Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 5:44 pm  

St pete wrote:

Sia carried our pack for two years. Even playing prop for half a season. Pretty sure he would have made most breaks for a forward most seasons. He was our only player that showed any aggression for season after season. To say he's was overated is pretty laughable.

I'm not sure 'carrying our pack' in the couple of seasons prior to last is worth shouting about. It was pretty awful.

Soliola actually played prop for the entire of last season, though I wouldn't expect your average fan to see it. He was a nice compliment to our frontline props but hardly irreplaceable. Wigan targeted him in defence for years and made him look very average for the most part.

Good player. Irreplaceable ? No chance. Most of his rep was because he was such a good bloke who immersed himself with the town. As a player, he was 'good', not special.

And 'laughable' is half the crap that gets posted on here by people who know nothing about the sport in the main, not suggesting that Soliola was a bit overrated.

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 5:58 pm  

SLS wrote:

I'm not sure 'carrying our pack' in the couple of seasons prior to last is worth shouting about. It was pretty awful.

Soliola actually played prop for the entire of last season, though I wouldn't expect your average fan to see it. He was a nice compliment to our frontline props but hardly irreplaceable. Wigan targeted him in defence for years and made him look very average for the most part.

Good player. Irreplaceable ? No chance. Most of his rep was because he was such a good bloke who immersed himself with the town. As a player, he was 'good', not special.

And 'laughable' is half the crap that gets posted on here by people who know nothing about the sport in the main, not suggesting that Soliola was a bit overrated.

Played prop the entire season ?

I must have not been a game last year then.

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:07 pm  

St pete wrote:

Played prop the entire season ?

I must have not been a game last year then.

Evidently not. You tell me how often he played inside the centres down the channels. You'll be able to count them on one hand.

There's more to the pack than where they go in the scrum. Saints used the bulk of the forwards up the middle of the paddock. Only Manu, Wilkin at times and LMS (late on when Amor returned to fitness) were used as traditional second row forwards.

Nevertheless, Soliola is overrated by most Saints supporters, whether at prop or in the back row.

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:15 pm  

SLS wrote:

Evidently not. You tell me how often he played inside the centres down the channels. You'll be able to count them on one hand.

There's more to the pack than where they go in the scrum. Saints used the bulk of the forwards up the middle of the paddock. Only Manu, Wilkin at times and LMS (late on when Amor returned to fitness) were used as traditional second row forwards.

Nevertheless, Soliola is overrated by most Saints supporters, whether at prop or in the back row.

Ok yes. Your so superior in your opionon and obviously a very good coach ( your not Wayne Bennett are you?) so your correct.

Sia is a crap prop.

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:25 pm  

St pete wrote:

Ok yes. Your so superior in your opionon and obviously a very good coach ( your not Wayne Bennett are you?) so your correct.

Sia is a crap prop.

'You're'......

Never said Soliola was 'crap'. Never said I'm a 'very good coach' and certainly never said I'm 'Wayne Bennett'.

You don't like having your view challenged very much, do you ? It's only a forum, relax.

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:33 pm  

Billinge_Lump wrote:

I'm hoping that the GF win will up a few players games and also give the youngsters more confidence that they can win the big games. Success breeds success. However the biggest factor for me is how Cunningham goes as coach. We could have the biggest pack in the world, but if he's wrong tactically we'll get beaten by the better teams.

With him being a brand new head coach, I think the 'win everything' thoughts may be a little hopeful.

I think an even bigger influence will be Sean Long who will not only bring his knowledge to the table but will also be a top motivator for all the team.

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:39 pm  

SLS wrote:

'You're'......

Never said Soliola was 'crap'. Never said I'm a 'very good coach' and certainly never said I'm 'Wayne Bennett'.

You don't like having your view challenged very much, do you ? It's only a forum, relax.

No I just don't like seeing good players that have run their blood to water for the club week in and week out being put down down

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:12 pm  

St pete wrote:

No I just don't like seeing good players that have run their blood to water for the club week in and week out being put down down

Anyone who doubts Sia's commitment to the club is simply wrong. There's no doubting he was a great player for us, and I'm sure you're right well hear about missing him (most probably after a loss or two), BUT we still have a glut of second rowers, and we have more coming through, which I think will mitigate the loss somewhat.

As an aside greenwood has bulked up! According to the SL site he's running at 105kg this year, which is more than Vea and LMS!

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:14 pm  

My god, I see I'm needed here. So many helium filled expectations here. Just because we were destined somehow to win the GF last season, doesn't mean we were good enough to and it doesn't mean we're going to be competitive this year.

Getting into the top 8 has to be the aim, winning the cup semi realistic but totally dependent on home draws and avoiding the big 3. We've got a potentially clueless coach (Not saying he is, but it's definitely possible that he'll be terrible), we could be wheeling Paul Wellens out every week, so playing with 16 players.

I can't see past Warrington for the pots to be honest. Wigan are rubbish, Leeds are rubbish, but Warrington's halves (Who demolished us twice last season) have an extra year of experience, they have the best prop in the comp in Hill, have added Simms and Daryl Clarke will be the icing IMO. They've been stung enough times now so won't be messing about with the league like last year so I'd expect them to finish top. Everyone has really short memories, you put us first because we won it last year. But we reached the GF almost by default with our play off fixtures and had Wigan explode due to Wane's idiotic approach to the game. Warrington were within a breath of reaching the final (Thoroughly deserved to beat the Goons in the semi final) and with Clarke will be so much more dangerous.

Re: Ambitions for this season? : Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:20 pm  

SLS wrote:

Evidently not. You tell me how often he played inside the centres down the channels. You'll be able to count them on one hand.

Nevertheless, Soliola is overrated by most Saints supporters, whether at prop or in the back row.

Soliola played most of his games down the right channel with Manu operating down the left, Sol only played a couple of games at "prop" when we lost both Amor and Walmsley with injuries.
In the play offs Soliola played like a man possessed and was very instrumental in our progress
to the grand final.

Back on topic, World Club Champions and a Challenge Cup Win ambitions. Warrington to finally get the Superleague Champions badge.