Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Fri Mar 16, 2012 10:37 pm  

I got the impression that Brown would be happy to stay in England from his post match sky interview by not ruling out that he's defo going home.

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:29 am  

Afraid Longy is right.

Saints have been pretty boring to watch lately.
very predictable.

Id actually rather have Saints play entertaining rugby than win the grand final, and I genuinely mean that.

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:59 am  

Carlos Alberto wrote:

That's the lack of leadership. Laffranchi was captain at the Titans wasn't he? Don't know why we didn't give him the captaincy, tell him to mould the young team together.

Yep, Laffranchi could be a very good captain. Gold Coast want him back as a youth coach/mentor when his playing days are over, as Tommy god is for us now.

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:39 am  

Saddened! wrote:

How is that an over reaction? It's arrogant of people like you to assume we're going to come good this season. There is nothing to say we will. We've done it in previous seasons as we've had the quality players to do it. Perhaps we don't now. People are saying 'it doesn't matter, look at Leeds'. But Leeds had a new coach who changed things a lot and they had their key players out or in rehab after long term injuries. That is why they started slowly. We've not got any valid excuse for being 9th at the moment and we've had the easiest start to the season in terms of fixtures the club has probably ever had in Super League.

Tomorrow's game is going to be very telling. If we smash them by 40 I'll climb down from the soap box but another defeat would prove this is no blip as it's gone on too long for that. If you look at the names in our squad list, you would have to say it's a mid table side at best. I honestly don't think the team is underperforming that much at present, I think we are roughly where the squad deserves to be based on the talent within it. It's like if Liverpool lost Gerrard, there wouldn't be much left in their current squad and it's the same with us and Jammer.

It's not arrogance at all, it's just complete hysteria from people like you who love to put the boot in when we're playing badly. If things are going well, you barely hear a peep from you, it's like you take sadistic pleasure from our bad form so you can vent your spleen on here.

If you seriously think there are 8 teams better than us in this league, you're completely mental. I'd be willing to bet you that we'll make the 8, would you be willing to take that? Not only do I think we'll finish top 8, I think we'll be in and around the top 4 come the end of the year.

Our start to the season has been poor, no doubt about it. But, the games we have lost have been narrow defeats. Two of those defeats came against teams who are in great form right now. If we were losing games like Castleford have been I would be extremely concerned, but we're losing games narrowly and not playing well. To my mind, we need to fix up certain areas and those defeats will turn into victories.

There are problems at the moment. I don't think Royce knows his best side hence the tinkering, we're lacking real fluidity (I'm concerned he's not got the balance right in the halves - Wheeler deserves a shot for me) and confidence with the ball in particular and I think Royce took a gamble hoping to start slowly and conserve energy for the end of the year whilst picking up wins in the process. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if it was worth it, but we need some results in the next few games against some really strong sides to regain some confidence and to climb up the table.

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:42 am  

Blobbynator wrote:

It's not arrogance at all, it's just complete hysteria from people like you who love to put the boot in when we're playing badly. If things are going well, you barely hear a peep from you, it's like you take sadistic pleasure from our bad form so you can vent your spleen on here.

If you seriously think there are 8 teams better than us in this league, you're completely mental. I'd be willing to bet you that we'll make the 8, would you be willing to take that? Not only do I think we'll finish top 8, I think we'll be in and around the top 4 come the end of the year.

Our start to the season has been poor, no doubt about it. But, the games we have lost have been narrow defeats. Two of those defeats came against teams who are in great form right now. If we were losing games like Castleford have been I would be extremely concerned, but we're losing games narrowly and not playing well. To my mind, we need to fix up certain areas and those defeats will turn into victories.

There are problems at the moment. I don't think Royce knows his best side hence the tinkering, we're lacking real fluidity (I'm concerned he's not got the balance right in the halves - Wheeler deserves a shot for me) and confidence with the ball in particular and I think Royce took a gamble hoping to start slowly and conserve energy for the end of the year whilst picking up wins in the process. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if it was worth it, but we need some results in the next few games against some really strong sides to regain some confidence and to climb up the table.

I agree with this to an extent, but the losses and close run games, in games we 'expected' to win, has dented confidence, which is why I think in the last 2 games the half backs have dropped off in form. The gamble of a slow start only works, if it does not knock the confidence of the team, or if it puts the team still within touching distance of the head of the pack. Had we won 1 of the 3 games we lost and beat Hull KR, the doom and gloom would be no where near as bad, but the gamble for me is not paying off as it only works if you come good. That's why this week is so key, it's a must win game as if we don't that could really hammer confidence going into games against the top 3 contenders for the title. 5 points of the leaders is recoverable but 11 points would be a disaster.

