I agree I think Wigan are a couple of player short of challenging Saints.

What was interesting on that set is that there utility player Shorrocks moved into 9 and controlled that entire set.

Very frustrating that a non specialist 9 can step in and take control of the ruck. I’ve not seen either of our 2 lads playing at 9 at the moment come anywhere close to taking control of the ruck.

That entire set though was very well worked and deliberate and yes that maybe is because they are better players but it won’t have helped either that extra defence and lack of possession Trinity had in the second half to deplete the energy levels.

Not sure if I said it on here or not however I think I did.

I’m surprised to see Salford look so poor, but I think they have some improvement in them.

I’m not sure Trinity do. I think KR probably do and Leigh are bringing in a fantastic 9 to help them but still shouldn’t be enough to save them fingers crossed.

Think there was a thread on what success looked like for Trinity this year.

My comment got panned but it remains the same as it did then. Finishing above 10th and a new stand underway.

We need something to build on and the only way we get that with this current squad is getting rid and replacing them with better players as their contracts wind down.

At the moment I’m more nervous than I thought I would be over our ability to beat the drop this year.

John you are not stupid it’s about identifying what we need or adapting and playing to our strengths. Let’s go back a few year we were playing quite well lost bill and Tj and we finished the season with rocky and Miller in the halves and finished mid table. We bring brough in as the final piece of the jigsaw and bring kopcheck and king in to build a big pack but play the same way and not to brough. We undermine jowitt, rocky plays fullback but because he’s talking about his contact we undermine rocky and bring Walker in. We sign tangata after one game, we sign senior when we refuse to let kershaw go we sign Kay, we sign green who Powell brought off after 8 minutes. Not to mention gigot who excites him. It’s a complete mess I know what’s needed and it wasn’t lino

That I agree with.

I'm a huge Crowther fan but he is not a No9 and I don't get why we are playing him there. Josh is not as good as Kyle but together they should be ok but in Kyles absence, Brad Walker looks a far better stand-in, or heaven forbid Harry Bowes, an actual hooker. I'm clearly not suggesting for the whole season but a few games.

This is not just a dig at CC it's a dig at a number of coaches, a lack of belief in younger players to step up. That said I've just had a pop at Mopsey for claiming to know more than the actual coaches so maybe I'll shut up

I could do the job with my eyes shut, thing is I’m my own man and not a yes man.

OK then send in your CV, you have my full support.

Im on the fence with chester 8 wins in 42 isnt good enough but we have had other issues in that time and i think covid has tooks its toll on our squad resulting in it been weak (somthing i said at the start of the season) personally i think recruitment over last 2 years has been shocking kelepi apart but what money does chester have not alot.i cant help but think mason was a cheap option and while its not fair to judge on 2 games he certainly doesnt appear to be that controling 7 we needed or has a kicking game we have missed since finn left.add to this we released 2 props better than the 2 we kept again could be money related.although it doesnt help when your using players budget on a second assistant coach.

Time will tell if we go down but hoping to to stay up with 3 or 4 wins would be extremely lucky and non deserving

I totally agree in relation to retentions and recruitment it’s been poor and if you are not improving in this area you are going backwards as a club as others will be improving their squads.

I think this is the biggest concern for me, and quite who is responsible for it I don’t know is it financial pressures, poor decisions and by who? I don’t know.

I said when we signed Lino that I hadn’t seen much of him, but what I had seen I thought he was more a strike half than a general, and I was surprised to see him bigged up my the club as the missing piece of the jigsaw as a midfield general.

Williams for me would have been ideal. Perhaps we had our eggs in one basket and were left with Lino when he turned us down.

I like Senior, think he is a steady signing, but don’t understand the need for 2 backup wingers.

Kyle Wood adds that spark at 9 but we lack when he’s not fit, we are desperate for a couple of quality props, but they seem to be as rare as hens teeth this offseason so more than likely carrying inflated salary expectations.

I think more often than not cap spend equates to league position.

We have done very well overachieving on a few occasions with players who have played above their earnings but that touch seems to have left us and we are left with a squad that is out of balance and low on quality in key positions compared to our rivals.

Probably what's more depressing is, the same conversations/discussions on here now were on here last season and the season before that! Or at least from May 2019 when the clubs results have just been pretty poor by anyone's standards, injuries, covid and everything else thrown in, some performances have bordered on being unprofessional. I agree to a point with what you say as re. the players, they have to take more responsibility and adapt better to what unfolds in the heat of the battle, but again, if the same players keep on making the same mistakes, or even different ones he has used over the last 40 odd games, then without another head coach barking at them, what do you do to at least try and improve things?!

I really hope we at least show some bottle against Catalans, seen as like last year we are on national TV against the same team, and last year they put 50 on us, all we need is Mr. Wilkin rubbing our noses in it when we get hammered........

