: Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:56 pm  

i think its a bit harsh to critisize potter after only 3 games, imo we have had a gd start, fair enough to lost to hkr but who cares, we lost to them in the opening match last year by about 2 points if i remember, we have beat warrington which can sometimes be dodgy and beat hudds away which is always dodgy, you gotta look at the fact that catalans were the worst team disicpline wise last year and potter has obviously brought some of that over but give it time, its always hard for a new coach. good start for us if you ask me considering we only have done the 1 signing and lost a whole bunch of players

: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:59 pm  

We have played about 40 to 50 minutes of decent rugby out of a possible 240 so yes it is a bit concerning at the moment. That said, the defence looks very good.

: Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:14 pm  

SAINTS57 wrote:

This is not Potters fault, he has to make the best of it, but it could reflect badly on him as the season goes on.

Thing is, though, he's not here to 'make the best of it', is he? The reason he's here is to develop the youngsters so we could be seeing a lot more of them if he takes his remit seriously. I think the injuries may only be incidental this season. He will want to battle harden the young players and it's likely we'll suffer more defeats as a result.

Though, to be fair, on Friday it wasn't the young players who were the problem. It was after all Graham who gave away our final penalty which gave Hull KR the match. Ok, so if Wheeler hadn't turned in then there was a remote possibility of a try from Armstrong at the end but without Graham's penalty gift we wouldn't have been in a last minute position. And Graham wasn't the only experienced player giving away penalties.

Our lack of discipline anywhere around the ball cost us on Friday night. That may be ok as a one-off but if it becomes a pattern then the coach does have something to do with it.

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:29 pm  

RIGSBY wrote:

well hull kr beat us at home..first time in 24 years..hmmmmmm
havent made my mind up about him yet.???

yeah but you were crap for the first 3rd of last year then you woke up as a squad and looked pretty awesome

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:40 pm  

SAINTS57 wrote:

It could be a difficult season for Saints this year, some experienced personnel have left and we are relying on youngsters to fill their boots.

Our strength in the Super League era has been largely built on having strength in depth but we could be exposed this year, for a large part of Friday's game we had four youngsters on the pitch who have only played a handful of games, most of them as subs.

This is not Potters fault, he has to make the best of it, but it could reflect badly on him as the season goes on.


Just one thing from Friday, I know Roby started as stand off, when KC went off and he went to hooker I'd like to have seen Wheeler given a run there. He came on to cover Gidley at centre and then got left there.

It was known from early on in the week that Pryce was going to be missing so they must have done some training with another pair of half backs.
I think Potter, like a lot of modern coaches, works on the principle that as long as you've got thirteen guys on the pitch they have to get on with it.

I'm a bit of a traditionalist I like to see players in the right roles

Eastmond was apparently down for playing on Friday but it was reported that he had picked up an injury to his knee in training on Thursday.

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:06 pm  

sgtwilko wrote:

yeah but you were crap for the first 3rd of last year then you woke up as a squad and looked pretty awesome

How very dare you, we are awesomeness personified for every game of Andersons reign as coach. We only lost the 2 Grand Finals because we were cheated by God, how dare he make it rain to suit Leeds.