It didn't seem to effect Salford on friday who have half a new team, or Widnes yesterday who had the exact same number of debutants on the opening game of the season season as ourselves. Yes Cas are way ahead of us on the field, we all know that but Salford and Widnes are bottom four targets for us. Sadly we are way off them as well from what has been seen so far and we need to get up to speed pdq.

A trip to an injury stricken Hull KR could be just what the doctor ordered right now as we desperatley need to scrape a win and gain some confidence, because if we can't beat them with half their first team sat watching in the stands who will we beat?

And equally, we could easily have beaten Widnes yet they manage a result against Leeds.

Too early to call.

Half-backs can make forwards & backs look good or bad. We have had no half-backs with speed or guile since Danny Brough left. (Tim Smith had guile) Flynn is too slow & supporters who said we should not have bought him, have been proved correct. It is better to have quality over quantity every time! We have got a larger squad but very little quality in the half-backs, where it matters.

That was my first thought too which made the loss at Cas by such a margin and in such a way difficult to understand. Fitness is there and attitude was evident against Widnes all 80 minutes and the first 20 yesterday seemed very equal so I just don't understand what the reason was.

Even bigger mystery is why if he was such a key player as you suggest Cas were quite happy to release him whilst he was still on contract.

Good comment. I am not one for wholesale changes but clearly the halfbacks are already identified as a problem area. So, do we part them and find a place for Hall? In my opinion if we can get it out of him, he has more skill than Miller and Finn together !

Indeed so needing time to gel can't be used as an excuse as was my point. Many teams have new conbinations at this time of year so rule out that as the problem. We didn't beat widnes because we wasn't quite good enough to on the day, simple as. Cas are a mile away from us anyway. Next week will be a fairer reflection of where we are and fwiw i think we will win.

So true. Our recruitment has gone down hill since we dropped Kears policy of signing the decent Championship players, trouble is you need a coach that has knowledge of these players. Signing proven super league failures can only to lead to one conclusion. We must be the only team thats ever got rid of of an 18 year old for not been good enough and then resign him 15 years later at the back end of a mediocre career.

From the reports from people who went yesterday, it seems that Gale was running the show.
Is this why Finn is being singled out for criticism?
Because at Cas he was playing alongside a creative half, whilst he went about his business.
Unfortunately Miller is not a creator, or will run the game, he is more of an individual, who may back up a break or latch onto the pass out of the tackle.
Finding another Gale, Kelly, Campese or even Lui, that's another thing.

England is a cast off but is clearly a good signing for us.
Howarth is a cast off after already being cast off but he's proving very valuable (in fact our top try scorer right now!)
Moore was a cast off but was instalment in keeping us in Super League (playing injured when he didn't have to)

BJB hasn't had opportunity to show his running skills yet but was pretty much seen as a great signing for Wakefield by all the media and most on here.

Arona isn't doing badly and whether he turns out to be good or not Tupou has been an Australian international. You can't say it wasn't a good shot at a signing.

I know you always look on the bright side and try and defend the club at all times. I think most people would agree that all our signings are not bad. We do have some good players to build a half decent team around . My argument is we also have too much
mediocrity and could loose at least 5 players from our squad who will probably hardly play or figure this season.

Also we are lacking 2 or 3 class players to build the team around. We have tried to cut corners and cost all over the park and
it looks like that formula will not work. A couple of bits of quality in the right area and this team of ours would look a much better
squad. However if we stick with what we have I do not feel optimistic.

I don't always defend the club, there are plenty of things, and personnel I'd change if I was in charge but I do see more bright side than some on here.

What I am pointing out is that it isn't as black and white as has been implied.
The signings were made based on the finances we have. Some of them have proved to be good. Some of them have yet to show if they have anything at all.
That is not the same as our recruitment was bad.

And in terms of depth we will have to have some players who don't play this year. Partly to keep them if they are young, and partly to have a fall back if we get injuries. It's building a team class 101.

I am disappointed the team is not doing better, but I am not ready to believe they are all rubbish and destined for relegation.

Calm down, when you won at Leeds in the boxing day friendly, you were heading for the top 4 !

Until our pack starts to get used to this new system BS is trying to play our halves will continue to look very poor. Hopefully it clicks soon and if the pack start to get some go forward we might start to see a lot more from them.
its early days.

No, we thought we would finish above Leeds. And we are still right about that!

I do hope so. Smith has definitely changed the point of attack and I can see it working if the guys can pick it up but it will require quicker passes.
I remember when McDermott first came to Leeds he changed their system and they looked all over the place. When they got it they beat all comers.

Time will tell.

Which system would that be? I've yet to see any form of system, that is worryingly, the actual point.

A.Toupou looks have good hands and maybe has played at 6? However, he was knackered after the warm up on Sunday.

In fairness, theoretically Finn/Miller could compliment each other really well. I'd be interested to see what they can do if we manage to get a bit of space to operate up the middle, not really had a platform so far, playing behind a beaten pack in both games, particularly at the Cas game.

Not sure about Hall, if he's gonna go at 7 then we need to be sure he can focus for the whole game instead of drifting in and out which was his MO last year.

Bit early to talk about relegation, however I admit it doesn't bode well! But it does make me cringe when people take to social media after a couple of games, calling for the sacking of the coach, getting rid of players and general short sighted moans. All this negativity rubs off on the players and is bound to contribute in letting their heads drop, when we need to keep the positive buzz going that we had in pre-season if we are to get anywhere.

Mate, are you being serious?!! You are suggesting that players read stuff on social media, then that affects their performance on match day?!

If they can't take criticism, and that includes the coaching staff, they should seek alternative employment. They are paid way more than the majority of people on this site, and are supposedly doing a 'job' they love. Why are there so many negative comments on here? Ermmm that will be mainly because their 'performances' on the field are of a negative nature, unless of course you think generally over the last 18 months the performances and results have been positive?

I am being serious. We're two games in, and people are banging on about bringing John Kear back, our imports are garbage (even though they've barely got going), we're doomed etc. If things are still like this a month or two down the line, then fair enough.
Considering alot of the players are on social media, then yes they will read stuff. I'm not saying a player reads a mean Tweet and that sets them up for a bad game. I'm saying the whole vibe of being lambasted by constant negativity can't do anyone any good, no matter what job you do or how much you get paid - a positive morale has a big effect in any team. I'm not saying they don't deserve criticism either, what I'm saying is lets not jump on the bandwagon before it's barely got going.

So where is the positive morale being shown in the team's performances on the field then? Surely this is 'created' by the coaching staff and the players themselves? Pre-season you would hope to gain some valuable 'bonding' time, even though I hate to use that word. If we had performed better in the first two games, not necessarily won them, but actually looked like some progress was being made, then there wouldn't be as much criticism? Although I agree that some will do that no matter what. Most are simply responding to what they see unfold in front of their eyes, so if they perform better, then comments will be generally more positive?! Surely the way the players perform dictates what kind of media reaction will follow?

I thought unlike most if the team his defence was very good on Sunday.

Junior Moors and Ben Roberts were pretty shoddy for about the first 15 rounds of last season whilst they got used to the conditions and style of super league.

People saying "they've had a whole pre-season" is a little unfair on your new guys