Not hard considering you had SL playersw and a much higher spending cap than the rest, along with parachute payments, a monkey could have got you back up

Fair enough he may have instilled a spirit that was lacking, but to me the big thing that turned the club around was finally being able to take a step back. As the club where never exempted from relegation in those previous seasons they were trapped into only being able to act in the short term and a constant state of uncertainty. Going down gave you a chance to regroup, look forward, then come back up in a much better shape.



I can certainly understand appreciation for what did Smith with him being in charge at that time, and I am not saying he did a bad job. Just that the level of the praise he receives that seems excessive. To me it seems Widnes winning the NFP was just as important to the club turning around as whoever was in charge at the time.



Michael.

Ignoring the bitter Rovers fan who clearly has no concept of what went on that season.



Mav, ironically, the season Huddersfield got relegated was probably the one season where they could claim to have been hard done to, losing out on points difference and not league points, certainly in the last 3rd of that season they were a genuinly competative side.



But yes, the best thing was being able to take a step backwards, restart with a bit more wisdom (Ken Davey has said he was very naive during our first time in SL, suggesting Huddersfield were perhaps taken advantage of by other parties, or were playing to the spirit of the game, rather than the letter)



Still, Tony Smith had a positive effect on the club, but as Daz has said, the real maestro of my memory at Huddersfield was Alex Murphy, and Huddersfield rise back to the top flight can be directly pinpointed as starting with him in the old 3rd Div.

Ken Trail the Wakefield Coach of the 1960s



Trinity swept all before them including the touring Australians and New Zealanders.



OH and will someone tell Fatty Vautin that Hasim El Masri is NOT the "World record point scorer of all time". That title belongs to Neil Fox and was earned during a time when Englans domestic league was a far higher quality than Australias and he also did it with three point tries.

do you rate bennet

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I really like your strip! When I first saw pics I wasn't a big fan but it's grown on me.



I reckon come '11 we won't be talking about Widnes to be a shoe in for '12 because if they don't pull their socks up fax will be in, building a good little club from the ground up there. The only thing going against them is the amount of clubs in W. Yorkshire

Corrected

Whether its right or wrong, I can't see Fax getting into SL, no matter how many trophies they win over the next couple of seasons. In terms of Championship clubs, I would think Halifax would be well down the list of clubs that the RFL would want to go into SL. All it will take is for Leigh, Widnes, Toulouse, Gateshead to get to a GF or win a NRC and they'll get the nod.



Just as a seperate point, having a good team on the pitch isn't supposed to be the be all and end all - what about youth development? Fax don't even have an u18's or u21's at the moment.

At the moment - right now, i agree with you.



Three years is a long time though. 18 months ago, your very own club went into administration but look where you are now. For the fate of Toulouse and Gateshead - see Celtic's progress over the next 2 years. If they fail or remain as they are now, the RFL won't risk Toulouse or Gateshead without something special emerging from both (big backer, exceptional gate increases). At the moment, it's Widnes in the box seat. What will determine anyone else going up is the progress of the likes of Salford & Wakefield.

ex dragons player

warren ryan

Wayne Bennett

Craig Bellamy

Steve Folkes

Brian Smith

Daniel Anderson

John Lang

Tony Smith

Graham Murray

vinty kaalius, the man who invented fitness work as part of training.

Nathan Brown - Anyone that slaps Trenty boy in the face is ok by me!

Bobby Goulding - worth the admission ticket to watch him on the sidelines!

Ricky Stuart - The master of good sportsmanship!

Shaun McRae - Anyone who can look that fat and still convince players they need to train hard is doing well!

Ricky Stuart - Takes the lads out on the razz then sees them suspended for drunken behaviour, way to go Ricky!

Howard Hill - The magician, now you see him, now you don't!

Steve Crooks - Turn your back and you'll end up with a knife in it!

Not bitter, we had no chance of going up anyway, mind you neither did anyone else.

Graeme Lowe

John Monie

Mike Gregory

Roy Francis.

Len Casey

or Harvey Howard



You can lock the thread now!

giants browny need to be rated now

had a drink with Frank Stanton on Monday after the Hull KR / Huddersfield game

aussie. manly frank ??

Peter Fox (before his last season and ignoring his badly advised spell at Headingley). Almost immediately from him taking over you could see his team evolve and improve week by week.