any news on o'brien

Bad concussion but nothing too serious hopefully.

Thinks he's still in st Helen's and got a headache.

The French guy has got a sore shoulder from the challenge.

cynical if you ask me 2 games running gives me that impresion

I'm a ex stand off. Every halfback in the world knows they need to bring that arm (elbow if me) up to protect themselves.

He needs to protect himself more.

I think he needs a scull cap for next week in all seriousness

Whilst a scrum cap will protect against bumps and scratches, it does next to nothing in situations like that. Its only a few mms of padded cloth.

The last two games have seen a complete turnaround in form for us. Maybe the Chairman's words and the Hull KR performance were a good thing in hindsight as the players (in particular the forwards) have stepped up a notch.

I missed the opening 25 minutes but our defence was excellent today especially our scrambling defence. We've still work to do with the ball but losing O'Brien again didn't help.

The last two games have given me optimism that we may not go out of the play offs with a whimper afterall and we may actually compete. If we can win our next two games I reckon we'll clinch 5th spot.

I mentioned that I thought he looked lethargic during the WIgan game. Someone said he'd been very ill that week and was only 50/50 to play. If he is struggling for fitness because of this, the heat on France won't have been pleasant. He still contributed well tonight, though.

A bike helmet is only polystyrene and a bit of mms of plastic.

I thought he had a good game. In fact they all did apart from TP who looked very lethargic.

I'm not saying he didn't have a good game, I just don't think he was as involved as he was in wins like at Warrington.

TP has looked lethargic all season. I'm surprised he's off to Salford with a two year deal!

????

The two are very different.

I was thinking scrum cap too. Not to excuse the highshots, but Lomax wears one due to a previous serious injury. GOB does not need to prove how tough he is, we can all see that, but he does need to be wary of the shots he's taking, whether 'legal' or not!!!

Surely it must offer more protection than that given that Lomax is playing? I mean surely you wouldn't play such a high contact sport with three plates in your head if your head protection only protected you from bumps and scratches? I know his is specially made mind so perhaps the run of the mill head gear is different?

It's better than nothing, but if you get an impact that's oing to knock you out, a scrum cap isn't going to stop it. That's from my personal experience, anyway.

I think a lot of the damage in those tackle situations is the head flying back in whiplash way and if they are out cold like he was, the is also the impact of the head hitting the floor.

O'brian needs to bring that arm up when releasing the ball. It's something I learned at the age of 12 and surely this season has been enough for him to bring that arm up.

I think that part of his game needs addressing and its something that a boxer will learn very quickly. He probably also needs to build up his neck and shoulder muscles to reduce the effects of impact.
What we have to remember he is still a young kid, very green against the enforcer type of player, maybe some Saints players can offer him more protection that what he has at the moment, LMS as his minder perhaps.

The minder thing is pointless. He can't protect him from being hit late, only Gaz can do that.

Not sure he can really protect himself from being hit late. What I mean is, if he's just passed the ball then he's facing away from any potential late tackler and so how can he defend himself? Surely that innate vulnerability is the very problem?

I think most of it is down to lack of experience and he,s learning the hard way. Like St Pete mentioned he could learn to raise the arm on release of the ball or side step on instinct.
Its OK for the experience player they tend to know what danger they are in and have that split second to avoid or reduce the impact, Wheeler had a similar problem especially with the Wigoons.

Exactly! But at 20yrs of age he should already by now raising that arm. After a few late tackles he should now have learned. It's either get that arm up it get knocked out.

I learned the hard way but mine was making a late tackle on Paul Deacon who raised his arm and dislocated my jaw. No pen or anything was given as refs think "how can little Paul deacon wipe him out"

From that day, I also raised that arm (elbow).

Bobbie Goulding on twitter has said that he should be raising his arm after passing.

Great rugby brains think alike. That's what I've been saying. My old mate bobbie used to get that arm up.