Today's Game

[Lis113]

Are we trying to hand the win to Saints?!?

[Big Dai]

Welcome back Mr Salvi. We missed you Soooooooo much. Bad day with the boot today George, but you tackled and pilfered above your size.

[Darc Tiger]

We would have won by a long way if Ford had brought his kicking boots. Very pleased by the effort put in, particularly in the pack and in defence. Just couldn't rack the 3 pointers up.

Salvi made a huge difference.

[tigerburnie]

Good confidence booster,I did fear our props might have been a bit short on match practice today, cracking result.

[Tigris]

Completely agree about Salvi though thought he was overused and undersized as a battering ram in the first half - his work at the breakdown was tremendous though.

Thought Castro played well - was worried after the first couple of scrums, but he came back well and was lively at times in the loose, think he needed that.

Pleased to get the win - very, very tight which it should not have been give the number of kickable penalties that Ford would normally put over in his sleep.

The Pisi's were nullified by Allen and Smith too - thought they might cause problems

[TigerLad]

Ford had a poor game with his kicking but I thought his kicking out of hand was decent. He had nice variation and was willing to try chips over the top and round the defense, this was aided by some good chasing. This will be a good experience for George in the long run, this is his first real setback and he needs to learn from this. I thought Goneva looked good when he came on, he runs great lines and he made 3 or 4 breaks. We definitely miss Thomas as he gives the team so much momentum, Thorpe sadly doesn't provide this and I didn't see anything special from him today. What happened to Deacon?

[Big Dai]

Deacs had a crocked shoulder. Bubbles tight quad...that's why gonneva came on.

[ancientmariner]

[quote="TigerLad"]Ford had a poor game with his kicking but I thought his kicking out of hand was decent.

Yes, that's all very well, but decent kicking out of hand doesn't balance five missed penalties - none of them particularly difficult. Some posters on this forum have been calling for Ford to replace Flood for some time - that doesn't look such a great idea now. The plain fact is that the nervy finish should never have occurred - we should have been out of sight in the final quarter.

[drc_007]

A bit of a wake up call for Ford, could have cost Tigers the game. Still allowed saints a lbp they did not deserve.

[Lammy]

Ford had a poor game with his kicking but I thought his kicking out of hand was decent.

Yes, that's all very well, but decent kicking out of hand doesn't balance five missed penalties - none of them particularly difficult. Some posters on this forum have been calling for Ford to replace Flood for some time - that doesn't look such a great idea now. The plain fact is that the nervy finish should never have occurred - we should have been out of sight in the final quarter.

I'm not sure about the kicking from hand........he missed touch with penalties twice. It was alarming how his confidence was affected. Nevermind, just wasn't his day today. He needs a good few weeks in a Tigers shirt now though as he is no threat to the ten shirt based on todays performance.

Thought Salvi was superb and Goneva really threatened from the minute he stepped on the pitch.
Must also be said, I thought Clark played well and stopped his players getting involved in any sillyness a few times. Seems to have learnt his lesson the hard way.

[tonyw]

Ford had a poor game with his kicking but I thought his kicking out of hand was decent.

Yes, that's all very well, but decent kicking out of hand doesn't balance five missed penalties - none of them particularly difficult. Some posters on this forum have been calling for Ford to replace Flood for some time - that doesn't look such a great idea now. The plain fact is that the nervy finish should never have occurred - we should have been out of sight in the final quarter.

Ford did have a poor game today but i think weeks sat on the bench is bound to leave him ring rusty. You can train and practice as much as you like but there is no experience for gametime and no i dont think he should replace Toby but i do think he should have been brought on for a few minutes in previous games to try to keep him up to pace.
He will get better with games.

[Granby]

Go on then, I'll say it.......

The Ref......... ..........what a shocker (for both sides).

[parkerd68]

But "game time" shouldn't really affect Ford's place kicking. Some of the connections sounded horrendous. I wondered for a while whether Cockers might have sent on Bowden.

My other concern was Chuter's throwing. He seemed incapable of throwing accurately beyond the front jumper. He used to be so reliable, but I was worried at the back end of last season that he was getting a bit wayward.

Makes me think that TY isn't so erratic.

And yes, I think the ref was poor. From what I could see, he missed a high tackle on Ford, a penalty for offside from a knock on, Mujati "accidentally in the way" of Kitchener to prevent a tackle, in a dangerous position too, amongst others. And that was just the obvious ones that I can remember as I type!

[Granby]

The danger of Cockers view that he just picks the EPS guys until they go away, without a thought of keeping people game sharp?

[TigerLad]

But "game time" shouldn't really affect Ford's place kicking. Some of the connections sounded horrendous. I wondered for a while whether Cockers might have sent on Bowden.

My other concern was Chuter's throwing. He seemed incapable of throwing accurately beyond the front jumper. He used to be so reliable, but I was worried at the back end of last season that he was getting a bit wayward.

Makes me think that TY isn't so erratic.

And yes, I think the ref was poor. From what I could see, he missed a high tackle on Ford, a penalty for offside from a knock on, Mujati "accidentally in the way" of Kitchener to prevent a tackle, in a dangerous position too, amongst others. And that was just the obvious ones that I can remember as I type!

I also saw a stains player tackle Matt Smith off the ball 5m away from the line. Allen offloaded and Smith was about to catch and score and stains player grabbed his arms and pulled him down, penalty try anyone? Also unless I'm mistaken refs can only go to the TMO for checking if it's a try or foul play in the build up to a try, he was going to the TMO to check if it was a high tackle or not. Are they allowed to do that?