on any player from either team.I don't care if we are playing St Helens or Thatto Heath,it's a game we could do without,in my opinion.That said,I hope we go well and get plenty of positives from it.
A few things, it's only a half strength Saints team. We have 9 days rest for York. We have 23 players so can make 10 changes, so players won't be doing the full 80 mins. We have only played league 1 teams so far and it's a big step up from league 1 to the Championship. York and Keighly are both good sides so I'm glad we are having a proper test going into the game. Also we don't want any injuries but we have a 28 man squad with more depth than last year, so if 2 or 3 are missing we can still put out an equally good side in my opinion.
Let’s see where we are after the game - injuries? Craven is out without playing a game, so maybe we ban training too ?
A few things, it's only a half strength Saints team. We have 9 days rest for York. We have 23 players so can make 10 changes, so players won't be doing the full 80 mins. We have only played league 1 teams so far and it's a big step up from league 1 to the Championship. York and Keighly are both good sides so I'm glad we are having a proper test going into the game. Also we don't want any injuries but we have a 28 man squad with more depth than last year, so if 2 or 3 are missing we can still put out an equally good side in my opinion.
We have a 28 man squad but 5 are already not available 3 injured 2 more reasons unknown. We have a 23 man squad to Saints 30 so they will continually bring on fresh players more than we can. I think although only a friendly it should be a rule that both sides have the same number of available players to gain the field especially when the teams are from a different level of leagues.
I'm going tomorrow night in order to watch Widnes players and make my own assessment of them. I'm not really bothered who turns out for the Saints.
I understand that everyone's playing experience will differ, but surely it is widely recognised that games are often "won in the head". It doesn't matter that we've played League One teams so far, the important thing for us is to win (or even just put in a good performance).
Winning brings confidence and confident players invariably do well, whereas good skilful players who aren't motivated, or simply not interested in playing, usually play poorly.
RL at any reasonable level is a really tough game, and whether we play SL or League One teams there is always going to be a risk of injury.
17 mins 6-0
26 mins Saints 12-0
Ht 12-0
47mins 16-0
Try Ince 16-4
Try Holroyd, goal Gilmore 16-12
Ft 16-12👍👍
Good result? We actually won the second half 4-12👏👏
Ft 16-12👍👍
Good result. Was hoping we wouldn’t come back and win as it could’ve had a negative effect come the season opener! To win the second half is good enough!
In the end it was a case of "nearly a win for us", but a fine spirited performance with some good teamwork against an admittedly youthful Saints team.
Well worth the ticket price to see our lads giving their all in the second half.