SUPER LEAGUE WINNERS: 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006 WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE HONOURS: 2001, 2007 CHALLENGE CUP HONOURS: 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 BBC SPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR: 2006 LEAGUE LEADERS' SHIELD: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
"Unless you're willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won't happen."
"In order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail."
"Dreams are extremely important. You can't do it unless you imagine it."
Of course, I was very relieved to only lose to Huddersfield by a point, I was expecting more to be honest. But re-read that first sentance, who would have thought we'd have been saying that?
Saints have ignored the playing squad since the stadium progression started. The choice of coaches has been awful, the player retention decisions have been shocking, the recruitment has been lazy, illjudged and clearly not sufficient to maintain a 'top' Super League side.
The club just gives off the vibe that it doesn't care about winning anymore. It doesn't have the passion it used to have. It's the same on the terraces, our fans are utter rubbish, the most pathetic bunch in rugby league. No noise even when things are going well, no support, poor away followings and the way they act so wronged whenever we lose.
I just can't figure out where we are as a club, or where we are headed. Are we in transition from the last side that won a trophy for us? Or given that was so long ago, are we now through the transition? How long do we give this side? Are the likes of Foster, Makinson, Shenton, Wheeler, Lomax, Gaskell, LMS worth persevering with or should we look at it again? Fullback - Need, Wingers - Fine for now but no threat from either wing, Centres - Shenton is alright, Halves - I like Gaskell and Lomax personally, Front row - Utter rubbish, Back row - Completely average apart from Sia. It looks to me as though we're half the squad away from winning a trophy again and rather than in transition, it appears we're back peddling.
Saddened , when we do have a downward slide I seriously have concerns for your wrists.
I'm not going to argue every point you have made, but I think you are as way off the mark with this as you where last year saying we were going to finish outside the top 4.
Saddened! wrote:
Not yet. And I'm not wrong either. I predicted a battle for 5th this season and that's where we'll be if we lose this weekend.
It's crazy reading how easily you write off your own team sometimes. St Helens is a huge club and even in a transitional period have managed to keep pace at the top of the league for the last few seasons. It's not the team of Long,Sculthorpe,Cunningham,Martyn and co but it's still packed with quality and you'll be there or thereabouts again this season.
The medical team are hopeful that Roby has a slight tear in his quad, just above the knee and nothing more serious. If that's the case it could be a couple weeks rest, best case scenario.
The medical team are hopeful that Roby has a slight tear in his quad, just above the knee and nothing more serious. If that's the case it could be a couple weeks rest, best case scenario.
It's crazy reading how easily you write off your own team sometimes. St Helens is a huge club and even in a transitional period have managed to keep pace at the top of the league for the last few seasons. It's not the team of Long,Sculthorpe,Cunningham,Martyn and co but it's still packed with quality and you'll be there or thereabouts again this season.
When does the transition start/end. It is coming on 4 years since we won a trophy and 6 years since we won the SL title.
Long left 3 years ago, Cunningham 2 years ago, Martyn 7/8 years ago, Scully 5 years.
It has been a slow decline rather than a complete collapse, but we are a long way from a side that is likely to compete for trophies consistently.