Before the massive over reactions start, firstly rangi chase had a good game he was our only attacking threat! Yes he dropped 2 high swirling bombs? Nobody else has ever done that have they! We played smart first half just played basic rugby got a roll on second half first 10 then the wheels fell off! Rangi is going to cop it but he was class ball in hand, breierley was anonymous! All day you could see batley sliding and covering the right hand shoulder it was crying out for Ryan to get on the inside shoulder but no we didnt! Credit to batley they ran hard and tackled well! Mount pleasant in the mud and wind isn't a gimmie!! Secondly Gareth hewer you make James child look half decent, unfit and inconsistent went to the touch judges for every descion! Thought Worthington went well and higham was class lose a lot when he leaves the field! Really missed hock today anybody know why he wasn't picked? Smith comes in at 1 next week and Rangi to 7 Ryan can go for me nothing against the lad but he can't take the game by the scruff of the neck!

Hock only started training on Friday, been off with flu.

First game of the season and the lad has had a bad game.

Only because I know rangi will be made the scapegoat and he's was twice as good as Ryan!

A few bruised ego's in the morning including the chairman's.

I'd rather finish strong than start strong But we should be beating teams like Batley!

Well done to the bulldogs. Hopefully the perceived arrogance has been well and truly beaten out of us!

And that's exactly why people are questioning why you'd play the best halfback in the division at fullback. Logic really.

Here's a reality check. We have only won 1 in the last 9

Who else do you put there? Breierley? Pownall? Think rangi was the best choice tbh he looked dangerous returning the ball (when he caught it before someone chirps up) smith straight in next week!

How can you lose a game when your pack is in such control? Batley struggled to get out of their own half when we played simple rugby, both up and down the hill.

We gifted them territory through stupid dropped ball, silly technical penalties and then 2 dropped bombs (great bombs though in fairness) plus a good 40/20 too.

At 12 - 22 we looked in total control. Then Hewer gave a terrible decision (saying Emmitt dropped what was a blatent rip) and we seemed to forget everything we had been doing so well. For that last 20 mins Batley gave away far less pens, dropped far less ball, kicked much better and then converted their chances into points.

Congrats to Batley, a well deserved win and you could see what it meant to them with their wild celebrations at the final whistle.

There were positives but I really can't be bothered tonight.

On Chase I thought he was very good in attack and solid in defence but he is CLEARLY not a fullback. 2 dropped bombs ultimately cost us that match. If McNally had been playing we would have won that game.

Unbeaten season off to a flyer, keep your mouth shut next time please Derek!

We have the SL players. We need a SL coach. This was evident in the middle 8's last year.

Well said nozzy! Not all negative! Thought Greg worthington was class again today he's defence is top notch! No mugs on there own patch are batley!

It was your "Super League" players that have just lost to Batley, would you like another go?

Boots don't stock enough man nappies to catch the amount of trouser wetting that's going on across the Rugby League world tonight.

Did Reni play? How did the relationship between him and Rangi seem?

You only have Derek to blame!

it was terrible, they had 3 punch ups and were constantly arguing, that's why we lost.

I thought we got our tactics wrong. We tried to play too much rugby going down the hill. Passing is difficult because of the bizarre angles and we threw too many forward passes and put the ball down. Downhill it should be simple straight up the middle to tire Batley. Playing uphill is the time to bring out he passing game.

Thought it was a naive performance on a difficult Mount Pleasant pitch.

Ok they came out holding hands. Must be a sad life when all you can look forward to is Leigh loosing a game.

The gunfight was fun though!

Just out of curiosity, how many of Derek's "we now have 13 internationals" played today

I guess he's counting the New Zeander Rangi as 2

Putting Rangi at FB was a bad choice, given his inability to catch against Wigan. His attacking game was also subdued, but that's to be expected while he's playing out of position.

I also think, when we have a fully fit squad, Armstrong shouldn't be near the 17. He's not the player he was 18 months ago, and he's been poor in most games since June.

Higham was excellent, Fui had 2 very effective spells, Hansen was a beast, Weston went well, and spencer ran in hard as always. Worthington was good in defence. But overall, a very average team performance against a decent side.

Let the trolls enjoy the result, comments made by some of our fans will always entice them to rub our noses in it when results don't go our way

Fax played their best attacking half-back (Ben Johnston) at full-back today. Scott Murrell and Gareth Moore played in the halves. Probably our best full-back (Miles Greenwood) still isn't quite fit, but quality players need to slot in to fill in when needed. At this level, the likes of Rangi should be able to play anywhere in the pivots (which includes full-back nowadays).

Chase was ok as an attacking force, but horribly exposed defensively, particularly under the (very) high balls he was given to defend.

l thought that he could not influence the game where he was, and would have been better in the halves.

Oh and in defence, l suspect he was carrying an injury for much of the second half.

Although Hock missing a few games because of the sniffles is nothing new !

He was. He injured himself making that superb run on the 6th tackle and spent most of the rest of the half limping. (although he seemed to limp much worse, after dropping the two - very good - high balls!

)

It wouldn't surprise me to see him miss next week - he missed the Warrington game with a hip injury.