Results so far:
Friday:
Wigan 16- 26 Hull KR
Saints 34 - 22 Bradford
Sadly, once again the game will not be the talking point because of that knobhead Terry Newton. Once again, he has assaulted one of our players, and although Wilkin is far from whiter than white it was a cowardly assault. Gobshite. Hopefully he will get another big ban but it wasn't as bad as the incidents at the Jamie Jones Buchannan 2 years ago.
It's a shame because in the first 25 - 30 minutes our game was about as perfect as you're going to get. Absolutely top drawer, I don't think much of Bradford as a team this season but they were confident, you could tell that, but they got absolutely slaughtered tonight by James Roby. That boy is some player, and he still has a lot to learn yet as well. He's got bigger but kept the same electric pace which makes him such a nightmare to deal with. He kept getting us over the advantage line with his quick scoots and he is learning the wizardry of Cunningham at a rapid, rapid rate. Best youngster on Earth? I think so.
Our ball handling was superb today. We kept moving the ball wide and the Bulls couldn't handle it at all. Before they could blink we had raced into a 28 point lead. That's impressive against anyone, let alone the competition's form team. We have been playing a lot of one man rugby this season but not tonight. That was a masterclass. The Gilmour try was absolutely stunning, a fabulous try but then again they were all great tries.
What was a bit worrying was the way we switched off after that. The try had been coming for a while before it finally arrived, because we weren't completing our sets. Cardinal sin. We kept coughing the ball up and we got punished for it. We were feeling last week a bit just before half time as well, I thought, they were getting over the advantage line. But how much do they depend on Solamona? He's more creative than Deacon or Harris, and that's not good for the Bulls which is why their good start to the season doesn't worry me too much.
Second half was much more of an arm wrestle. It was great to see Tyrer notch up a try, it was a great dummy and step from Wilkin to put him away and it was well finished. He has come on an awful lot since he made his debut last season when he was getting mashed all over the place. He does look very, very promising and to boot, he's a goalkicker. I doubt the team will be arranged in the way it is at the moment for too long unless the injuries persist but from what I have seen so far... we're becoming a bit of a production line. And unlike the mutants over the lump, our kids play for us, not Huddersfield, Salford, Leigh and Widnes.
The final score did flatter them a lot I think, I thought we were much better than them overall and not just 12 points. We had to absolutely tackle our plums off and we did well enough, good scrambling defence. Sadly the games just aren't going to get easier and there'll be some bumps and bruises tonight (poor Ade Gardner!) but that was good stuff from the boys tonight and it's a win we should be very, very pleased.
MOM is easy - Roby. Single handedly took Bradford to pieces in the first half.
