Re: Saints Friendly : Sun Jan 20, 2019 10:08 pm  

pmarrow wrote:

I dont think it matters how we start the season it'll be the same thing come the end of it, with the arm chair coaches wanting Radford out. We could win the first 10 lose 1 and everyone would want him gone. Short memories some people, you don't win what he has in the game and be clueless. Some mis management on contracts over the past season but I reckon that will be rectified come 2020 and the squad we have now are nowhere near as bad as people make out.

I don't think anyone has said we have a bad squad I certainly don't think we have.
If we win the 1st 10 and lose 1 I'll be very happy indeed, I think you're misinterpreting people's concerns.
No one has short memories, Arthur Bunting aside he is up there as 1 of our top coaches in terms of competions won, just for me I'd like to see us be more creative and expansive and not so 1 dimensional.
Is he the coach to bring us that? I'm not conviced.
I'm certainly not wanting to be intentionally negative nor do I think I would do a better job.

I also think you would benefit from a more balanced view and not be so defensive.
Are you happy with our style of play just out of interest?

Re: Saints Friendly : Sun Jan 20, 2019 11:04 pm  

Bombed Out wrote:

I don't think anyone has said we have a bad squad I certainly don't think we have.
If we win the 1st 10 and lose 1 I'll be very happy indeed, I think you're misinterpreting people's concerns.
No one has short memories, Arthur Bunting aside he is up there as 1 of our top coaches in terms of competions won, just for me I'd like to see us be more creative and expansive and not so 1 dimensional.
Is he the coach to bring us that? I'm not conviced.
I'm certainly not wanting to be intentionally negative nor do I think I would do a better job.

I also think you would benefit from a more balanced view and not be so defensive.
Are you happy with our style of play just out of interest?

Your absolutely right , marrows talking complete dros, think majority on here give radford the benefit of the doubt , because of his achievements, amazing. But your only as good as your last result, and if they continue in the same way as recent ones , of course he should be held accountable , only a fool would disagree

Re: Saints Friendly : Mon Jan 21, 2019 1:23 am  

no hes talking sense unlike some of the dross whats sprouted on here, hes right we could win the first 10 and the usual lot would still winge and whine like little babies,

Re: Saints Friendly : Mon Jan 21, 2019 9:36 am  

hull2524 wrote:

no hes talking sense unlike some of the dross whats sprouted on here, hes right we could win the first 10 and the usual lot would still winge and whine like little babies,

Your been daft as usual, as if anybody would be moaning if we won our first 10 games , it's not going to happen anyway, so pointless conversation. People have every right to be concerned or have a different view to your very blinkered one . All Rosie it is not , but it's also not all doom and gloom , yet!

[Chris71]

Re: Saints Friendly : Mon Jan 21, 2019 9:58 am  

For me the most disappointing thing this off season has been the lack of an addition to the coaching set up to take charge of the attacking structures or lack of and address this. This has been lacking and as far as I'm aware the club previously had tried to address this by attempting to sign Hodgson to the coaching staff but since then nothing.

Its clear this is an area we are very much lacking and as much as Radford has achieved during his tenure this seems to be an area he can not improve/change as we still seem too one dimensional and predictable. If these things were to have changed at all we would have seem this during the preseason as along with giving players minutes that it is what friendlies are for about putting things in place and practicising in game situations.

Re: Saints Friendly : Mon Jan 21, 2019 3:27 pm  

I went to the match and it's hard not to be concerned in all honesty. If i could see some different attacking structures, maybe the odd new play, some variation at dummy half, then I could accept that we were rusty but we've obviously been looking to change things in the off season. I could live with that and think, maybe a few weeks in, we'll reap the benefits.

However, there was nothing of the sort. We're still relying on power, then a good kick and put teams under pressure but often we were 40 metres out when sneyd kicked the ball and it was an easy return all day long for their back 3. Taylor is going to need more time in the gym cos he's going to be carrying this pack all season.

I can't see any improvement in basic ball handling, we still can't move the ball down the line at speed. There is no obvious view of what Radders and his staff work on in training and thats my biggest disappointment from our 3rd friendly of the season.

Danny Houghton need a rocket - maybe his body has taken too much, all them years as the Hit Man must have taken its toll cos he's given us very little out of dummy half over the last year. He also made 2 glaring mistakes that led directly to trys. Younger players would be dropped for that performance. We all love Danny but sentiment can be a dangerous friend.

Plus points were undoubtedly Cameron Scott and to a lesser extent Logan. Scott particularly looks comfortable already and Griffin will need to start delivering to keep his place. Shaul looked sharp as well - what a difference it makes when he gets in at dummy half. Lane and Masi both did well in the pack.

Dawson was rubbish but I don't want to hang him out to dry just yet. Miloudi looks overweight and maybe thats what is holding him back from getting a start at the mo?
Personally if Kelly is fit, I'd play connor at centre and move Grif to the wing. If he's not, I'd play C.Scott at centre with Grif on the wing.

We need a fully fit Kelly and Westy to give us some badly needed skill in the middle of the park cos we sure as hell aint going to be out muscling sides.

Re: Saints Friendly : Mon Jan 21, 2019 4:00 pm  

lummy wrote:

I went to the match and it's hard not to be concerned in all honesty. If i could see some different attacking structures, maybe the odd new play, some variation at dummy half, then I could accept that we were rusty but we've obviously been looking to change things in the off season. I could live with that and think, maybe a few weeks in, we'll reap the benefits.

However, there was nothing of the sort. We're still relying on power, then a good kick and put teams under pressure but often we were 40 metres out when sneyd kicked the ball and it was an easy return all day long for their back 3. Taylor is going to need more time in the gym cos he's going to be carrying this pack all season.

