As a Wire fan - I agree with you. Our offensive defence was very good and winning the collision gave us the go-forward in both attack and defence.



I know there's a lot of doom and gloom on your board after last night - and many of the comments are valid - but you're 3rd in the league - something many other teams only aspire to.



No team has a devine right to always be top and obviously the coaching situation this year has been far from ideal.

It looks like a lot of focus has been on the new stadium and slightly less on the team - I'm not sure how many good youngsters you've got coming through but it's taken us 5+ years to get where we are now (you could argue even longer), but it's Smith that's pulled it all together with superb support from the board.



Not sure how long Brown is signed up for but obviously stability is key.



I must admit that for the 1st time for many many years I was quite relaxed with 20 mins to go and playing you !!

I've said for a while that Lomax is not a 7 and he's convincing me more by the day. The problem is I don't know what his position is. I used to think Full Back but he appears to have bulked quite alot and I don't think he has that explosive running game or creative side to him that good full backs have. Maybe he could slot in at 9 with Roby moving to 13 in future? I'm a bit stumped on this one to be honest. Hopefully Brown will bring him on next season, because he's stagnated this year.



As for other points made, we got dominated in every area. Our defence wasn't intense enough, we allowed Warrington far too much leeway when bringing the ball forward and I'm hoping Brown gets the players hitting harder and defending smarter next season.



Our forwards just don't do enough in the big games. Collectively we don't play well, too many players either aren't good enough or simply play poorly. The odd exception comes out playing well (usually Roby and I thought Clough yesterday), but our props in particular are far too inconsistent and not dominant enough in the big games. The rest of the team has no chance when the platform isn't being laid.



Our half backs are as bad as I've seen in the 20 years watching the club. We've had so many naturally gifted & creative players over the years starting from when I 1st started watching - Tea Ropati, Shane Cooper, Bobbie Goulding, Tommy Martyn, Sean Long and Leon Pryce. Now we have one natural half back in the squad and he's not even in the side (Lee Gaskell). I've already mentioned Lomax but Lance Hohaia, whilst being a decent player is never a half back in a million years and never will be. He doesn't have a kicking game, his passing isn't great, his organisational skills are non existant and he doesn't really have the rugby game to play in such a key positions. He has a running game and works hard, but that's about it for me. It was crucifying watching two headless chickens guide us around the park and when you have Wellens linking in at 3rd man, it's horrible to watch. Our ball movement is so pedestrian, the good sides deal with it easily. Our outside backs get no decent service and judging by their limited abilities, they require that space to do anything.



Possibly the worst part of our game right now is the kicking game. Nobody takes control of this area. Wilkin is basically playing three positions at the moment - half back, loose forward and back row and he's looking bad at times for it. Wilkin shouldn't be our primary go to man when it comes to the kicking game. There is no control over either our long or short kicking game and it's ultimately ending our sets really badly. It doesn't matter as much against the poorer sides but the big sides will eventually grind us down and work their up the field and win the territory battle.

It was very noticeable tbh. Saints jogged 3 steps in then stopped and waited for the collision, Warrington on the other had were aggressive in defence all night and put our players on their s which pretty much neutralised the Roby threat

Roby might as well not be on the pitch when our forwards put in displays like that, we need to win the impact and put them on the back foot in order to give robes his running game.

Wish they would play Lance at 9 and Roby at 13. Next season back 3 of Manu, Soliola and Roby could be lethal in open play away from the ruck area.

Agree what people are saying about Lomax, I would interchange him with Lance at No 9, which means Gaskell operating at scrum half. So that leaves an experienced no 6 a top priority.

Feel sorry for Wilkin at the moment, he seems to be plan B, when nothing works from the halfs give it to Wilko to come up with something.

Brown has got an enormous task next season in every aspect of our gameplay.

Im unsure about Wilkin, he gives his all in defence. In attack i want him to either be a strong running 2nd row or loose ball player, atm he is neither. He takes up the ball in one set, the next 3 he is throwing balls which make you wince. Also who told him he can kick, fair enough he puts in the odd good bomb, fine. But then he tries all the little grubbers or chip kicks which nearly always results in a 20m tap.

