poor old Deggsy had to cancel his appointment at the high court now what will he think up next to diss us for signing his best player

some better stuff today but too many woeful players in the patches where our heads go and we just chase shadows. Cartwright is going to be good for me if he gets a good preseason in and our two wingers went really well. Shame for Danny and Carlos but they both gave their all. Let's see now what happens next, precious little if Adams programme notes are anything to go by.

Yes there were headless chickens out there today, Catalans woke up when big Chris came on.
We clearly struggled once Houghton went off. He’s not a leader and our half backs are kids. Smith had a few brain farts but he’s not a half back either.
Martin and Barron continue shine.
We are bringing in leaders next season,
Players that have won big games.
I know the resident doom merchants will scoff but I think we will be ok next season.

I feared the worst when I saw the XVII but the effort in the first half coupled with some Catalans errors meant a hammering wasn't going to happen.

Kemp went well, Martin and Barron again look the part and Cartwright was very good.

What's the story with Briscoe? Has he just been ill for two weeks or is there more to this?

Can't fault the effort, main objective was to keep that scoreline down...job done.


First half thought we gave it a good go, 2nd half, sloppiness/tiredness set in, a few strange calls by the ref helped Catalans get a stranglehold on the match, including a blatent obstruction on their 3rd try when Fage made a break through the gap his team mate created moving in front of the fc player to stop him getting to Fages!


All in all.....thank god its over!

A better effort but need to keep perspective that it was a dead rubber, had Catalan neded the win it would have been another heavy score.

Liked the look of Kemp and Martin and Barron look settled as our wings now. I also think Moy has a big future and Cartwright makes more impact than what weve had at 2nd row for a while.

Now its time for the Men In Black to come and wipe this year from our minds.

Wondering about Briscoe too, and he also has a role to play next year aa Hardakers designated driver

Echo what everyone else has been saying.

Couldn't fault the effort, they all dug in and gave it a go, but we are in desperate need of a steadying hand in the middle of the park, especially with ball in hand. Some of our attacking options, where they even exist, often defy description in their sheer ineptitude, and we had plenty of further evidence of that once more this afternoon.

We were helped immeasurably by Catalans who clearly had every puff of wind taken out of their sails after last night's results, which made the game the very definition of a meaningless last outing of the year affair. It all became very scrappy and disjointed at times, not helped by some pedantic refereeing, especially in the second half. Everyone was waiting for the final hooter with some relief and boredom by the end.

I stayed back for the tributes to Danny and Carlos, which I thought were touching and moving and were well presented and heartfelt by all. Have to say I was becoming quite emotional as I watched these two men who played such pivotal roles in our 2016/17 success parade around the ground for one final time. Think I must be coming a sentimental old sod in my advancing years!
Let's hope, in the not too distant future, we can once more cheer on quality players who also make as outstanding a contribution to our club's history as Carlos and Danny have done down the years.

So that is 2024 over and done with. All that remains is to cheer on Wigan/Wire/Whoever to GF glory next month!!

We should have had the game tied up by half time ut yet again, lots of effort and no class. I agree with the poster who said we need an attacking coach as currently our attack is woeful.

2nd half we slipped I to old ways with I'll discipline

Forwards are a real worry again for next season. Middles of Sao, herman, Aydin and ashworth really not good enough especially once we get into the back up to those.

Herman his usual tower of strength, Cartwright good and the 2 wingers went OK. Moy, I just don't see it and think he'll end up 8n the championship.

Keep looked good for his first game, particularly first half. Looks a lot bigger than charles and better suited to superleague at this stage so no idea why we havent seen him play before.

Anyway, thank god its all over

I was surprised when I saw Kemp. Physically he's fully developed and he's only just turned 18. He looks a good prospect.

Charles was in the supporters bar before the game and looks really young when you see him up close. Fair play to h8m for standing up to huge forwards but he needs to go out on a seasons loan in the championship to develop.

I thought balmforth was poor today and when Houghton was off the ball out of dummy half nowhere near good enough

Poorest I've seen Balmforth today. Fresh start for all of them next year. Cartwright has no loyalty to anybody

Cartwright looks like he'll be good for us.

2 young lads on the wings went well too, hopefully they will be seen as our starting wingers next year.

Agree that the pack still needs some work and depth adding to it. Really don't get Will Gardiner, looks so out of place in a SL team.

Don't want to be too negative about young lads but at present I agree with the above poster about Gardiner. Need to hope a proper strength and conditioning coach can add just a few KGs onto him.
I also just don't see it with Jebson. He's a solid defender but with the ball he just offers nothing and looks far too lightweight to make any impact running the ball in. Only seems to get 10 minutes at the end of a game so I suppose it's not exactly enough time for him to make any type of mark.

