BRIAN NOBLE POST-MATCH INTERVIEW

Read the full transcript from Brian Noble's post-match interview following our clash with Toulouse...

Q: Brian Noble, that game this evening against Toulouse went right down to the Hooter, even after the Hooter. What are your thoughts? 

BN: I thought we lacked a little bit of patience at times. I think we've spoken about small margins in big games again, and we came out the wrong side of another one. I think the effort was fantastic. I think the conditions were obviously going to ensure it was going to be a close score like that, and it about the quality of kicking game etc. The fine margins, they came out on the right side of that one and we'll take some lessons from it. We’ll put Humpty Dumpty back together again and it's by all means not over. The boys are very, very deflated in the changing room because we thought we'd do a bit better and when I show them the little bits what we could have done better, it'll only all auger well for our run in. 

Q: Certainly, no disgrace or disrespect in going down in that manner, Brian. 

BN: It's important that we do pick up the little bits and messages and understand about how we need to play. I thought certainly, early in the game, we were trying to score on every play and against good teams and teams that are used to being full-time teams, you have to be a little bit more patient than we were. 

Q: When you analyse that game, Brian, it is going to potentially come down to the high shot on Antony Marion. Is it perhaps harsh to focus on that particular incident? 

BN: You have to be squeaky clean and it puts a lot of pressures on players. It's difficult for me to single out a single player for one incident and likewise with Luke with the kick at the end, you know, the ones he kicked were good kicks. I think a fair result would have been a draw but having said that, we've got to find out how to come out the right side of these games and you don't do by that focusing on what somebody's doing wrong. 

Q: You clearly mention it, you speak to them individually and say what could we have done better there. You mentioned Luke at the end. You saw what his teammates did to him at the end. He was clearly upset and crestfallen, and they were consoling him. Have you had to have a word with him at the end? 

BN: I just told him to forget it. The game wasn't lost on that one kick. There was loss in other areas that we can be better in as a team. So, the fact that he stood up there and tried to leather the ball over, he had the distance, the direction was off. I can live with that. He needs to live with it. 

Q: Jordan Lilley left the field after 10 minutes, Brian, and didn't come back on. How much of an impact did that have, you know, in what you normally do, which is interchange Lilley with Mitch? 

BN: Yeah, it was a blow to lose him so early. He's been our battery for a long time. You know he's got lots of energy. He would have caused to lose some problems around the ruck, but we didn't get to see that because of his injury. We'll assess that on Monday, but let's hope he's a whole lot better than he's looking at the moment. 

Q: What's the sort of injury? 

BN: It's a back injury, and I don't know how bad it is, but there's no way we could have put him back on the field. 

Q: How pleased were you that when Ollie Ashall-Bott was sent to the Sin Bin, that you know, you for that part of the game, you made that numerical advantage count? 

BN: Well, we scored a good try, but I think we'd have scored it had it been on the field. You know, my point is we've missed some other opportunities to stay at their end of the field and pile the pressure on. Unless we're harder on ourselves, I mean, collectively as a group, myself included, unless I'm harder on about being patient in big games and having a process, maybe the game last week didn't help us in preparation for this game. Maybe their game did. If you look at their close encounter of the third kind against York and then our blowout against Sheffield, it's maybe an element of false positivity and I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean we scored some really good tries last week, but these big games are almost always won defensively. It's difficult to take when you've only conceded what was it, 10 points? No, it was 12 points, one try each. The big games rest on those and I mentioned to the players in there to get this sick feeling out of our stomachs, we're going to have to win it from a different place now. 

Q: As a spectacle, Brian, just how high-quality was that game, especially when you consider the heavy pitch and it pretty much rained, you know, the inclement weather was worse for the full eight minutes.

BN: I watched an exciting 12-8 in Super League between Hull KR and St Helens. I've been seeing some blowouts in Super League that I don't think do any good. I thought if you're a fan of rugby league and you watch this, it was exciting, it was thrilling. It was right till the end, there was controversy, there was push and shove, it was everything you'd want in a professional game of rugby league. I think it's a great advocate for this top end of this division this year. I think it's a lot of people that are playing well. So, yeah, I think the people that came today, even with the pouring rain, would have got their money's worth. 

Q: We've just been speaking with Sylvain, myself, and you, Brian, that this is clearly a precursor for what's just around the corner in the playoffs. Is that what you'd like the players to take from this game and learn that it could come down to, like you say, a lazy arm, a high shot, a missed ball, you know, a missed tackle, etc. 

BN: Yeah, I want them to take away from the fact that whilst they're bitterly disappointed, and they are, we have to be better about these games, and I'm confident we will be. I'm confident that the last time we got beat, we went on a run. Well, we've got three or four games to win now, haven't we? 

Q: In that second half, I know it might be unfair to pick out one incident, but I think there was a kick-out of acting half from Brendan Hands, and we ended up conceding a drop-out when the kick came from 50-odd metres away. Is that what you mean about like patient and smart, and perhaps not being alert to that player? 

BN: It's easy. Well, it's not easy because we didn't do it regularly enough. You've got to get the ball down the other end of the field in these conditions, and they did that slightly better than us in the second half. Bear in mind, they kicked two out on the full, so we were creating pressure on them as well. When they kicked two out on the full, we didn't take advantage of that. We should have been more patient there in the field, and I don't think we were. 

Q: Does this almost feel like Brian, Bradford are now in a battle for third with Oldham? 

BN: Oh, we are, you just have a look at the league ladder so the last two games for us are not only important to win, they're important to measure how we're doing with our mentality and how prepared we need to be. I watched the first half of Batley and London this week, and London are no pushover. That’s a big job we've got to do down there, and we'll be reinforcing that with the players this week. 

Q: I know this is half an hour after the hooter has gone, Brian, but does your kind of outlook, obviously, second place potentially gone now. It's looking like it's going to be a hopefully for Bradford's case, a third-place finish and another chance to have a crack at Toulouse in the semi-finals. 

BN: Well, that's got to be our mentality and our mantra. Clearly, we would have liked it another way, but it's not going to be that way now. So, you have to go with what you're given. We've still got two league games that we need to play well in, and that's got to be the parameters. The review will be about all the little things that some individuals didn't quite do, and all the little things that as a team that we didn't quite do. Our effort was outstanding, as it was from both teams, and that's why rugby league is such a great game, but effort sometimes doesn't get you over the line. 

Q: Zane Musgrove came off the bench for his debut numerous times, three or four Toulouse defenders to bring him down. Clearly, looks like he has a point to prove and something to offer. 

BN: Yeah, he's got lots to offer. He'll only get better. He hasn't played for 10 weeks, so it was a risk putting him in, but the game's about risk and he certainly wasn't the reason that we came on the wrong side of that narrow scoreline. Yeah, I'm pleased with what he dished up but I'm also keen to get Sam Hallas back into the mix. 

Q: I'm just going to say, when I was looking at actually the players that were missing out, your Tyran Ott’s, Jorge Taufua’s, James Meadows’, Sam Hallas’, there's a lot of depth and quality there who, you know, I'm not saying you're going to drop anyone from today, but clearly, everyone's going to be at the best of their game, at the top of their game, to be wearing that shirt. 

BN: Yeah, we've got some competition, but absolutely, I agree with that.