I can't see any improvement in basic ball handling, we still can't move the ball down the line at speed. There is no obvious view of what Radders and his staff work on in training and thats my biggest disappointment from our 3rd friendly of the season.

Danny Houghton need a rocket - maybe his body has taken too much, all them years as the Hit Man must have taken its toll cos he's given us very little out of dummy half over the last year. He also made 2 glaring mistakes that led directly to trys. Younger players would be dropped for that performance. We all love Danny but sentiment can be a dangerous friend.

Plus points were undoubtedly Cameron Scott and to a lesser extent Logan. Scott particularly looks comfortable already and Griffin will need to start delivering to keep his place. Shaul looked sharp as well - what a difference it makes when he gets in at dummy half. Lane and Masi both did well in the pack.

Dawson was rubbish but I don't want to hang him out to dry just yet. Miloudi looks overweight and maybe thats what is holding him back from getting a start at the mo?
Personally if Kelly is fit, I'd play connor at centre and move Grif to the wing. If he's not, I'd play C.Scott at centre with Grif on the wing.

We need a fully fit Kelly and Westy to give us some badly needed skill in the middle of the park cos we sure as hell aint going to be out muscling sides.

Thank you for your review of the game, and I share your concern. My worry is that we offer Sneyd another contract. Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to scapegoat him, but his passing isn't great for a 7, he doesn't attack the line either for me. From listening yesterday, Fages and Richardson both ran at the line, had good kicking games, and pass the ball at pace, and it gives your edges more room - which then puts pressure on the defenders to make the right choice in defence. We are so easy to defend against.

Re: Saints Friendly : Mon Jan 21, 2019 6:57 pm  

lummy wrote:

I went to the match and it's hard not to be concerned in all honesty. If i could see some different attacking structures, maybe the odd new play, some variation at dummy half, then I could accept that we were rusty but we've obviously been looking to change things in the off season. I could live with that and think, maybe a few weeks in, we'll reap the benefits.

However, there was nothing of the sort. We're still relying on power, then a good kick and put teams under pressure but often we were 40 metres out when sneyd kicked the ball and it was an easy return all day long for their back 3. Taylor is going to need more time in the gym cos he's going to be carrying this pack all season.

I can't see any improvement in basic ball handling, we still can't move the ball down the line at speed. There is no obvious view of what Radders and his staff work on in training and thats my biggest disappointment from our 3rd friendly of the season.

Danny Houghton need a rocket - maybe his body has taken too much, all them years as the Hit Man must have taken its toll cos he's given us very little out of dummy half over the last year. He also made 2 glaring mistakes that led directly to trys. Younger players would be dropped for that performance. We all love Danny but sentiment can be a dangerous friend.

Plus points were undoubtedly Cameron Scott and to a lesser extent Logan. Scott particularly looks comfortable already and Griffin will need to start delivering to keep his place. Shaul looked sharp as well - what a difference it makes when he gets in at dummy half. Lane and Masi both did well in the pack.

Dawson was rubbish but I don't want to hang him out to dry just yet. Miloudi looks overweight and maybe thats what is holding him back from getting a start at the mo?
Personally if Kelly is fit, I'd play connor at centre and move Grif to the wing. If he's not, I'd play C.Scott at centre with Grif on the wing.

We need a fully fit Kelly and Westy to give us some badly needed skill in the middle of the park cos we sure as hell aint going to be out muscling sides.

Most fans share your concerns.
Apart from an added fitness level nothing has changed.
With the front rows we have available we are going to get rolled by most teams.There is only Taylor who is capable of bending the line.
What a defensive partnership that was with Griffin and Dawson.
Cam Scott is a season away from being considered for regular first team duty but as we know Kelly is out for at least 4 weeks so right centre is available and for me the only place for Griffin will be as a second row impact off the bench so Cam or Logan could get a place.
Miloudi just doesnt fit with a Radford type of player yet Dawson seems to.The mind boggles.
It may be a gamble but i would play Ratu (if he signs).He looks good going forward and can actually defend plus we need the pace.
You have to feel sorry for Danny Houghton playing with such a weak front row but that should not exclude him from criticism.
You can see an improvement in Jez Litten this pre season and he does give us impetus at dummy half when he comes on but given our lack of front row players Radford will no doubt go with four forwards on the bench and have Jamie Shaul doing the running from dummy half.

Re: Saints Friendly : Mon Jan 21, 2019 8:39 pm  

It was blatently obvious last season that we no longer have the pack to play the power game and run over other teams and don't have the slick passing and pace to around them ....Nothing has changed in the off season! We are stuck in no-mans land again i'm afraid.
We have a big and powerful set of backs who are not magically going to become speedsters (ie. they are relatively slow) so going with plan A and looking to out muscle the opposition is the obvious way to go without completely dismantling the threequarter line. With so many players out of contract at end of the season the whole ideology may change next year with a raft of quality signings but with a distinctly average pack this year we look like a very mid table team to me. If Taylor gets injured were left with an aging Paea, Mini, Manu, Washy, a lightweight Thompson & Fash and a Bowden & Green who have no real preseason behind them and might take many months to find some form. The youngsters in Matongo, Lane, Levy and Beinik etc show real promise but they are a long way from being ghe finished article. Poor recruitment this year particularly in the front row leaves us with another year of transition ahead.

Re: Saints Friendly : Mon Jan 21, 2019 8:57 pm  

The Club have rested on their laurels.
We needed a couple of signings who would make the first 17. Not players for a Reserve grade .
Their is some quality in our squad, but also some players needed moving on . Sentimental attachment seems to rule our recruitment and retention policy.