Halftime report

Back in August the opinion of many (myself included) was that our objective for the season should be progression, not too hard a task, you wouldn’t think, given the starting point. With the season now half way through and a break from league action in front of us, now seems like a good time to pause and try to assess our progress......

I think the best way to do this is to look at the facts and figures, i.e. the league table now compared to the same time last season so here goes:

            P          W         D          L          F          A          B          P

Last      11        7          0          4          229       263       2          30
Season
Now     11        6          0          5          326       281       8          32

Many (including me before I worked the above table out) would have said that we are in a much better place now than we were last season and, in fairness, we are higher up the league with more points. We are also fielding a team of Leeds players, the fact that this wasn’t the case last season shows just how desperate things were.

However, if you look at it in terms of games won we are actually doing worse than this time last year.

Amazingly, defensively, we are also worse. Since its’ inception in 2009/10 the most points that any team that has topped the pile at the end of the regular season has conceded is 386. We are on course for an end of season total of 562. Clearly nowhere near good enough.

The Points For column is significantly better and as a result, so is the Bonus Points column. In fact the BP column is the main reason for our current top four position.

These are the simple facts and figures presented so that you can draw your own conclusions and, hopefully, post them below.

For me, Diccon deserves credit for transforming us into an exciting, attacking team. Last season our lack of results combined with our lack of adventure and flair was threatening the very future of the club. With patience wearing thin even some of the most battle hardened of our few remaining supporters were openly considering their options on this messageboard. Giving us a reason to continue spending our hard earned at Headingley was therefore a priority.

However, the same infuriating inconsistency that dogged last season is still in evidence.

Sometimes it manifests itself in 80 minute spells where we are either brilliant or awful. Sometimes we can exhibit both extremes in the same game and we let an opponent who previously looked well beaten, back in.

Sometimes the forwards compete, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes the line out works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes the backs make their tackles, mostly they don’t. Inconsistency, ironically, is the one constant.

We now know where the try line is but the stats reveal that that is all that has changed. Too often a well organised, well coached opponent proves to be our undoing and that can’t be good enough if we are realistic about challenging for promotion next season.

Our defence simply has to get better. Solid defence is the platform on which successful teams are built and Diccon must instil it as our absolute basic requirement. It must become the benchmark below which we do not drop, the keystone that supports the whole team and the constant truth that we fall back on when everything else is going wrong.

Play with passion, work for each other, don’t be the one to let your mates down by missing your tackle and above all else, show pride in the shirt you have the privilege of wearing, then we will be able to say we’ve progressed.