Giants v Warrington

All the talk seems to be about Leeds next weekend but there's another massive game this weekend against Warrington. Would you rest anyone in preparation for next weeks do or die game or keep the same team? Has anyone taken up on the £25 for 2 games offer? If we aren't considered one of the big boys yet surely a win on Sunday will put us up there with them.

No changes Keep the momentum for me. faiumu is out so robbo will have to cover at hooker with grix going into halves-not ideal but it is what it is. Not many outside the giants expect us to win this- they didn't expect us to win in France either- even if we win noone will be convinced, the measure will then be the cup game, then magic weekend ..... Etc etc

Don't mess around with Grix, HE IS A FULL BACK, give a kid a chance as interchange hooker

We have two reserve grade hookers who were playing for U16 last year so will only be 16 or 17- I suspect they played this week too. Kruise leeming isn't ready to step up just yet. I agree I prefer grix at FB and he clearly prefers playing there but we have the following options.

Have lunt play long mins and Play leeming for a few minutes as with Dwyer.
Have Lunt play full 80.
Have Lunt play long minutes and have robbo at 9 grix 7 etc to give him a breather (as we have been doing already this season)
Bring jake Connor into the side and have Lunt/ robbo at 9

Personally I'd rather go with the fourth option but I suspect PA will go with the third as the players will be more familiar with it.

Jools wrote:

We have two reserve grade hookers who were playing for U16 last year so will only be 16 or 17- I suspect they played this week too. Kruise leeming isn't ready to step up just yet. I agree I prefer grix at FB and he clearly prefers playing there but we have the following options.

Have lunt play long mins and Play leeming for a few minutes as with Dwyer.
Have Lunt play full 80.
Have Lunt play long minutes and have robbo at 9 grix 7 etc to give him a breather (as we have been doing already this season)
Bring jake Connor into the side and have Lunt/ robbo at 9

Personally I'd rather go with the fourth option but I suspect PA will go with the third as the players will be more familiar with it.

Option 4

Leeming in the 19,so it looks like it will be option 1.

Tough debut for the young man,but PA must think he's up to it.Right call for mine,as it means the least disruption.A couple of short spells in at dummy half,he hopefully should be okay.

No Wardle,so there will have to be a shuffle of the threequarters.

No Ferres neither,that's gonna hurt us,been outstanding so far.

1. Scott Grix
3. Leroy Cudjoe
5. Jermaine McGillvary
6. Danny Brough
7. Luke Robinson
8. Eorl Crabtree
9. Shaun Lunt
10. Craig Kopczak
14. Michael Lawrence
15. Larne Patrick
16. Jason Chan
17. Ukuma Ta'ai
18. Aaron Murphy
19. Jamie Cording
21. Dale Ferguson
22. Anthony Mullally
23. Matty Dawson
27. Ben Blackmore
31. Kruise Leeming

Keeping that so far brilliant left hand edge fresh for the cup game!

Fearing for our chances in this one now.

Ferres has been our best go to attacker,one handed offloads etc.Not sure how they will re-jig today.Chan normally operates on the right,which means they may have to switch Bruno to left back-row,we all know Bruno's strength is his defence..

When we go to our attacking structures in the red zone,we have looked disjointed for too much of this campaign,that's why I am not over confident having lost the individual threat of Ferres.Hopefully today is the day when it all clicks when we go to structure.

Also our halves look to hit the front runner much too often imo,it's often 75% hit front runner,and 25% the sweep,when for me it should be the other way around,if that's the gameplan fair enough,but for my twopennerth it is the wrong approach when you have such a dangerous set of outside backs,especially the Cudjoe/McGillvary edge.

Probably Murphy in for Wardle at centre & Dawson to wing.Smurph has got some of the safest hands in the SL,shame we have not got another centre to draft in then AM could stay out on the wing.

Warrington will be targetting Robinson no doubt,we need to get to grips with their back rowers when they run wide,as on the back of their metres Wolves are then the best at the structured shift right across the width of the field.

With chan and Bruno at second row we have two IMO of the best defending second rowers in the competition. With those covering wires second rowers I feel confident we can close down their attack along the line- the danger will be the kick or long cut out pass to the wings as mcgilvray is still leaving too much space on the edges and Dawson is inexperienced.
We will definitely miss wardle and ferres ability to break the line so we need to play very much to our strengths. Chan runs excellent lines- as can larne and I agree we need to utilise those second runners more often in this game. Eorl and taai need to draw the defence then offload - eorl plays it too safe at times. From what I've seen so far taai can handle the ball very well and the last thing wire will expect is him to pass- so use it! Id kick to hodgson all day, try to isolate him so he has to take the tackle (hard and often) Our tactics will play a very big part in this game I feel.

