I know this is probably going to be contraversial on this site but if Pat couldn't kick goals then I am not sure how his position in the team could be justified. He is little more than average at the moment.

Welcome to the executive board





Im struggling to remember 3?

I'll take that as a post made in a sulk. No winger would have a cat in hell's chance of doing anything productive in attack in that weather except maybe if you were in the mould of Lesley Vainokolo.

Made my day that.

All I'm saying is Roberts does not deserve to be in ahead of Ainscough in my opinion. I've said it for the past two weeks on the site.

At the wrath of the PAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTSSSSSSS. I think in open play he is the most over rated player in our team.

If it wasn't for goal kicking he would be very vunerable imo.

Phelps at fb has shown how Pat was nothing but "safe" there, he gives his all, but doesn't do enough sometimes nor do we use him enough with the cross field kick.

bull sh@t sam comes of every game looking like he s not played riddell in sam out what a very stupid decision full stop

GOT IT IN 1

I don't understand how Riddell can be allowed to be fat and still get selected. I'd drop him until he'd lost at least a stone.

Tuigamala - a huge name in RU at the time of his move - was forced to lose weight.

Piggy should be forced to shed pounds too (as should Feka IMO). These players are playing at Wigan, this simply is not acceptable. The inmates appear to be running the asylum.

For next week:

Riddell out - Sam in
Roberts out - Ainscough in

Simple. Do it.

Some wingers make things happen for themselves. Ainscough does. I posted his stats earlier today. He walks all over Carmont in tackle busts averaging 4 to 1 (and a bit) per game.

Roberts did well defensively but it wasn't as if he received no ball. He did and did nothing much with it. That knock on from the PTB was very poor and if anyone needs some time out of the side it's him IMO (and Riddell).

Dave

Agree. Roberts has been a big disappointment, Ainsough offers far more and if he does need to sort his defence out then BN should ensure it is sorted ASAP so that he can replace Roberts

The one person in all this that needs a rest is Noble.

He has lost the plot.

Get rid, and get rid now.

Roberts at the moment is a better all round winger than Ainscough, and so he should be.

Had Ainscough played tonight we would have lost with more points.

Roberts not only saved the try from Dobson, but also managed the ball steal in the second half.

How many real try scoring chances did he get, I'll tell you - none.

How many wingers scored tonight - none.

As a big Ainscough follower that is what sets him apart from most other wingers.

He does not need to be put away.

To be fair tonight though hving only listened to the game Roberts sounded very solid in defence.

Another thing noticed tonight Brian was that Dobson's deficiencies were not particularly obvious and I looked hard for them. Once again he was the difference in a tight game.

Jonh,
Because of the conditions both teams played 10 metres inside the touchlines for fear of sliding out.
Fox, Roberts, Pat and Colbon never got a smell of the try line.

Well in that case i think we need to ask why given the fact we continully failed to hurt them down the middle even with repeated sets and pressure.

To be fair he did have a reasonable defensive game, but he did spend a lot of tome defending out wide and I don't think we "got at him"

Id be happy if the rumours were true. Lets hope they are, get this fat lump out of the club and get a WC half back next year to play with sam. Tommy to hooker, the ever improving macca to interchange every week (or even the other way round) and weve got the makings of a class team.

On the topic of mcillurum.....if he continues in his recent form I can see a spot in the england team come end of the season.

I cant, he plays for Ireland

He had a great first stint. His passing was atrocious in the second half however.

Their stats prove you wrong. Defensively nothing in it. Attacking wise Ainscough is miles ahead.



An absolutely ridiculous comment. Why would we have lost by more points?



Wow. Is that it?



How many did he make for himself? None.



And that is a recommendation for Roberts?

Ainscough is the sort of winger who is a real handful and looks for work. The exact kind we need given what poor service we give to our wingers.

I argued often Calderwood was not used properly because he needed open space and we never gave it. Well Ainscough does not and tonight that game was IMO tailor made for him.

Tight , close and requiring just how he plays the game.

Dave

You are wasting your time mate, this fella won't stop until we have 17 foreign players in the team.

Roberts or Ainscough? I wouldn't even think about it, Ainscough every time.

If we have flown Roberts over for one tackle and a ball steal, then whoever signed his contract should be sacked immediately.

If Ainscough has been dropped after scoring 17 tries because he has things to work on in his game, then why hasn't Roberts been dropped because he isn't scoring tries?

I would rather have a winger who gets a bagful every week, and let's a couple in, than a winger who contributes nothing. (Apart from a tackle and a ball steal, of course)

I'd aim to put Riddell in the reserves for 3-4 weeks.

At a lower standard, he'd be able to spend more time of the field at a less intesity which I think he needs. On two instances last night, he dropped the ball at acting halfback and even didn't realize that his team mate had played the ball....To me, that's a lack of fitness & concentration which would be ironed out within the reserves giving him longer spells on in the pitch, more time go through the motions and more importantly, a kick up the backside.

On the flipside, Michael McIlorum is playing fantastically well regardless of Riddell's poor form.