Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Wed Feb 08, 2017 9:28 pm  

Watched a few videos of him. Looks an exciting prospect. I trust Graham Lowe and Geoff Toovey to recruit players that will suit our budget but add plenty to the team and suit the division. We saw what a field day the likes of Moss and Chisholm had against some of the Championship teams last year and this guys looks like he could have the same impact attack wise.

He reminds me a bit of Ryan Brierley in terms of his build and speed. I imagine he'll be one of those players that if he gets through a gap he wont be caught. His step looks great too.

He is on Twitter and replied to someone saying he'll be here in a couple of weeks.

[Bulliac]

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 9:39 am  

martinwildbull wrote:

where have you been the last few years? this is usual start to the season. No props,half backs that need to prove themselves etc., so look on the bright side: at least we haven't got the usual 15 back rowers that have to be played at full back wing hooker prop half back.

Whilst there is some truth to that, I think the biggest disappointment is that the latest set back and admin came just when we seemed to be getting over the on-field problems that had beset previous seasons and had the makings of a good side, under a good coach.

On-field, we're basically back two seasons and with a poorer team - though I suspect Toovey is a better coach than Jimmy was, and hopefully the owners will have a better handle on the finances. Though that last bit won't be that difficult to achieve... I think any real optimism must be for the longer term though, unless some forwards can be unearthed relatively quickly.

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 11:03 am  

Bulliac wrote:

Whilst there is some truth to that, I think the biggest disappointment is that the latest set back and admin came just when we seemed to be getting over the on-field problems that had beset previous seasons and had the makings of a good side, under a good coach.

On-field, we're basically back two seasons and with a poorer team - though I suspect Toovey is a better coach than Jimmy was, and hopefully the owners will have a better handle on the finances. Though that last bit won't be that difficult to achieve... I think any real optimism must be for the longer term though, unless some forwards can be unearthed relatively quickly.

IMHO the squad last year should have performed a lot better than it did.
Rohan didn't really do anything to hint he was a great coach, a nice guy a good publicist and related to the best thing that ever happened to Bradford Bulls but not the Messiah as some people seem to think.

We are already seeing a lot more blood and guts from the team than we have since long before relegation.

Toovey a few quality additions and I think we will all be well on board the Bulls train again.

We will start to see a turn in a couple of months, but I agree it will be 2 or 3 seasons before we are firing.

Anything before that and survival this year is a big bonus!

[Bulliac]

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 11:35 am  

bowlingboy wrote:

IMHO the squad last year should have performed a lot better than it did.
Rohan didn't really do anything to hint he was a great coach, a nice guy a good publicist and related to the best thing that ever happened to Bradford Bulls but not the Messiah as some people seem to think.

We are already seeing a lot more blood and guts from the team than we have since long before relegation.

Toovey a few quality additions and I think we will all be well on board the Bulls train again.

We will start to see a turn in a couple of months, but I agree it will be 2 or 3 seasons before we are firing.

Anything before that and survival this year is a big bonus!

Bit harsh on Rohan.

He didn't come in until almost June and took on someone else's team and also introduced a couple of decent players into the mix. I agree the season was a big let down as a whole, but I'm far from sure you can lay that at Smithy's door. Biggest problem last season was leaving Jimmy in charge too long and then all the financial stuff right when we needed the squad to concentrate on playing rugby.

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 12:07 pm  

In all honesty, I don't know how anyone manages to rank Rohan either way on coaching ability based on his time at Bradford. I won't say he was good, because not a lot happened. Similarly I won't say he was rubbish, as he was lumped with a lot of poor players and attitudes and never got chance to bring in his own people or coach a full season, save for a few hasty additions to the squad last season.

The way he stuck by and still worked with a positive attitude after the admin is a credit to him as a bloke, and you feel for the way he hasn't got something from that. But actually judging his ability as a coach from his time at Bradford to me is totally impossible to do.

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 12:07 pm  

Bulliac wrote:

Bit harsh on Rohan.

He didn't come in until almost June and took on someone else's team and also introduced a couple of decent players into the mix. I agree the season was a big let down as a whole, but I'm far from sure you can lay that at Smithy's door. Biggest problem last season was leaving Jimmy in charge too long and then all the financial stuff right when we needed the squad to concentrate on playing rugby.

Now we know what we know, isn't it reasonable to assume that the problems in the first half of last season might have been to do with the board, and not Jimmy's ability as a coach? Jimmy might have seen what was coming and jumped ship before it sank. It would make some sense - we almost made it back to SL under Jimmy let's not forget, with a squad that wasn't too dissimilar from last season's.

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 12:28 pm  

Thought biggest change after smith came in was arrival of some actual halfbacks in Chisholm,charnock and Keyes. Plus moss was another big improvement to squad. Would have been interesting to see whether performances would have performed equally if jimmy had been in charge with them available. Don't think there was a massive improvement in performance from rest of jimmys squad after smiths arrival, other than emergence of Ryan but that was largely down to over players being unavailable through injury. How smith went on this season would have been real indicator as to his ability.

[Bullseye]

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:14 pm  

Lowes didn’t have the contacts down under to be able to get the most out of recruitment in that part of the world.

Recruitment was a mess before the 2016 season got underway. Mullaney leaving and no halfback recruited seriously messed things up. Various players recruited on a whim and then never given a game. Others given plenty of opportunities yet never performing.

Anyway back on topic I think this new signing strikes me as a bit superfluous to requirements.

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:19 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

Lowes didn’t have the contacts down under to be able to get the most out of recruitment in that part of the world.

Recruitment was a mess before the 2016 season got underway. Mullaney leaving and no halfback recruited seriously messed things up. Various players recruited on a whim and then never given a game. Others given plenty of opportunities yet never performing.

Anyway back on topic I think this new signing strikes me as a bit superfluous to requirements.

Not if he turns out to be a good half back to cover Leon's inevitable niggles as the season grinds on.

Re: Bulls sign Samoan sevens player : Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:20 pm  

Watching the KR game now our forwards need beefing up 2 props have to be on Tooveys shopping list.