Well the sun is out so no excuses from Ukuma today.This is the game where we need him to show us what he is all about in a positive sense.

Our defence up the middle of the ruck needs to be like it was at the start of the campaign,the bearhugging ballnallers on first contact.Seemed to be missing for much of last week that type of defence.

Agree lets have a good chase try and make Brett carry the ball into collision often.

Also be aware they will be trying to charege down our kicking game.

COYG

Ukuma,sun out,sun in,still pish.Very poor no aggression in his ball carries.

Get rid of his wages and try and sign a scrum half who is capable of putting runners into gaps.Robbo is not big enough to play 7 anymore,the game has moved on,a scrum half now has to be able to take the hits at the final second before offload.

But not just Lukes fault our attacking structure has been poor all year - just total confusion.

Where do you start with a show like that, Once again our much vaunted pack, who were going to dominate other teams failed to turn up, Ok Grix gifted them a try, The officials missed numerous forward passes, We continued to give away endless penalties even though it was obvious that Thaler was going to jump on us, But all that was nothing compare to the drubbing the forwards got, Warrington just went 50/60 yards on every sett without seeming to break sweat, On days like today the Giants pack just look like a second rate , i don't give a s**t outfit, who don't believe they have any chance.
I'm sure they don't have that attitude really, at least i hope they don't but you have to wonder why they can defend like they did against Wigan, grind it out against Hull and beat the odds against Catalan, and yet turn in shows like today when they look distinctly poor , In fact poor doesn't really say it.
I would have been satisfied with a loss today, if we had given them a game, but to be honest if i were one of the people who had been persuaded to go today , i wouldn't be there again next week, There was a decent crowd , with not that many from Warrington, but unfortunately the team do themselves or KD no favors. Still we usually play better against Leeds than Wolves , It almost looked at times as though they had written that game off today, I'm sure they hadn't but they will have to improve massively for next week.

1100 from Warrington according to turnstiles, typical that giants support turn up to see a poor performance. It was obvious from early on they all had an eye on next week. Eorl had the poorest game I've seen for a long time. Saw fooey after the game - my kids decided to bother him in a restaurant- he was very good about it and after I'd told them to leave him alone he came over to speak to them. I asked about his injury, rib cartilage popped out -recurrence of an old injury. He says its the kind of injury that you can't tell a time, he could play bandaged up next week they will make the decision later in the week- but could be 2 -4 weeks

I attach no significance to yesterdays result or game.

The team selection and the players know there is a bigger and more important game next week.

Those players who played badly yesterday (and there were at least five) will have a kick up the arris and know they have to perform better next week.

Get behind the team for the Leeds game and we can judge where we are after that one.
If we win next week everyone will forget the wire result.

Durham Giant wrote:

I attach no significance to yesterdays result or game.

The team selection and the players know there is a bigger and more important game next week.

Those players who played badly yesterday (and there were at least five) will have a kick up the arris and know they have to perform better next week.

Get behind the team for the Leeds game and we can judge where we are after that one.
If we win next week everyone will forget the wire result.

Don't think it's quite as straightforward as that,yesterday was another example of how certain teams (Wire,Wigan and Leeds) can up the intensity when it matters,and we showed yet again we were unable to live with it.Bo's correct our forwards took an awful drubbing,and the Wire edge defence didn't give us a sniff neither.It was crying out for someone like Ukuma to really take it to the Wire forwards,knock them backwards,get us a quick play the ball but it just never happened.Whereas from their first set onwards they were rolling forward dominating the collision and getting quick ptb's.It was so one sided a contest it was a bit embarrassing.Then after the schoolboy errors heads dropped and we became almost a shambles.Ferres and Wardle were missed very badly,a problem again that the fringe players in our squad have yet to prove themselves as adequate replacements.

Not sure what the point is of starting Larne Patrick,then dragging him off quite early.

It's a problem that the coaching staff are going to have to try to get to grips with,or it's going to be another trophy less season.

Depressing realisation that we seem to be coming up short,over it already and will be there next Saturday,when I hope at least our pack competes,even if we do bow out.

Beat Saints - Wigan - Leeds away etc etc
Lose to Sallford
Beat a big pack in France - and with 10 men
Play like pansies against the old enemy !!

PA really has his hands full to get some consistency going

and KD will need hypnotherapy if this isnt stopped !!

