Monday 12 June 2017 15:17, UK
Brian Carney says Castleford's win over Warrington ticked all the boxes but there is still plenty to work on.
Good week for Castleford
Castleford's win over Warrington looked to have it all - a good crowd in there, a bouncing atmosphere and Greg Eden scoring five tries.
They are having a brilliant season and are way ahead of anyone else but if they want to make this year their year and go on to build on that, then they need to tidy up a little.
I felt that if Cas were a little more conservative, then they would have beaten Warrington far more convincingly. I use the word conservative with caution because they have really thrilled and entertained us with their style of play. However, I feel that there are times when they should play a little more high percentage rugby league and better manage certain periods of the game.
I admit that I am being picky, but this side has the potential to go on and really dominate in future years and I think if they tweak a few areas, they can go on to the next level.
Good week for Huddersfield
The Giants are the team that are sprinting out of the bottom four. They have got two good wins in the last couple of weeks and more importantly, the sides they have beaten are immediately around them.
They have got a decent run in - another two games against teams in the bottom four in Widnes and Leigh. They then have four games against teams who are above them.
The win against Catalans was crucial - and they really need to harness that spark going forward. They have a real livewire in Jake Mamo, who scored four tries against the Dragons, and they can really build on this.
The game that I see that is really winnable for them is the rescheduled home match against St Helens on Friday, June 16. If they can win this one then it will put Warrington and Catalans in a world of trouble.
The intangibles that people speak about are confidence and momentum and Huddersfield seem to have a lot of that at the moment and it will be really interesting to see if they can take that into the Saints game.
Good week for Leeds
After their double winning season in 2015, Leeds Rhinos had an abysmal year in 2016 and got a lot of the wrong sort of focus on them. The travails of last year have lowered expectation in 2017 and in my opinion, not much has been made of them quietly sitting in third position.
There is not much fanfare around them - they are quietly getting on with the job.
After the Wakefield game Brian McDermott said he is not sure if Leeds attack is brilliant and that is why they are winning games or if other sides are struggling to get their combinations going.
I think he has hit the nail on the head there. If you take Cas out of the equation and look through the rest of the Super League sides, you are not going to say about any say - bang! Watch out for them. To be anywhere below Castleford, you don't have to be brilliant at the moment.
Leeds have a tough run in over the last few games. They have Cas, Saints, Salford, Hull and Wigan - it's as hard as it gets.
If they maintain their current position after playing those fixtures and get to round 23 in third place, then this is a team, who without being brilliant may go on and win the Super League competition.
Bad Week for Wigan
If the reigning champs want to turn things around then they have to come from a fairly low position. Wigan's loss to Leigh told us a fair few things. Over the last seven matches they have shipped points at an average of 35. They have got eight points out of a possible 28 in the last 14 games. They have dropped 20 points! It was interesting that against Leigh they lost 50-34 but scored seven tries to the Centurions' eight. However whereas Ben Reynolds nailed all of his eight conversions plus a penalty kick for Leigh, Wigan only managed three.
Wigan have a real goal kicking issue. They have George Williams kicking at 50 per cent, they have got Liam Marshall taking over from Williams during the games, who is kicking below 50 per cent. Morgan Escare, who is their main goal kicker, is missing and won't make the rest of the season but even he is only kicking at a 60 per cent success rate which is just not good enough.
Wigan have missed the most goals this season with 36. Next are three teams who have missed 27 - Salford, Leeds and Castleford who are all sitting high in the table.
Wigan may have missed just nine more than Cas, but the Tigers have scored a lot more goals and Luke Gayle's success rate is sitting at 77 per cent.
I think that the Warriors need four from four if they want to regain their title - those wins may very well rest on their kicking!
Bad week for Catalans, Leigh and Widnes
It could be a bad week for the bottom teams if the plans I am hearing from Hull KR are true for the Super 8 qualifiers. Catalan, Leigh and Widnes are everyone's favourites to be propping up the table. I am hearing that there is a bit of a war chest ready and waiting for Tim Sheens to open it up and bring in some quality into this Hull KR team.
Hull KR had a scare against Oldham but won in the end but do I think the team that won against them is the team to get them up? I would have to say no. I could be wrong - but I don't see it as a team who would trouble the likes of Leigh, Widnes and Catalans and whoever the fourth team is.
However, if they start bringing in some big names for those games, then it could be a different story come the Super 8s.
Bad week for Warrington players
I understand why coaches go because it is easier to change one man than change 20 players. I watched Warrington's performance and there are some issues there with Tony Smith right in the firing line.
However, there are some players there who should be very worried about not only their futures at the club, but in the Super League competition. There are players in there who won't play much more Super League - against Cas, there were players with zero punch and who are just not going down swinging which is the saddest of all. You pride yourself in going down in a certain way - they are not quite rolling over to have their bellies tickled but they are not doing themselves proud.
They are not alone - the same could be said about Catalans. I watched some of the tries they let in against Huddersfield and their defence was woeful.
The word is that Steve McNamara has the job - and he has one heck of a job on his hands to get them sorted.
