Surely this fault must be the easiest to correct. Shocking to stand and wait and then get knocked back another 2 or 3 yards in the collision because opposition are at speed and we are - not!
Basically it means our boys are lazy. Too idle to get off the line. And apptly our coach cannot see this - or has no authority with players to coach it out of them. Week after week it happens.

It certainly needs sorting. Sheffield were making 70 and 80 metres per set yesterday.

Everybody we play is making 70 and 80 metres per set. Sometimes it looks like lads v dads. Even then the lads would try, but half the time, we just stand there rooted in the line and wait for folk to crash into us, so it's like 15-20 metres per carry.

This is one of the main characteristics that I just don't understand.

Another thing I don't understand is how we jeer and mock possession. We take the pisz out of possession. I was talking to the people who sit nearby as the game went on and saying how bizarre it was that we seemingly never finish a set,, we find ever-more-annoying and imbecilic ways to turn over possession. Just when you think the well must be dry, we throw an interception try, or give away a dumb penalty under the posts, or do a hopeless kick, or drop the ball cold, or let it bounce.

While you don't know HOW we're going to pisz away the ball, you KNOW we ARE going to pisz away the ball. Sure as night follows day.

If only our selection and variety of GOOD plays was 50% of our joke playbook, we'd be the world champions.

The way Sheffield have played last few games, we should of been out of sight by half time after been 12-0 up after 20 minutes. What I thought was so alarming was just completely no idea on attack, especially 10 yard off their line. It really was get to the last tackle and kick and hope. It worked when Caro collected the kick and didn't work when Lo collected on the other wing and ran 100 metres to score

Obviously crying out for a scrum half, but a scrum half won't help the defence conceding so many easy tries

Must admit, I've noticed the same.

I've racked my brains at games trying to work out why we barely move off the line. It MUST be tactical. I refuse to believe players are lazy. They may be delicate little flowers that can't take criticism, they may be completely useless at the mental side of the game, they may be just plan rubbish (I don't believe they are), but I can't ever think they're just lazy. Sure the odd players is/was (Jamie Foster & Karl Pryce, please stand up), but not all 17 in every game.

The ONLY thing I can think is that it's something along the lines of keeping your line and planting your feet for the tackle. But you can still all saunter up a bit quicker than they do and manage to do that. Every other team manages it.

I'm convinced it's tactical, but I still can't quite understand what that tactic is.

The tactic is to get utterly dominated so we get used to how it will go in the middle 8s I think.

Seriously though there’s no explanation. There is zilch aggression in the side in defence and this is reflected in the line speed which is appalling. Other teams in the championship seem to be more enthusiastic. Lord knows what would happen if we played a SL team – we’d be looking at a 70-80 point thrashing no problem.

The players seem to have lost all belief and have no enthusiasm for getting stuck in. Occasionally one gets wound up but this doesn’t translate across the team which suggest players are playing for themselves. Take Sunday – When Mexico and Flemming clashed heads and Flemming got knocked out Mexico chucked the ball at him on the ground. That should’ve been the cue for the pack to wade in. Did they? Well there was a bit of a mild altercation. It was pathetic. If that was me on the ground I’d not be impressed by how much my teammates stuck up for me.

I’m afraid it comes down to the coach at the end of the day – no matter how many duff players he might get foisted on him by others.

It's a combination of a lack of confidence, a lack of leadership, a lack of communication, and a poor coach.

.... and the players apparently deluding themselves that the coach is fine, the gameplan is fine, and if they could just stick to it they'd rule the world

The silence is deafening from the club here. It is odd that there are people from within the club who are very vocal about the fans but seem to be completely silent on the actual issues that the fans are voicing their displeasure over?

If compo is an issue then it has to be realised that, sooner or later, it will cost more to KEEP an underperforming coach that it would be to sack him. People will simply stop coming and the declining gate receipts will soon be more than any compo pay out.

Time to act Mr Green. Get rid of Lowes and his arrogant mouthpiece Ferres before it is too late. Even your clubs' most ardent followers have clearly had enough and without them, there IS no club whatsoever.

Said the same last week.

We hear plenty about how disappointed they are and no one takes a defeat harder than them.....

However I don't recall one pro Jimmy story or even comment from a player thus far....

The tacktick of standing still in a line worked when we had Jimmy, the awesome foursome and the rest of that great team but it doesn't work with our present team. This group need coaching how to defend. We had Harrison and he was frozen out and left. We now have Chev as assistant. Disko is there but he has his own job. We desperately need an experienced coaching team not three novices.

I don't think you can really call Lowes a novice, he's had a few years of coaching experience by now. Maybe his problem is that he's not had much experience working under a top coach? He did a bit under Harrison at Salford and then went to Wire, where he wasn't exactly very successful so they brought in [iirc Smithy over his head, the only 'name' coach he's worked with, but he left at the end of that season.

Like a few top name players he got coaching jobs very early and maybe too easily, but many 'great' players fail to make it as a coach - different job with different skill-set requirements. The best coaches get the very best from what they have to work with, but sadly Lowesy isn't even getting adequate performances from our squad.

Lowes' first coaching job was 12 years ago.

edit: for McDermott it was 10. Anderson, 8.

Didn't he work with McDermott at Leeds before moving across to the Union side? Pretty sure they won a title while he was there - maybe the 2012 one?

Yeah, he did. Don't recall the year but he was his assistant for a while.

now.. Looking like there are no excuses!

Indeed, easy to remember Leeds did take a punt on him. It's another of those "What if..." moments that just before he got the Leeds job, he was turned down for the Bulls job!

(Of course, he couldn't really have done anything with us - IIRC he would have been the coach during the first administration, but still an interesting nugget)

I think that appeared far worse than was the actual case.Yes,the ball was flung quite swiftly to the floor but I think it was due to the frustration felt by Mark Mexico that it was deemed a knock-on.He himself sustained a head injury requiring a bandage,so he may not have had his bearings correct and the ball nearly struck your player,but I don't feel Mark Mexico meant it to happen like that.It would have been accidental.

Carry on...

Whilst fully accepting your point that Mexico may well have not been fully in control, I take issue with your report that the ball "nearly" hit our player - I wouldn't like you to be my witness if I got assaulted. I hit him fully amidships......did you mean to say it "neatly", hit our player? Not that he knew much about it!

You can tell by the reaction of the players that there was nothing in it.

A Bulls player goes across and pats Mexico on the back. Nobody else does anything.

Very dirty team Sheffield, knees elbows spears lifting and more at every opportunity and have been the same for years

Just for the record this won't become a Leigh vs Sheffield thread.

And quite right, too.

Please accept my apologies just casting for light nibble