But as weve said BO --nowt new

I was looking forward to some good old biff and bash intensity and a good performance even if we lost to get the supporters through the turnstiles for next week

Miss very few home games --but quite honestly felt so "down" travelling home

More boring performance than weeding.......................

Ah well...................theres always next week ..........................and that showing yesterday wasnt worth £8-00 ! - and we want em to return !!..............
Dire! Nothing more to be said

and as for reffing standards .........................dont get me going on that! Misrepresentation!!

As far as standards go --there REALLY are better neutral refs in the amateur game!!

Durham Giant wrote:

I attach no significance to yesterdays result or game.

The team selection and the players know there is a bigger and more important game next week.

Those players who played badly yesterday (and there were at least five) will have a kick up the arris and know they have to perform better next week.

Get behind the team for the Leeds game and we can judge where we are after that one.
If we win next week everyone will forget the wire result.

I find that a very strange post Durham, Why has everyone been running round trying to get extra people there to get behind the team , if the game has no significance, It will have some if we finish 5th instead of 4th.

So the message is get down for the Leeds game ,forget that game, they wern't bothered about it, so let them get a b**********ing and we all move on, The C Cup is what we really care about.

That''s not the way i see things I'm afraid, I saw that as the opportunity, to put in a really strong performance aganst a good side (even if we lost ) to show we are at their level and we are not likely to implode like the last two seasons,
Unfortunatly they just showed the entire opposite. there must have been over 7000 Fartown fans there yesterday, who knows how many will be there next week.
If you are prepared to drive a long way home after a show like that and console yourself that it didn't matter, cause we have a cup game next week, well i can't fault your support , But if the crowd is down next week, look no further than yesterdays insignificant game where over 8000 turned up .

Luckily we are up against a team with a decent away following so we should still be ok. A win in this match would be priceless, but win or lose we have to get stuck in and give them a game, We also have a much better record against Leeds than Wire, so all is not lost yet . If they turn up with yesterdays attitude the Rhino's pack will just mullar them.

I agree completely Bo.
Whatever the outcome next week we are going to be embarressed. 3000 in two stands - less than the away support.
I persuaded some stayaways to come yesterday - they were so disgusted by the effort on the pitch and the fact the catering ran out that they left before half time. They won't now be using their tickets for next week!
I imagine many others who may have bought tickets on their way out wont be doing so now.
The "Leeds" style attitude of "we play when it matters" doesn't work for a team who have failed to deliver time and again- and I think is part of the reason attendances are down everywhere. If that really is the way this game was approached it stinks.

BO JANGLES wrote:

Durham Giant wrote:

I attach no significance to yesterdays result or game.

The team selection and the players know there is a bigger and more important game next week.

Those players who played badly yesterday (and there were at least five) will have a kick up the arris and know they have to perform better next week.

Get behind the team for the Leeds game and we can judge where we are after that one.
If we win next week everyone will forget the wire result.

I find that a very strange post Durham, Why has everyone been running round trying to get extra people there to get behind the team , if the game has no significance, It will have some if we finish 5th instead of 4th.

So the message is get down for the Leeds game ,forget that game, they wern't bothered about it, so let them get a b**********ing and we all move on, The C Cup is what we really care about.

That''s not the way i see things I'm afraid, I saw that as the opportunity, to put in a really strong performance aganst a good side (even if we lost ) to show we are at their level and we are not likely to implode like the last two seasons,
Unfortunatly they just showed the entire opposite. there must have been over 7000 Fartown fans there yesterday, who knows how many will be there next week.
If you are prepared to drive a long way home after a show like that and console yourself that it didn't matter, cause we have a cup game next week, well i can't fault your support , But if the crowd is down next week, look no further than yesterdays insignificant game where over 8000 turned up .

Luckily we are up against a team with a decent away following so we should still be ok. A win in this match would be priceless, but win or lose we have to get stuck in and give them a game, We also have a much better record against Leeds than Wire, so all is not lost yet . If they turn up with yesterdays attitude the Rhino's pack will just mullar them.

I accept your point about it being a disappointment for the crowd and the fact that yesterday was a big day for attracting new fans but i would guess that it was planned weeks if not months ago so they could not change the timing of it.


And as far driving home i was prety peed off ( i am usually a right grumpy effer after we have lost, you just need to ask my family !!!!)

The point is that if Wire had been playing Wigan next week instead oif Salford they would not have played with the intensity they did yesterday. If we had been playing Workington next week we might have come out on top against Wire yesterday.

We are still ahead of wire and Leeds.

