Tough game to watch. Stunk the place out really. But, got the win and are reeling in those above us. 

What frustrated me the most is the chances that we blew, particularly early on. Two times Jake Thewlis should have walked ins in the first half, one he can’t finish off and the other goes over his head on a 4 on 2. Williams, for all his plus points, needs to calm down in his head and just make good choices. Could have been out of sight early on. It happened again in the second half when he plays a pass to everyone and no one on the left side, if he picks any one player it’s a try but he flashes it across them all and Fitzgibbon leaves it for Wrench, who leaves it for Thewlis, who doesn’t get a finger on it. It’s a dead set walk in. Just bombing chances through either negligence or blind panic. 


The Sneyd playing short at the line saw another knock on this week too, not from a scrum for once but we’re not learning that lesson. 


We knew they were coming for us. They will have marked that day on the calendar for their big day out, and we let them have a say in it. Literally gave them the ball in half of our first half sets. 


An encouraging point was a little spell where Ratchford was at 9. He made a point of highlighting the messy ruck, coming around a player on the ground and standing over them to signal to the ref what was going on. From then on the ref seemed to police the ruck, as before that it was pedestrian. We got a bit of joy just running from dummy half after that point. Discouraging point, Ratchford is the best 9 available right now, it’s taken us since April for someone to do that, and we’ll probably go back to Powell and Crowther for 2 more weeks for reasons even I can’t quite explain. I’m sure they are good pro’s and prepare well and defend smart, but there is no point in having broken field runners like Williams and Dufty if you can’t get any broken field. And neither of them have done in 8-10 weeks what Ratchford did in 20 minutes. And it’s Stef flipping Ratchford not James Roby. 


Positives; we won, Ben Currie, didn’t waste space on my Sky box.
Negatives; exhausting to think about writing them down. 

At the risk of posting Twaddle Smify, Hartill was sidelined due to his unprofessional behaviour in a post-match video session. Chambers spoke to him and his father regarding the matter and a new approach was issued to correct his manner in these sessions. 


Morrissey, Chambers is the boss when it comes to player discipline; he recently sidelined King and Philbin for a lack of understanding regarding the rules around drinking.

This seems legit to me. We either want a better culture or we don't. There'd be no point saying 'yes but we don't have a hooker so let him play anyway' - that would be the worst example to set.


It's extremely disappointing that two senior players would break team rules and find themselves getting disciplined in this way.

This seems legit to me. We either want a better culture or we don't. There'd be no point saying 'yes but we don't have a hooker so let him play anyway' - that would be the worst example to set.


It's extremely disappointing that two senior players would break team rules and find themselves getting disciplined in this way.

Harthill made a silly mistake, and I guess he won't do it again. He is a talent that we need to nurture through this period to get the best out of him.

Fully behind the disciplinary measures. I always wonder why full time professional athletes can't lay off the sauce at the correct times, especially when the alleged King and Philbin issue was during a poor run of results. 

Re Harthill I understand he played in the reserves?