From today's League Express, even allowing for say a 10% error rate this tells a story:

Graham drives 20 metres 147
Puletua 13 - 111
Faasavalu 15 - 105
Hargreaves 5 -24

Total 53 - 387 (av 7.3)

Coley 16 - 94
Prescott 9 -61
Fielden 12 - 60
Paleaasina 11 - 63

Total 48 - 278
av 5.8

If you look at the stats regularly you need your props to be achieving 100 metres to win a game.

So no real surprises here - looking at these stats we did well to get close at the end.

It was lost when long put Tomkins in touch after he was tackled, we should of won the game IMO, Saints didn't take enough chances and we should of punished them!

We didn't help ourselves early in the 2nd half either when we kept dropping to much ball inside our own half giving us more tackling to do and unable to get in their half as much as we'd have liked. We just don't help ourselves at times in big games like these.

sorry not awake this morning!

see your point about the metres. Coley was our "better" prop of the game although not fantastic stats. what were the tackle count for props too? anyone know. Not had chance to get the paper yet.

It was lost when we had a poor start to the season. Home advantage tipped the scales in Saints's favour.

Thats it. Season can't be won in the first few months of the season but it can be lost.

Graham 28
Puletua 26
Faasavalu 7
Hargreaves 17

Coley 29
Prescott 21
Fielden 27
Paleaasina 14

Agreed. But I think Saturday night's performance pretty well encapsulated the general problems that we've suffered all year - lots of effort but no real orgnisation, no cutting edge, poor decision-making, mental weakness, headless chicken type panic. If you looked at Saints, who have been average by their own standards at the end of this season, every time they got possession they fell automatcally into a well structured offensive pattern, moving the ball with exhilarating speed, which left us scramblng madly to contain them. When we got the ball we were plodding it upfield in ones and twos. Whereas they seemed to make 50 yards minimum with each set of six, we were lucky to make 30.

I feel those who are bemoaning the loss of Noble need to get real. Yes, he's got us to five semis, but with the exception of the last 10 minutes last night, we've never looked like getting any further. At that level of football, bravery is not enough. Individual heroics only rarely get the better of teams who compete as well-oiled, machine-like units.

The two semis were both won narrowly by the home teams and showed to me that while there isn't as big an advantage as there used to be for the top 2 sides, they do still have an advantage. When there is little to choose between sides this can be the key factor.

Sad to say but the poor start to the season probably did cost us a GF place; had we be playing at home the result would probably have gone our way.

How can you say that !! he's a liability !! lost the ball more than once in our own half, he gives away penalties (that led to a try for stains), he had missed tackles in crucial areas, and he never smiles (!)

but if the stats says he makes the most yards thats all hunky dory eh?

I believe we had numerous chances to win before that incident. It was just another example of us coming so close but not executing well enough on the day.