Think some of us could see why we would finish outside of the top 8 before this season started Said so in my first post after Leeds match and got ask how I could come to this conclusion.Most of the post on this subject are answering the Question No it did help against Wigan in the second half with not having a lot of ball in second half .Against Leeds we had more ball in second half and should have won .Just hope we can find away to look after the ball better so we do not fair away in the second half We go well for 40 mins witch is a improvement

john I think we have been in a position to build a side on a few occasions but the key is always try to bring in better than what weve got. Now I'm not saying who we have brought in is not trying but lets look at it.
Josh wood was he better than randall no, I'd like to know who watched cause hes hard and aggressive but cant pass a d doesn't run.
Tangata/ kopcheck or fafita no
Senior/ kay or Kershaw no
Walker/ jowitt or rocky no
Gigot waste of time
Brough was the stupidest signing ever he couldn't run and hes been a good un over years
King didnt look interested
Green who Powell brought off after 8 minutes says it all.
Right let's look at lino in a few more games but it's all down to the pack and unless the opposition make mistakes or we get penalties we simply cany make ground. We needed a couple of young hungry forwards to do some graft. Most of our forwards are 30 plus so it's going to be a big rebuild. What I dont understand is this crowther and batchelor thing, they are young lads and if they're good enough should easily last the 80 so play them. It's just so disappointing and frustrating.

As I’ve said plenty of times on here, the man in the moon has more ideas on coaching than me ,but what rankles me more than anything is people stating that they are playing poorly because of how much they cost .What a load of bunkum ,it doesn’t take ££ to get stuck in and have a dig ,that’s the basics that are seen all over the north on a weekend when kids n adults put their bodies on the line for free .All we all want to see is a side that plays with passion and pride ,it’s not about the money it’s about the shirt .Half those Wigan lads won’t be on half as much as some of our so called big names ,but it’s drilled into them that by running out on the park they are representing Wigan and it shows .Yes we could do with a smattering of top quality ,but that’s no excuse for players not to give 100% every time they pull the shirt on .I’ll take a loss every day of the week if the effort was there ,we have effort so far of 40/50 mins ,it needs to ramp up e dry week until we are putting some gusto into 80 mins .

Kettykat you are right to a point, Wigan had a lot of young well drilled players in We had a team of 30 year olds who over the years have had some bad injuries ,.who competed for 50 minutes then age slows them down .Think pinning our hopes on K Wood to come in to the team ,at 9 to move the team forward who is 32 shows were we are

Yes I know alegend if everything was equal we’d hopefully have a good mix of youth and experience, unfortunately we’ve been dealt the pack of cards we have and I get that .But sometime they look like they need a kick up the Harris to switch on and get into the arm wrestle. I like this team a lot and personally I don’t think they are playing to their potential, whether that’s a mental thing or a physical thing I haven’t a clue ,and I get it’s very early in the season ,I just honestly believe they have more to give than what we are seeing

Along with the lack of financial means, to improve the squad. I’m one who backs the CEO, with controlling the spend what we earn. Hopefully, the ground improvements will increase our earnings in the coming years.

I've not a problem with controlling expenditure but when it was spent on players like Brough I couldn't believe what I was hearing

Sorry but was Broughy all that bad? Until he got injured I thought he was playing pretty well. He was a god signing imho but only as a one year deal. We’ve signed a lot worse.

yes he was, good in his day but came to us a second time as slow as a cart horse

Agree with that.

In a squad challenged financially the signing of a declining Brough was an odd one, throw in Gigot, Walker and having 2 back up wingers on the books by adding Senior I think he balance of the squad is off.

I thought Brough came with a lot of promise but it was clear early doors he was struggling, be it through injury or age catching up with him. We have never replaced Finn. Brough was an attempt to do so and that failed and now we have Lino early signs not great but too early to judge.

Brough like a lot of Mr Chesters signings, have been getting to the end of there career signings,on too longer contract. 2 or 3 years in most cases. Think back now many of those players did we get our money worth out of .Most got paid of because they could not carry on and spent most of there time on the side lines injured .Finn was ok first year .just about S L standed second year ,but was struggling 3 season but would put him in as hooker instead of the two we got playing at presents

when we got brough I thought ok 35 and on a two year contract. We fetched king, copcheck and green in but we never changed tactics to get Danny brough into the areas he could still work a bit of magic like the opposition 20. He couldn’t run so we should of been rampaging down the middle so he could use his little kicks. Turned out to be a stupid signing.

Let us hope we are not back here again after the cup match.

Really, found his way to the line against Leeds with some speed. Like so many Trinity players fans seen to have selective memories.

Of course he was slower second time but he was hardly a cripple so I don’t agree I’m afraid. As signings go he was one of the better recent ones.

I didn’t think Brough did too bad up until the injury he had. Man of the Match against Catalans, with an excellent performance against Leeds and Salford. We did probably rely on him too much though and playing every game at 35+ was always going to lead to a few injuries. He just seemed off the pace when he came back and never recovered. As people have stated we have a problem at hooker but for me it’s the lack of go forward and non existent line speed that is constantly leading to us being on the back foot that worries me the most! Our forwards just seem easy beats bar 2/3 of them.