Thought our pack didn't do bad yesterday, main issue was discipline (although we didn't get the rub of the green) and lack of creativity, hopefully both those will be addressed next year.

Add in Sao, Staveley, Holmes, Asiata and hopefully one more then I don't think we are too bad. Agree that Gardiner looks way out of depth, makes little metres, misses too many tackles and gives away too may penalties, stands out that he is not good enough, Grix sees something in him, but I'd rather play Laidlaw or Jebson (who got little minutes again).

Still think we have issues with the backs doing too much worth, Martin, Barron and Moy took nearly 60 hit ups, while the rest apart from Ese Ese do very little.

I have occasionally thought we have not been well coached but Smith getting caught on the 5th when he should have kicked, offsides, 6 agains is that just player responsibility? That said I think Smith is coachable to improve. Thought Moy, the wingers and Cartwright will be great for next season. Liked Kemp, Ashworths aggression and of course Eseese. Need a good spine so badly.Think things will be a lot better and fans will be back next season I’m sure but won’t win much for a while

you can add Laidlaw to those two
all destined for lower divisions
The strategy of relying on youth to take over in two years is a fallacy
The only two who look like making it are Barron and Martin
Moy is too small and lightweight to make a full back.Be better to give him a try at halfback or nine.
Lots of hype for Charles but given his run of games i didnt see any progression in his play which was disappointing.Think next season will determine whether he kicks on.

Two good young players a year is about the most even the clubs with great youth systems acheive. Not every player develops and makes it.

The problem with keeping older squad players like Gardner and Mitch (if he had been fit) is they block opportunities for the next set of youngsters and all these contracts add up on the salary cap.

God I love the ignore button…can have a good discussion and not get 2 numptys ruining it

What were they saying on the commentary yesterday?

Gardiner offers nothing, I don't want to be too harsh on a youngster (although he's not that young tbf) but in a year or two you will see him at Batley or Donny or somewhere similar. I tend to agree with you about Laidlaw too. His opportunities have been limited, but he's hardly pulled up trees when he has had a chance.

Martin already looks like a proper SL player, I fully expect him to get the 2 shirt next year. Barron has been the surprise package. A year ago I would have said he isn't good enough, but he's stepped up really well this season and if he is our other starting winger next year I'd be fine with that.

Moy definitely has something about him. He needs to bulk up a bit for sure, but being smaller didn't hold Shaul back, or Dufty, or several others you could name.

Charles is an interesting one. I thought he showed, especially in his first few games, that he had a bit of craft and creativity about him. But I think the week in week out grind of SL really took it's toll. Especially when he was playing in a team with no weapons and a pack that was getting trampled like a doormat every week. We need to see him in a better team to really judge.

Balmforth could be a star with the right coaching, and the one who has been forgotten a little but is potentially the best of the bunch is Staveley. He looked really good before his injury and I'm sure he would have been one of the stand outs if he stayed fit. One of our few players with natural size and power.

We shouldn't put all our eggs in this youth basket, but throw in the likes of Kemp, Westerman and Kirby and I reckon there's a fair chance that at least 4 or 5 of them will develop into high quality Superleague players. We can but hope.

yes we can hope but as a strategy hoping that four or five of the younger players come through in 2 years and make regular S/L players is flawed.
I agree that looking at Shaul or Dufty they look small but both are taller than Moy and look to be at least a stone heavier.What he does have is a bit of pace and it wouldnt surprise me to see him used in a different position next season but he definitely needs to add a lot of body weight without losing the pace he has.

He needs to do some hard work in the gym, absolutely, but I don't think his height is a big issue as long as he can get off the ground well which seems to be one of his strengths.

I also agree that we can't just gamble on this being a golden generation, it would be lovely if it was, and I do think there is a lot of talent coming through, but we need a contingency plan. I just hope we haven't damaged any of them with this disaster of a season. What we have done is no way to blood youngsters, there's no way guys like Charles and Moy should have been playing as many games as they did at this stage of their development. If they have the right character and mental toughness it could turn out to be making of them. But it could so easily go the other way and rip their confidence to shreds.

A stone heavier, I'd hope so, who would have thought a 19 year old in his first season would be lighter than a 28 year old who has played and trained at the top level for 10 years.

Dufty and Shaul are also 3 and 4cms taller than Moy, not hardly much at all.

He does need to put on a few kgs and work on a few aspects of his game, but you can't be too negative of him and think he has a real chance of making a good SL fullback.

Arthur Mourgue is the same height as Moy .