If we win next week we are still in the chase for two trophies.
And still have chance for both
If we lose next week and Leeds and Wire get to the final then that is an extra three big games that they will have to play. That will catch up with them at the end of the season as we will have three weeks off. It is now very hard for any team to do the double.

Leeds also have their two re-arranged games to fit in. If Leeds get to the final of the CC i think they will fade by the time of the playoffs.

Any team that gets to the CC final is likely to lose SL points which will be to our advantage come the end of the season.

The key to a good team is to be able to play when the pressure is on. The CC games and the three or four games in the playoffs are the pressure games.

Would you complain if we lost another 6 games but won the Grand Final ? That is what Leeds did for the last two years. Peak at the right time. If we win next week then i am sure we will all have forgotten about yesterday.

Last season we did the double over the team that won the Grand Final Leeds. So Wire have done the double over us so far. If it means we win one final or semi final against them i will be happy.

Durham Giant wrote:

BO JANGLES wrote:

Durham Giant wrote:

I attach no significance to yesterdays result or game.

The team selection and the players know there is a bigger and more important game next week.

Those players who played badly yesterday (and there were at least five) will have a kick up the arris and know they have to perform better next week.

Get behind the team for the Leeds game and we can judge where we are after that one.
If we win next week everyone will forget the wire result.

I find that a very strange post Durham, Why has everyone been running round trying to get extra people there to get behind the team , if the game has no significance, It will have some if we finish 5th instead of 4th.

So the message is get down for the Leeds game ,forget that game, they wern't bothered about it, so let them get a b**********ing and we all move on, The C Cup is what we really care about.

That''s not the way i see things I'm afraid, I saw that as the opportunity, to put in a really strong performance aganst a good side (even if we lost ) to show we are at their level and we are not likely to implode like the last two seasons,
Unfortunatly they just showed the entire opposite. there must have been over 7000 Fartown fans there yesterday, who knows how many will be there next week.
If you are prepared to drive a long way home after a show like that and console yourself that it didn't matter, cause we have a cup game next week, well i can't fault your support , But if the crowd is down next week, look no further than yesterdays insignificant game where over 8000 turned up .

Luckily we are up against a team with a decent away following so we should still be ok. A win in this match would be priceless, but win or lose we have to get stuck in and give them a game, We also have a much better record against Leeds than Wire, so all is not lost yet . If they turn up with yesterdays attitude the Rhino's pack will just mullar them.

I accept your point about it being a disappointment for the crowd and the fact that yesterday was a big day for attracting new fans but i would guess that it was planned weeks if not months ago so they could not change the timing of it.


And as far driving home i was prety peed off ( i am usually a right grumpy effer after we have lost, you just need to ask my family !!!!)

The point is that if Wire had been playing Wigan next week instead oif Salford they would not have played with the intensity they did yesterday. If we had been playing Workington next week we might have come out on top against Wire yesterday.

We are still ahead of wire and Leeds.

If we win next week we are still in the chase for two trophies.
And still have chance for both
If we lose next week and Leeds and Wire get to the final then that is an extra three big games that they will have to play. That will catch up with them at the end of the season as we will have three weeks off. It is now very hard for any team to do the double.

Leeds also have their two re-arranged games to fit in. If Leeds get to the final of the CC i think they will fade by the time of the playoffs.

Any team that gets to the CC final is likely to lose SL points which will be to our advantage come the end of the season.

The key to a good team is to be able to play when the pressure is on. The CC games and the three or four games in the playoffs are the pressure games.

Would you complain if we lost another 6 games but won the Grand Final ? That is what Leeds did for the last two years. Peak at the right time. If we win next week then i am sure we will all have forgotten about yesterday.

Last season we did the double over the team that won the Grand Final Leeds. So Wire have done the double over us so far. If it means we win one final or semi final against them i will be happy.

I have to admire your optimism Durham, and i would recommend you take up politics if your not already in it.
Your post is full of the same sort of gobbledygook as they talk, Its based mostly on a lot of Ifs and conjecture, sort of like what might have happened in a Poker game if the cards had fallen differently,
But the fact is that no matter who Wigan , Warrington, Workington or anyone else is playing next week, it won't alter the abysmal performance by the players yesterday.

