: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:51 pm  

Hanley isnt the answer. What did he do at cas. Took them from cellar dwellers to...ummm..cellar dwellers. He hasnt a clue.

I could have won the title with the playing staff Saints had at the time.

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:57 pm  

Your right Steve. Hanley would not be an Alex Fergusen type of appointment. He woule be here for 6-18 months to change the philosophy and whole environment of the club.
He would bring self belief. Currently we make a mistake / Give a penalty away in our half and everybody suspects we might concede even though we are a player up. It look like the players feel that way as well.

I think that Hanley was the catalyst to their success over the last 10 years. They were not a bad team before that in fact i would go as far to say good but since he was there they have become great. His job was done just as it was at Doncaster and leave it to somebody to build on his work.

I hope Lowes stays and turns it around but I am having massive groundhog day moments here. The game tonight was like Harlequins at home last year when everything was in our favour, Dragons had 2 big players out in Ryles and Raguin and lost Carlaw for the full game early on.
They were down to 12 men for 10 minutes and we still couldnt do it.
That is a difference in mental attitude and not coaching. Lowes did not drop the passes, Hold players down and make tackles when you are in an offside position.

You can be as fit and strong as you want with all the skills in the world but if the desire is not there then you have very little. In that second half Dragons were starting sets 10 yards out but were getting to halfway to make the kick or getting a free ride from a penalty.

Poor.

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:58 pm  

wireboot wrote:

the big thing is he is not Lowes to be honest the board have to act now get a new coach , i do not think the club can sustain another bad run over the next few weeks or numbers will dwindle , and in this economic climate not the place to be

I'm with you on that Buddie, I don't know who the right man to lead our team is but felt Lowes was the wrong appointment and still do.

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:02 pm  

Moribund - I like that word. I remember an Alan Partridge sketch about that once .

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:06 pm  

Wires71 wrote:

You know what, I'm tired of all this.

Out of loyalty we all support the appointment of someone who has never done the job before, nor carried anywhere near the weight of responsibility of coaching a potential Top 4 club, then we see our booty when it all goes wrong.

The board appoint the coach. The board have made another mistake.

Look further up the organisation at why we are moribund.

I am fairly certain we have Tony Smith lined up for next year. If we haven't, then Lowes is a disaster. If he is, then I can just about cope (just). If Smith is not lined up, then get Noble in now. He'll sort out our defence. And yes, I know Wigan have lost their first three, but look at their squad - nowhere near our quality.

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:09 pm  

Sir Ian of Millward is looking for a return to Super League. Tony Smith has got to be the favourite, although he thoroughly destroyed any respect I had for him with his inability to coach our finest into anything like a resistance against the proper teams in the World Cup.

I don't think Smith would be a good choice for Warrington either as he is not going to resolve the drinking culture and 'lads about town' nature of the club. He totally and utterly failed at uniting the Saints and Leeds players in the England squad, which the players have now admitted cost England.

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:10 pm  

Eurob0y wrote:

Hanley isnt the answer. What did he do at cas. Took them from cellar dwellers to...ummm..cellar dwellers. He hasnt a clue.

I could have won the title with the playing staff Saints had at the time.

Hanley was only involved in a vague "consultancy" role at Castleford, for four weeks, so its hard to see what sort of impact he could have had. In the two jobs where he was head coach, he succeeded both times.

As for winning the title with the playing staff Saints had at the time, don't be daft, the reason Shaun McRae was sacked was because he couldn't. Saints had some good players but it wasn't anything like the team that they later had. It had players in the first team like Paul Atcheson, Anthony Stewart, Chris Smith, Julian O'Neill (the prop), Vila Matautia, Paul Davidson....these guys would not have been regulars in the Bradford, Wigan and Leeds teams of the time. Bradford were the best team in the competition that year, Hanley won Saints the title by constructing a resilient and defensively tough side who hung in the title race right through to the Grand Final and then at Old Trafford made sure they stayed in the game when the Bulls were on top of them, and sneaked a win with a late score.

One myth that came from that season is that Hanley installed a blanket alcohol ban, which he didn't, he just enforced an alcohol ban at certain stages of the season, eg over the Easter weekend when they had a busy run of fixtures.

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:17 pm  

I would urge the board to do something sooner, rather than later, so that a new man will have time to make an impact before it's too late.

If things up the road don't change soon, then IMO Hanley will be a SL head coach within a few weeks, We should be making a move now whilst he is still available. However, I suspect the board will hang on, and on, in the hope that Jimmy gets it right eventually (they do have 'form' in this department).

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:23 pm  

No point in bringing a disciplinarian in if the board will not back him. Paul Cullen tried to sack a player last season due to consistant misdimeeners but the board would not back him as they did not want the bad publicity that would come with it and the story that would then come out.

Cullen found himself in a similar position to Keegan at Newcastle, what is the point in having someone in charge of the team if the board will not allow them to then run the team without interference.

Ellery Hanley would not get on well at Warrington for the reasons above although I beleive with a free reign to sort things out he could be a very good appointment.

: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:34 pm  

In that case geordie the board will have to go too.

Ive said a million times before that I dont know who the hell these board members are and what they bring to the club. As far as I can see they are just washed up ex politicians or councillors who seem to have no idea what so ever about how to bring success to this club.

They pride themselves on off the field successes but Im sorry this is a RLFC and its what happens on the pitch that counts.

I wont include Moran as he obviously brings a bit of financial clout but all the others can bugger off and take their crap decisions with them.