Hi guys,

I've been looking at the SL stats today and was pretty surprised by how they add up!

During the pre season I was safely assuring my (unfortunate

) Wakefield following friends that thr signing of Liam Finn was very astute, and I was one of very few who appreciated what he did with Cas.

His start of the season has been received mixed reviews from you guys and I'd like to reassure you that you will improve with Liam at 7!!!!

Now, the figures I will tell you here I've worked out "average per game" so the fact that they've played 1 less match will be irrelevant.

Looking at the stats in general, Wakefield have the 2nd worst average gain, have a very high error count and are the 2nd most penalised. Which obviously shows your forwards are not getting the platform required for HB's to thrive.

For a half back, Liam Finn has one of the highest tackle completion rates in the league, is 3Rd for number of attacking kicks, and has a few clean breaks, offloads and tackle busts thrown in.

This to me shows you aren't a million miles away as a team, but errors and penalties are what's killing you.

Individual errors, rather than a lack of ability.

With that in mind it's impossible to really judge Brian Smith this season, who's also had his fair share of stick.

Once the errors start to dry up I think you'll have a really steady run of form

Thanks for that Dave.

Those stats just confirm how I and many have read the season so far, too many errors and far too many penalties conceded. It certainly made a difference in the Widnes game which we genuinely could have won. It cost us a lot of possession at your place (judging on radio commentary as that is the only game I haven't made so far). Also, dropped ball and a few penalties was influential in the scoreline on Friday.

I think some fans are giving Finn a hard time and don't really see the type of player that he is, he is not a Tim Smith or another type of fast SH.

I can see what Finn is doing and last Friday I think his partnership with Miller is beginning to gel. Finn strikes me as a very smart, safe pair of hands. He does a lot of work and his kicking is actually very good and astute. Sadly a lot of fans here/on the terraces don't really see the reasons and benefits we have from his kicks. Such as when on the 5th and last he'll put the ball to finish maybe 3-4 yards from the opposition try line. If we score from it great. If not then the opposition play the ball a lot closer to their own line than a 20 metre restart.

I was very encouraged by Friday and have a fair level of confidence going into next Sunday, I think we could nick it. I do believe though that in 4-5 weeks time we'll be really firing and delivering the best we can. (as long as we cut out the penalties!)

Dave.... You are a Trinity fan at heart aren't you

For penalties read referees:- its been discussed on this forum for years how Wakefield do not get the rub of the green from refs, I watched the saints game at the weekend they get away with murder.

People always said down Cas Finn was too slow and predictable.

Granted he's not the quickest Half back around - maybe even THE slowest...

And he certainly is predictable.

But what a refreshing chae that was down cas to have someone predicatble at 6 rather than that little doilem we had flapping his arms about for 4 seasons before!

Someone we could confidently build a game plan around

OK, he doesn't hoof the ball miles into the air on the last tackle, but as an opposition forward trudging back to start your set in a corner, his predictability must have been soul destroying.

Off the back of that, when it came to the big plays 10 metres out, Finn sat back and let Gale and Dorn put us in for a try.

He's so so good to build a structured plan around based on efficiency, building pressure and playing in the right areas

Ref the halfback post, I disagree, Finn is slow, his kicking accuracy is poor, and he has lost his spark from last season, daryl Powell is very astute coach, if Finn was still SL standard and able to do a job there is no way he would have realeased him a year early out of his contract. I want to see more and need to see more from him to prove me wrong, I have been to every game and only HKR game did he look anything close to good kicking game, hence we came away with points.

I think having Luke Gale in his squad might have allowed him to offload Finn.
Equally if you were Finn, sitting around and waiting for him (Gale) to get an injury wasn't exactly good for his career.

Most half backs look better when the pack is on top and the team is building pressure and when we stop turning the ball over cheaply, both Finn & Miller will look far better than we have seen so far.

As a partnership, they will definitely improve.

Let's agree to disagree, but as I say I want and need to see more from Finn and Miller,

when you talk about half backs or half back partnerships I think they should be judged against the pairings at other clubs.
At the moment several clubs are disrupted with injury in their halves but when their first choice pairings are available I don't
think anyone has a weaker pairing than us

I mentioned this in my OP in a way to not appear to be trolling or feather-rustling..... But I will be more obvious....

The stats show that your pack is getting dominated. 2nd Lowest average gain and high error and penalty counts.

I really don't know what you expect Finn and Miller to create off the back of that.

yes we have Luke Gale, and I'd argue Roberts is vastly improving.... But if our pack was getting flattened and we kept giving repeat sets away, they'd be no more creative than Finn and Miller.

If you're sat on teams' try lines all game and can't score then by all means blame the halves.

But when your forwards aren't getting you anywhere near it, there's not a great deal they can do - unless you expect all your tries to be 60 metre efforts.

If you do, then good luck....

Judge your halves when they're given the opportunities to flourish. I don't think you've seen anything of what they can produce together yet

Yeah right

I bet you would not do a swap if we asked you

Odd because no one on hear rated Luke Gale when Bradford went down and I mean no one.

If we can get Miller to do what I suspect he's being told and follow Finn then they could be a great partnership. Fin has never depended on pace which means he only gets better as he gets older but he needs players around him.

Miller is the problem - he has it all, he has to be one of the quickest and most agile halfbacks in SL but as yet we have not found a way to channel that consistantly - if any player has the patience it's Finn. I can't see Miller ever running a game he just doesn't seem to have it but as a support player he's a possible wow.

Our problem is if Finn gets injured. I reckon you could put Hall, Howarth or Moore with Finn and you'd have a servicable H/B partnership although I accept it wouldn't be sparkling. I can't think of a Miller and no Finn partnership that could work, maybe Howarth steady head but I can't see it. We desprately need another playmaker.