v Swinton

Tomkins and Josh Wood not fully training yet.
Unusual warm up game in that there were few interchanges. Sio not in the squad.
In the first half,Mossop and Dudson were prominent but replaced at half time.
Obviously Lui,Hastings,Lussick and Evalds were outstanding.
Bibby May be superfit,have had a great pre season and be awarded the 5 shirt,but is simply not quick enough on the wing. His future is as a centre.
After half time he brought on Ben,Griffin,McCarthy in the pack. Changed the wingers,Johnson scoring 2 tries and looking very lively. Olpherts nearly went full length but also dropped a high ball.
We looked well drilled and it was a decent work out.
Highlight for me was the young lad who came on as hooker. Had a great cameo performance but he’d be mullered,I’d have thought,against the bigger teams but he was a breath of fresh air.
Overall my worry is the lack of size in the pack other than those in the starting 6.
Really enjoyed the game because they didn’t dick about with constant substitutions

One strange thing about the new infringement rule. After a knock on even when the opposing team recovers the ball and makes good progress with the ball, the ref blows and brings them back. So even the ex advantage rule not used ie the one that was used pre the free play rule.
Or perhaps is was today's ref.

Thought we'd done the HB debate to death? We haven't got the cash to carry extra bodies so God forbid Lui & Jacko are out for any length of time. Wood will cover 6,7 & 9 and we'll just have to use Flash in emergency.

Whilst Evalds has to play FB, I'm sure he can do a job at 6 for a couple of games and we have ample cover in the backline to slot someone like Sio in at FB.

As for yesterday's game it just showed the gulf between the divisions. Had we been clinical on 2 or 3 occasions and nailed a few more kicks we could easily have racked up 70 points. If our pack (which has lost size in the off season) can hold their own we have a spine that can cause damage to any team in SL. Without being biased, our 1,6,7 & 9 matches up with pretty any other in SL and behind a destructive pack they'd be pretty much unplayable

Agree with comments re: Bibby as well. I like the lad, he just lacks the extra bit of pace to make a top quality back and not quite big enough to be a regular in the 2nd row. He's a cracking utility player though and definitely adds to the squad.

Finally, how refreshing was it to see the young lad make his debut?! Saw him warming up and genuinely feared for his safety when he got on the pitch! Made a couple of cracking breaks though and looks a talent. Hopefully he gets the time to develop like Wood did and we could have unearthed ourself a real gem.
Well done Connor Davies-Aspey and here's to seeing you pull on that famous red jersey for years to come!!!👏👏👏

Erm good question! Think he only came on for on for the last 15-20 mins and didn't really notice him touch the ball if I'm honest. Maybe someone else can set me straight if I missed anything!

Reminded me of Josh Wood when he started out. If memory serves me correctly his debut was at Dewsbury and he got trampled on a few times by the lard bucket that is Karl Pryce!😂 Was adamant he wasn't up to it but how wrong I was and more than happy to admit it now!!

Think it'll be a 2/3 year gradual drip feed into 1st team action for the lad. Can see him going out on loan a few times along with getting him bulked up sufficiently to cope with the demands of adult rugby. Plenty of time though and if he's earmarked as a future #9 who better to work with than the likes of Lussick while he's here.

Surprised he's not gone back to York, Maybe his Injury was a Really serious.

A bot chilli at the Mo for cycling around on a Tangent. 🚵‍♂️

Ask about Brining as can you imagine having him still this new kid might not have come on the radar.