You ask if i would complain if we lost another 6 matches, I am not to bothered about losing , at least against the better sides, what bothers me is the manner of the defeat in front of a good crowd, People will just think, The next time KD makes an appeal ,Let him start in the dressing room.
As regards winning the GF ,the league or the CC, there's not a lot i wouldn't give for any one of them,
but one again you quote Leeds and us doing the double over them last season, As i remember we also lost to Salford Widnes and just about every other team below us in the league,

It was Leeds who rose to the occasion when the pressure was on ( despite us beating them twice ) and the Giants who collapsed, I do get what your point is though , you are saying if we win all our playoff games it matters not what we were like mid season, except playing in front of crowds of 3.000 ( which is what we will have on shows like yesterdays ) is not sustainable for very long.

For me there are basically 2 reasons people go to games, one reason is to watch there side win, and a lot of ( mainly younger people i would guess ) don't care how they do it, if they don't win ,then they start to look around for some-one to blame, It's the ref or the weather or the injuries at a bad time, or whatever, But there are others who just want to see good Rugby, Yes of course they want to see their team win, but they want to see class players giving it there best shot.

The warrington team yesterday wanted to win that game for some-one ,Tony smith, the owner, somebody.
I wonder how many of the Giants team could look KD in the face at full time. And if by any chance it was all planed and they are targeting certain games and writing off others as not being significant at this stage, Then there is only one way they are going as a club.

They really must give every game their best, show people they mean to be the best,and people will find the money to go watch them, people like me will anyway, telling us in the Examiner how they have let us and themselves down doesn't work any more, If people don't respond to a guy like KD who has laid everything on the line for the club, they are not going to fall for the tosh in the local paper.

Lets hope it was just another very bad day at the office, we still have everything to play for, which i guess is the point you were making

Why all the negativity? So far this season we've hammered Saints and Leeds away, beat Wigan at home and ground out a tough game in France with 12 men that will have taken it's toll on the players. Our under strength team yesterday put in the effort but fell short on execution. We were right in it until Thaler took control with his whistle given us nothing and helping them nearer to our line. Once Wire had got out of sight he then started giving us penalties to even it up which was too late as Wire were full of confidence by then. Grix had a poor game which is his first for quite a while yet Robbo has been poor most of the season. Next week Ferres and Wardle will be back to add more to our attack and defence.

i thought we lost the battle in the forwards... Ratchford and Higham bossed the show because Warringtons forwards ( all of them) were dominant. I got the feeling before the game that the club felt the Leeds game was more important, but im not so sure..... we need a top 2 finish in the League to have the remotest chance, we wont progress from anywhere below 4th...

I think the negativity isn't due to the fact we lost - but the manner in which we lost. Our pack was completely dominated in all aspects, yet we still continued to try and hammer wire up the middle without attempting the offload - our attack wasn't just one dimensional it was non existent. We didnt show the attacking prowess we had against saints or Leeds and Our defence didn't show the same resolve they did against wigan. I wish to god someone would put a chain round Jerrys ankle and attach it to a rail along the touchline to keep him from leaving the huge space on our edge for opposition to stroll through- he never seems to learn from his mistake in this area.

ponner wrote:

Why all the negativity? So far this season we've hammered Saints and Leeds away, beat Wigan at home and ground out a tough game in France with 12 men that will have taken it's toll on the players. Our under strength team yesterday put in the effort but fell short on execution. We were right in it until Thaler took control with his whistle given us nothing and helping them nearer to our line. Once Wire had got out of sight he then started giving us penalties to even it up which was too late as Wire were full of confidence by then. Grix had a poor game which is his first for quite a while yet Robbo has been poor most of the season. Next week Ferres and Wardle will be back to add more to our attack and defence.

Nobody is knocking the giants for their efforts in the games you have mentioned, in fact i have already mentioned the same games giving them credit for them.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree about yesterday, but if you can convince yourself that it was somehow all down to Thaler conspiring against us by giving us penalties at the wrong time , well fair enough.
What i saw was Wire full of confidence because they completely dominated our pack from the word go, they were making 50/60/70 yds on almost every set, Their two halves and Higham had a field day on the back of it. If you saw something different, you must have watched a different game to me.

I did not come away from Sundays game dissapointed. We scored 12 points we did not manage to do that in the past three games against them and i thought it was Warringtons defence which won them the game. Attacking i don't think they were much better than us the difference being when the mishandled/dropped the ball it went backwards or was reefed out. That is just the luck of the green. We gifted warrington try after try. Brough sin-binning just showed the players were just as frustrated as the fans with some of the calls, saying that though you cannot shout/swear at the touch judge when you are supposed to be setting an example as captain plus it was in front of all the young kids that came to do the half time dance. Any way the best teams can bounce back and lets hope we can do just that against the Rhinos on sat!