Broadacres:
Brad was spot on with his comments in that we let Saints frustrate us. That resulted in 62% completion rate. Need to be a bit smarter and cooler in these kind of games, Saints are quite happy to give away 6 again off a half break in order to set the defence again and kill momentum.
Agree with that. Saints are dirty spoilers who take everything right to the edge, but so what? It works for them, and not just against us. As the game went on we got increasingly rattled in the heat and in the last 10 mins we were shattered. The 5 day turn around from an extremely fast and high quality game against KR last week undoubtedly took its toll. That's a reality, not an excuse. As bad as we were, we didn't need to score a try to win the game. When the opposition are giving you penalties- kick them! Think we turned down 4 or 5 kick able opportunities and ended up with a big fat nil. Very frustrating. However, I always thought the post Wembley run of games - Wire, Saints, Leigh, KR, and Saints was a very tough one and 3 wins from 5 is still a decent return. We need to rest some battered bodies against Salford next week and then really hit the ground running against Wakey. Big test of character ( without Oledski) awaits.