Watching tonight just reinforced what I've seen/thought for a while now - we are overly predictable in attack. It's the same moves, repeated in the same way regardless of if we are having any joy with them or not.

Is it time to shake things up in the coaching department with the appointment of a new backs coach perhaps? I know it's something Harris worked on and we also brought in Longy to coach the backs. Longy obviously didn't work out but we must have seen a need for someone like that right?

I just think if we bring in someone new from the ououtside to work ALONGSIDE Wane and Deacs it might freshen things up.

I saw it somewhat differently, actually - nothing much wrong with the tactics, just the clumsy execution letting us down. In any case, we got the win, which is more than Saints and Wire did!

You have to earn the right to go around a team though you can't just spread the ball laterally from wing to wing and expect to score. Your forwards have make the hard yards, punch hole in the middle and dominate the ruck and suck players in in order to create the space out wide, we was just throwing the ball around like headless chickens and very poorly at that. The tactics are all wrong.

Bar Tautai our forwards were anonymous for the most part.
McIlorums first stint was poor and Matty Smith was anonymous for 70 minutes.
Interchanges were quite odd but at least we were trying different things.
J.Tomkins is still really really really poor at centre.
Thought Matty Bowen was outstanding in the second half. Well deserved MoM. Wish he'd do it in a big game though.
Agree with Geoff on our execution, but it's round 18 of SL... we should be executing plays by now.

It's why we went out the cup. The 60-0 win made us think we could just spread play from wing to wing and walk through them.

Our props really need to up their games. I've been particularly frustrated with Mossop recently who seems to go through the motions half the time. It's frustrating because he's a very good prop and he should be taking on more of a pack leader role nowadays.

Well that was garbage. Our completion rate in the first half was 52%.

The kicking game was useless with the attacking kicks in the last 20m just giving the ball to Salford and we didn't have a long kicking game probably because we'd dropped it before we got the last tackle more often than not.

Only players to come out of that with any credit are Bowen, Tautai and Micky Mac. It was MM in the 2nd half who (aided and abetted by Tautai ) who clearly decided to stop the ball being sent wide and adopt a simple and much more direct approach of actually running at Salford.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the win! The Wire board is in meltdown which always cheers me up.

Agreed, execution undoubtedly plays a massive part but even when it's spot on it's still easy to predict what's happening imo. Saints last week knew our game plan and they snuffed it out. That must be a sure indication that we are laying on the same plays every week.

Grated with Sam back its easy enough to know what's coming but it's another thing altogether stopping him.

Who was the last team that relied so much on one set play. How many times do you think we try to execute it during a match?

Agreed.

I'd add Smith to the hit list as well.

I posted it in another thread but Smith, alongside Bowen, is our most experienced back. For me with the amount of kids we have in the back line he needs to have a bigger impact on games.

Never really rated Smith - just doesn't seem to ever stand up and be counted. As for Mossop, I'm afraid he was a sympathy signing. I do wonder how our pack's going to shape up in the next couple of years, especially when Lockers calls it a day. Still think we need one monster prop in the Morley mould...

I think you no longer threaten around the middle of the pitch enough for your current moves to work (on their own). Generally you work to the right, have Smith with a second man play off him, out the back to Williams, then he either hits Farrell or your fullback.

Problem is that 1) McIlorum is not a big running threat 2) Matty Smith hardly ever runs the ball 3) Very few of your props look capable of breaking the line. So until the ball gets out on the edges, nobody has really threatened to break the line, and no defenders have really been committed, so the defence just drifts, particularly since teams are starting to get wise to how to defend against you guys. A fit S'OL helps massively because he can take it to the line and play out the back if it's on, but teams have to commit defenders in case he dummies and goes himself. He gives everyone else a lot more space. The issue is he is seemingly never fully fit anymore.

But thats Wanes god awful and easy read tactics though, with his ridiculous game plan our forward might as well not be there

Spot on !