Quote faxcar="faxcar"Alan I had half a thought towards the Leigh situation and you will know better and more than me but how many changes have they had, intended and unintended.
A new coach.
Several of last years side move on.
A raft of new players come in.
Injuries in the key positions of 1,6,7 and 9 slots, namely McNally, Rydyard, Chase, Beswick, Higham etc.
Not exactly ideal ingredients for a fulling gelling side but the quality is there and everyone expects them to click at some time.
The Fax pack are a strong unit but they were matched by Batley and Sheffield.
As others have said Johnson is our most exciting player who can open teams up but how do you fit him in with the other two?
If you have him on the bench to bring on to rip it up as the other side tires it can leave you a bit light in the forwards.
It would mean on current selection that the bench would be Johnson, Maneely, Fairbank and Rich Moore.
Sunday had Ed Barber instead of Johnston so the bench was neither huge nor had a real threat in there, we have missed the impact of an inform Robbo and Brachek who did a job for us in the past in supporting the grunt of Luke, Mitch, Adam, Richard.
So much for the armchair coach and over to RM.
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Awkward problem with Johnston - one I expect Neil Jukes to have with Brierley (or Chase/Ridyard) when (if?!) all are fit.
The irony at Leigh is that our pack is much bigger and better this season, and they have played well in all four games - no more so than the first 65 minutes at Bradford - but our backs haven't had the class to capitalise on their good work. As you say with your forwards, we never managed to subdue Batley though. In addition to those that you mentioned as being injured, both first choice centres, Tonga and Armstrong are still 2/3 weeks away from recovery, as is our first choice wing, Liam Kay. Our only other centre, Worthington, has had to play whilst injured, so we have struggled in the backs. Worryingly, virtually all the tries we have conceded, have been on our flanks. Higson, in particular, had an uncharacteristic nightmare on Sunday, probably being hugely responsible for the first three tries of Bradford's astonishing comeback. As for our apparent fadeout on Sunday, I wonder whether age played a part - Moimoi, Higham, Hock, and Hansen are all on the wrong side of 30. That said, their experience and skill are playing a significant part in the improvement of our pack.
Should make our upcoming game with you interesting - but then they always are!
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