After one game, i know its far to early to judge how the season will go but have you seen ANY sign of improvement in attack? To be honest, i thought we looked even less threatening than under Wane. Everything seemed rushed and disjointed. I expected maybe seeing a set move or two but nothing. Why was Hardaker never given the ball out wide? Williams and Tommy seemed to go for a lead runner every time.Time and time again, Williams went for Greenwood which was fine but he should of then gone out the back to Hardaker after gaining the trust of the defence, same on the other side with Tommy and Farrell.

It's one game away in freezing conditions, against the best defence of last season. If we had looked great I'd have dismissed it just as much, it's one game. I'll begin to judge half way through the season when the team has had time to try and implement some new ideas.

I agree that it's too early to judge, but I will say this. Anyone concerned that Edwards may not come next year because Lam could win everything this year is probably a resting a little easier today.

We were (cant believe I'm saying this) missing one of our starting half backs, too, in Sammut. This is likely impacting set plays. But i agree, i was expecting a bit more structure in attack. It doesnt help our pivots are Powell, Leuluai and Williams and Hardaker...

Way too early too say. Judge him in summer when the grounds are firmer, no pre season rust and he's had time to settle on his best team. As I've said on another thread, I think this one was lost by us having three subs whilst adjusting to 8 interchanges. We lost the first 20, worked our way back into it but ran out of steam.

Much to early to say one way or the other but I’d be tempering what he says in terms of attack he’s set his stall out now let them try to adjust to the style he wants them to play.

As said wait till the summer and we will see.

He's been in charge for one game against difficult opponents on their turf. Way too early to judge him. Give him time.

He has said repeatedly that he wants to bring more attacking flair but that will come later in the season when the weather is better. Let's see how that turns out before we pan him too much.

Don't forget most of our players have only ever been coached by Wane so it will take a while for them to get used to a coach other than Wane

There is probably something in that but Lam didn't do our attack any favours by switching Gildart and Faz to accommodate Sarge and Greenwood. Lam didn't really have much choice with Greenwood/Faz but it shows when people say Greenwood was Batemans replacement, no he wasn't. No one should be switched to accommodate a player as bang average as Sarge. In both cases though, it's square pegs in round holes.

What side does Hankinson naturally play on? Would he be a better bet than Sarge if it let Gildart play on the left?

Apart from his early missed tackle on Niquama I thought Sarge did ok after that.
My preference would be Gildart left and I saw enough from Hankinson in his 2 games to say I’d give him a crack on the right ahead of Sarge.

Lam will do a good job for us, it was never going to click in to place on night one after a unbelievabley short pre season (especially for the internationals). I didn’t think Saints were crash hot either tbh but took their chances when they came. It didn’t hurt them being piggy backed down the field with penalties as often as they were.

Fair point, I didn't realise they had brought in the shot clock to replace offsides

The biggest problem is with players playing out of position, why switch around what was the most lethal edge in super league just to shoehorn a distinctive average Sarginson because “ he prefers playing on the left” We should play who’s best on the left and that’s Gildart. I’d also swap around Greenwood and Farrell although given a few games I could see Faz adjusting to the right

Gildart played right centre for all of our unbeaten run at the end of last year whilst setting up a vital try in the grand final.

Im sure some people are unable to read. I stated it is too early to judge how the season is going to go. I asked did you see anything new, any signs of what they had been working on in attack?

This is not an unreasonable question but some people seem to have it in for me on here because im not in 'the clique'.

He's also not lining up our two best players from the last few years - Tomkins and Bateman. They made things happen in spite of Wane's plan.

I think thats unfair on Wane. Its like saying that all top players make things happen despite their coaches plan. Wane was a very good coach, much better than people give him credit for. He may not of coached the most entertaining rugby but it was very effective and his teams were very hard to beat. We will miss him.

The one thing that really stood out for me was that we didn't throw a single long, cut-out pass (that I noticed) all night.

We've had a lot of success over the past few years, especially when Lockers is the one doing the passing, but we didn't seem to even try it on Thursday.

Maybe they felt it was too cold for it, or just didn't fancy it, but it looked to be on all night.

Let's just see what next week brings.

A dropped ball on the second tackle of the game leading to a try from a straight forward missed one on one tackle is not a coaching issue, it’s a player issue. It put us on the back foot from the start and we gave penalties away meaning we were pinned in our half defending too much.
Lam spoke to the players who said they slipped back into their old ways and didn’t do what they trained to do and that’s what’s disappointing for me.
Still only one game so no need to hit the panic button yet. Leeds at home will be a decent test.

True that, Oloughlin was running like a half back.