It seems to be HIM again for this year. Can't beleive the negativity towards him on his first game back for us.... but then we are Wakey.

Enjoyed today

Yep - disappointing - considering almost everything we tried today came off him and the other one did exactly nowt!

Still, let's not make actual events an excuse for missing out on a good ol' whinge!

Do i get a prize for guessing who it is, say a Turkey sarnie or a bit of pie.

Still i did not go so i can't comment.

Did not go, so I cant imagine who you are talking about. Mmm if I think about it

it wouldnt be BJ by any chance, nah it couldnt be could it?

Ok, ill bite

First off I was quite impressed by newton in the first 25 he organised us well made a few half breaks and even though a few typical newton pens (he's only got 1 way of playing) paul king drove it in well and it was nice to see blanchy on the field showing some speed and thought the youngsters did well.
Although the size difference to our youngsters and leeds is quite frightening don't we like / produce big guys

Onto the "scape goats" I use this term loosely, I know its first game run out give them a proper chance blah blah but I went to the game today and even though he wasnt on long (another excuse for you lot for him) biibb did nothing and yes here he comes BJ did bugger all too he was just using the drop off pass (reminded me of rooney tbh) a few non descripts kicks towards the end... i'll give him time but im so glad we have obst.

Last point can't believe ambler wasn't sent off for that clothesline on king.

Enjoyed todays game, some players stood out others didn't, i thought King was the best forward on the park followed closely by Moore, we bombed at least 3 try's in first half which would have made a huge diff.
I thought BJ tried hard but was on his own as Broughy was more interested in looking like a 1966 footballer throw back!!! New shorts needed, think he had fekas on!!! Overall a lot of positives can be taken out of the game, bring on Fev so we can have a look at some other players

I am with you there.

Should read we are from the UK in all walks of life business sport politics Transport last week etc we like nothing better than a good old Scapegoat we would not be British if we didn’t

I was right in line with that and he held his head in shame, King just got up and shook it off and got in with the game,

pleased with
Murphy showing another side to his game,
Morton looks about read to challenge for a regular place
Newton showed command in the game
King looked strong too

scapegoats thread

first game of the season in a bitter cold friendly after xmas just about sums this wakey board up, for the ones that didn't show their potential today am sure they will when it matters

as for the snow balling leeds fan that through one at my car should think him self lucky I didn't get out and threaten to use my gun



glad to see some action at last

Can't believe Jeffries coming in for stick today. He tried tried and tried again, unfortunately his starting half back partner looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than the pitch, couple of decent kicks from Brough but nothing at all with ball in hand, at least Jeffries had a go. He missed a tackle on Coadie (looks like he'll make a decent centre with training - big and strong) which lead to a long range try for Leeds but other than that was pretty solid defensively. Newton showed he's not here just for a last hoorah and pay cheque, regularly taking them on down the middle and putting himself about the way he does. Moore looked in great shape as did Korki and they both put in great efforts along with King who showed some good promise. Thoguht George looked good in the centres but he once again took a knock - looks a great player but just cannot handle the physical aspect of the game it seems. Murphy was nothing short of excellent at full back linking up well in attack, running great lines and showing he has an offload game too, looked very quick too. Moreton looks like he will progress even further this year and Davey looked very bright when he came on making good yards and showing up well in defense against much bigger opposition. Our pack looks like it will be very strong this season with the likes of Morrison, Tronc, JD, Latu and Obst to come in. Our front row of probably Tronc Korki Moore and King could well be a real handful and with Morrison we have that creative spark in the backrow which has been missing since Sol left. Moreton and Murphy both look ready to consistently push for selection in the backline which should keep Gleeson, Blaymire and George on their toes, and we have plenty of options in the halves. Not a great display today but enough there to keep optimistic, hopefully Broughy just had an off day today and will pick up his performances in the other games and more importantly the league games.

maybe so but TBF Uptoncat that is not why we signed him. i'm not wishing to start BJ bashing especially after one game but what worries me is there were the same repeated inside balls into no gap, poor decison making in some sets (kicking out on the full on the 3/4th tackle) and laboured kicking. as i said to my mate at the time we'll just have to trust kear knows what he is doing as he gets more right than wrong, but i remain unconvinced especially with a 3 yr deal

so perhaps the others need to learn his plays....i had to leave at half time but one play in particular was when bj threw a great dummy and dropped inside to see number 14 (was it davey?) looking outside him and the ball went astray!!! we need to learn bj's plays..also danny b got slagged when he came back from injury last year..it takes time to get the range again after the break. most pleasing to me is the pack strength, newton especially.