I've not been been a big fan of wilkin for sometime now, I won't knock his defensive effort but with ball in hand he's just a waste of space. He's just to small to be a running backrow and not clever enough to be a ball player.



I just wonder if he justifies his salary as a top tier player.

This is what I,m concerned about he does some work in offence that the halfs should be doing, then when it does;t work out we slate him for it. Do we expect him to make 40 tackles every match then expect him to be as good offensively as well, whilst Flannery who does less work in defence and offence gets off fairly lightly.



The question is would we be better or worse in the pack if Wilkin is not selected.

Personally i think Wilkin gets abit fustrated with play thats why he ends up throwing silly passes/ stupid kicks. if i have busted my gut and made 40/50 tackles a game the last thing you would want is playing one up rugby getting mullered by the opposition forwards set in set out.



With regards to if he was one of the top earners i would assume he is, is that disapointing, yes. He puts so much effort in, you cant question that, but what comes first effort or ability. Would Wilkin get into Warringtons packs yesterday, probaly not, will he be earning more than the likes of Hill, Cooper, McCarthy, Carvell, Harrison etc i would think so

Wilkin is being horribly diluted by having to play both 2nd row and halfback. He's a fantastic player who we are simply asking way too much of at the moment and his game is suffering as a result. He simply just isn't Scully and never will be. Letting him get back to running his channels and being a tackling machine and giving the handling and kicking to someone else next season is a top priority.



Hohaia isn't worthy of further debate - we all know it'll never work with him at #6 but that won't change until next year. We're stuck with a very round peg in a very square hole until the end of the playoffs and will have to make do. Hopefully he'll be lining up as an interchange hooker and covering #1 and, in an emergency, #6 next season where he clearly belongs.



Lomax is indeed a problem - I still think he's ultimately a #1 but we're massively oversubscribed in contenders for that position now. I start to wonder with his ever increasing bulk and our diminishing options out wide whether it might be worth giving him a spell at #4 again actually - he did alright there in his brief sojourn early last season and has all the attributes to make a really good centre if given time to settle in and our other alternatives for next season are looking a bit bleak. I think he'll still play #7 next year though as we haven't got anyone else to put in the shirt for now...

I think a lot is down to the coaching.

We are not seeing the best of many of the players, which you would think is a lot to do with man management.

Hopefully this is something Brown can sort out.

Wilkin is still a great player but I dont feel like he is getting used to his potential.

PT should be at prop.

not sure whats going on at 6 and 7 at times, but then Lance has had some good perfomances lately.



Wello gets absolutely slated when everything is going wrong, then when the team play well hes suddenly worth another contract.

Hes still a good player but you would think next year is his last year, and wouldnt be surprised to see a lot more of Makinson at full back next year.



All in all Saints have been very predictable and boring this year with no plan B and the sooner the season is over and Saints get back to playing the way saints should (entertaining) I will be happy.

And Ive read about putting Roby at 13



I couldnt agree more.

He could be devestating at 13. Hes almost wasted at Hooker.



11 soliola

12 manu

13 roby



NICE

I wouldn't say we need a Stand off, we need a Scrum Half. Jonny Lomax is an excellent stand off and operates very well there, his strengths are in taking on the line - the traditional role of a stand off. He is not on organiser / distributor / kicker - the role of a Scrum Half.

Not much difference in the positions these days but as a traditionalist I like to see primarily a runner at #6. We've got a few decent options at #6 still actually with Lomax, Gaskell, Wheeler (if you're being super optimistic he'll ever fulfil his potential - I've just about given up on him now) and Lance and Wilkin in an emergency. You can make a very good team out of that selection of #6s. Our big problem is most definitely #7 and has been ever since Eastmond sodded off to waste a couple of years of his career away in RU land. We simply have noone who can play the position effectively. We'll just have to hope that Brown has something up his sleeve that's all.