Also and this is very important, gambling on a better finish carries a major health warning. Fans do not just watch the GF. Saints do not just earn income from the GF. The majority of income in SL comes from week in week out games. You play those games well and fans will turn up to see a winning and entertaining side, regardless of the losses in GF's. If we back load the season with the expectation of running a below standard side for the first few games, then we cannot be surprised if fans start to turn away from season tickets and also start to back load their season, buying tickets for just key games and the run in to the playoffs.

The coach has a job to win trophies, but this has to be balanced against the clubs need to generate revenue through week in week out results.

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:06 pm  

bewareshadows wrote:

I agree with this to an extent, but the losses and close run games, in games we 'expected' to win, has dented confidence, which is why I think in the last 2 games the half backs have dropped off in form. The gamble of a slow start only works, if it does not knock the confidence of the team, or if it puts the team still within touching distance of the head of the pack. Had we won 1 of the 3 games we lost and beat Hull KR, the doom and gloom would be no where near as bad, but the gamble for me is not paying off as it only works if you come good. That's why this week is so key, it's a must win game as if we don't that could really hammer confidence going into games against the top 3 contenders for the title. 5 points of the leaders is recoverable but 11 points would be a disaster.

Also and this is very important, gambling on a better finish carries a major health warning. Fans do not just watch the GF. Saints do not just earn income from the GF. The majority of income in SL comes from week in week out games. You play those games well and fans will turn up to see a winning and entertaining side, regardless of the losses in GF's. If we back load the season with the expectation of running a below standard side for the first few games, then we cannot be surprised if fans start to turn away from season tickets and also start to back load their season, buying tickets for just key games and the run in to the playoffs.

The coach has a job to win trophies, but this has to be balanced against the clubs need to generate revenue through week in week out results.

We know all that. Don't assume that those of us who are advocating calm instead of panic are happy with us not winning. We're not, but we're perceptive enough to realise that getting good form isn't as simple as pressing a button and it magically happens as some people appear to think it does (not suggesting you sir). Form has to be built and earned.

We've been here before plenty of times in the last thirty years although it doesn't always work out for the best it rarely works out for the worst (I actually don't recall the last time Saints finished out the top eight and they certainly haven't in the past thirty years). I can understand why people get dramatic about it but that doesn't mean it's the right way to go about things. Those of us who are remaining calm don't do so out of blind faith, it's about having watched these players perform at levels higher than they are currently which gives us confidence in the team's ability to rise to the challenge. They did it last year and they can do it again this year but they will find it a lot harder with their own fans chipping away at that confidence every single week just because we aren't at the top of the table after six games.

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:45 pm  

McClennan wrote:

We know all that. Don't assume that those of us who are advocating calm instead of panic are happy with us not winning. We're not, but we're perceptive enough to realise that getting good form isn't as simple as pressing a button and it magically happens as some people appear to think it does (not suggesting you sir). Form has to be built and earned.

We've been here before plenty of times in the last thirty years although it doesn't always work out for the best it rarely works out for the worst (I actually don't recall the last time Saints finished out the top eight and they certainly haven't in the past thirty years). I can understand why people get dramatic about it but that doesn't mean it's the right way to go about things. Those of us who are remaining calm don't do so out of blind faith, it's about having watched these players perform at levels higher than they are currently which gives us confidence in the team's ability to rise to the challenge. They did it last year and they can do it again this year but they will find it a lot harder with their own fans chipping away at that confidence every single week just because we aren't at the top of the table after six games.

Oh halle piggin lulia. A voice of reason amidst a world of chicken lickens

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:54 pm  

McClennan wrote:

We know all that. Don't assume that those of us who are advocating calm instead of panic are happy with us not winning. We're not, but we're perceptive enough to realise that getting good form isn't as simple as pressing a button and it magically happens as some people appear to think it does (not suggesting you sir). Form has to be built and earned.

We've been here before plenty of times in the last thirty years although it doesn't always work out for the best it rarely works out for the worst (I actually don't recall the last time Saints finished out the top eight and they certainly haven't in the past thirty years). I can understand why people get dramatic about it but that doesn't mean it's the right way to go about things. Those of us who are remaining calm don't do so out of blind faith, it's about having watched these players perform at levels higher than they are currently which gives us confidence in the team's ability to rise to the challenge. They did it last year and they can do it again this year but they will find it a lot harder with their own fans chipping away at that confidence every single week just because we aren't at the top of the table after six games.

The voice of reason speaks. Doomsayers take note!!!!

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:59 pm  

Doom sayers are going to get more additions to their ranks tonnight

Re: George Riley of the BBC blogs about Saints : Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:02 pm  

Still think Saints will finish above Bulls this season, but 2 poor sides on show tonight, and both a long way off Leeds/Warrington/Hudds/Wigan.