Fantastic post - spot on in all areas!

I'm confused, Jeffries = total turd or Jeffries = so good the rest can't read his plays! At least we've got 3 years to argue it out...

Can we not have a discussion of performance without it being dragged into the scapegoat issue, which ends up colouring points on both sides. Disregard the scapegoat issue for a minute and judge the performance in that one game. In my view, of the signings, his performance was the weakest. Effort was there, but too many mistakes and his default option did seem to be a rather limited inside ball.

To be honest I think BJ is on to a hiding because many of us dont understand it as a signing and were of the opinion we needed a stand off who would attack the line, the word of fans near me was they felt he had really been signed for if danny brough goes! Think he already has the scapegoat tag, like it or not.

in the other side for a player ive never liked i can understand the newton signing, king looked good for a first game, and the backs were good with what they got. again like others im worried we have a lot of players with a known injury record and wonder how many times we will get the first choice 17 out this season.
Didnt enjoy it much as a game to be honest, thought the whole thing was very subdued, the delay didnt help.

You're doing well with only one.

At Wigan, we have four.
Fielden, Riddell, Pryce and Roberts.

They get blamed for everything, from the recession to global warming, it's all their fault.

Don't worry we do have back up, a reserve "scapegoat bench" if you like, just in case Ben comes good

Agree on every word.







I am not going to be weighing up performances of both half backs but I wholeheartly agree with Bloomers BJ's effort was there for all to see but the application and performance was lacking.

Didn't go to the game but reading comments on here it appears that the scrum half avoided criticism from you lot by doing nothing, so pray tell why are you not interested weighing up both performances while quick off the mark to criticise the one play maker that, according to others, was willing to stick his hand up?
I await your answer with baited breath

Because as I see it, the thread isn't about Brough, and I'm having to read ridiculous spin which goes as far as suggesting it's not BJ's fault, the other 16 don't understand him.

If you want to open the debate up to Brough, fine; if he was that anonymous week in, week out, he wouldn't be worth the money we are offering to try and keep him. Equally I'm not judging BJ on one game. Let's see how he gets on in when the season starts proper. However, what I saw yesterday didn't bode particularly well, with the same poor decision making I remember too much of from before. And therein is part of the reasons why even simple scapegoating isn't so simple, and where a comparison with Brough fall's down - our past experience of the two is rather different.

Here you are then, Danny Brough was far from his best yesterday made good yards from penalties and distributed the ball in the middle with not much effect, kicks made the leeds side turn around but largely ineffective.

Why am I not weighing up both performances?
a) We know how good brough is we know he is quality and has shown in the past he needs a few games to get going im not worried one iota how he'll perform this season.

b) We also know how "good" or not as the case maybe ben jeffries is, we know his faults and also what he brings to a side. Yesterday he put in the effort (this may have been good enough a few years ago when he was here and when we were battling relegation) however as the team improves and expectations rise so does the requirements of 1 of the key position's within a side.

I wasn't overly enthused when we signed him and I know a lot of other people who share the same opinion, and what I was looking for yesterday was some signs of improvement from BJ but he didn't make any breaks, kicked out on the full iirc and just made the same old mistakes as he did before along with an ineffective inside ball nearly every set and just reminded me of the same old, im willing to give him more of a chance but im not hopeful.

I'm no fan of Jeffries, but i am certainly prepared to give the bloke a chance. Kear knows what he is doing and to sign him on a three year deal shows confidence in the lad.

Yesterday he wasn't at his best although many weren't. He didn't get the best supply and resorted to the drop off pass. But for Morton's try, he threw a superb pass and showed promising vision with an early kick out wide which i'm sure if it had come off people would be singing his praises.

He'll get better as will the rest of the players. If halfway through the season he isn't doing the business then fair enough, but after his first game back, a meaningless friendly where only a few stood out. I find it a little harsh.

some planks on here


its a meaningless game the day after having a belly full of sprouts and xmas pudding,they get to celebrate xmas aswell you know, i'll give my opinion on him after a handfull of games into the season when it matters, untill then will you give the lad a break

Post of the year mate, you've left it late but its a "cracker"