: Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:53 pm  

Lefty wrote:

Don't let your personal hatred come into it or anything. Briers has the talent of that there is no doubt. I think his past reputation just follows him around and people like you just wont let it go.

Personal hatred? Of someone I don't even know?

I dislike him as a player as I don't think he's half as good as some people thin, because I don't like the way he picks and chooses when to have a good game. I dislike the way people like you fawn over him and continually go on about his talent despite the fact that in his 12(?) years at the club we've never won a trophy. Real talent like Sean Long wins trophies. Briers doesn't even compare. And believe me I despise Sean Long, far more than our Mr. Briers. Disliking someone doesn't mean you can't see their merits. I just don't think Briers has all the merits people like you espouse.


RC

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:04 pm  

Foz wrote:

You know what? You're absolutely right. We should continue to rely on a player who, once every blue moon, has a good game and that's only when he not warming a north stand seat injured. Let's continue to rely on a player who is getting on a bit and leave ourselves in a situation where we've no replacement. That's the smart thing to do.

We should be doing a la Saints and blooding a replacement (like Eastmond). If we haven't got one then we should be looking to recruit one as soon as possible. We're not winning without Briers but we're not bl00dy winning with him either and haven't been very successful in the years he's been at the club so what on earth makes you think he's the answer now? If he hasn't been in all these years he certainly isn't going to win us a trophy now at 31 years of age.


RC

At the moment a good game once in a blue moon is better than none. He in my opinion single handedly beat Celtic and was instrumental when he came on against Hull KR. Even at 31 he is still head and shoulders better than any other half back at the club. Sean Long is 32 and he’s picking up trophies at St Helens so the age thing doesn’t matter too much. And also your example of Kyle Eastmond is just hypocritical as even he has been rumoured to have a poor attitude previously on the Saints board!


You are right that we must look long term to replace Lee Briers but the guy is the only option we have this season if we are to compete in any competition. The lack of young half backs out there is very evident, with almost every team in the competition being interested in any Australian half back to be released e.g. Brett Finch. There are other players which need to be released a lot sooner than Lee briers IMO.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:04 pm  

Foz wrote:

Personal hatred? Of someone I don't even know?

I dislike him as a player as I don't think he's half as good as some people thin, because I don't like the way he picks and chooses when to have a good game. I dislike the way people like you fawn over him and continually go on about his talent despite the fact that in his 12(?) years at the club we've never won a trophy. Real talent like Sean Long wins trophies. Briers doesn't even compare. And believe me I despise Sean Long, far more than our Mr. Briers. Disliking someone doesn't mean you can't see their merits. I just don't think Briers has all the merits people like you espouse.


RC

Sean long has had a world class team around him, that's what wins trophies, not the mediocre teams we've had in the last 10 or so years. It's only the last couple of years we've had an all round decent team, but when we lose Briers we go into disarray. He isn't the best halfback in the comp, he can be on some days, but to get rid would be the biggest mistake since signing Rodwell. Warrington need him, and by all means look for someone else we can develop to take over his role in the next year or two

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:12 pm  

Top players don't last forever. In my opinion Briers' performance levels have dropped this season and last, I'd be interested if there were a few stats to prove me wrong, but that's just my opinion. Our side has been built around him, everything has been about him and it's clear for all to see this approach hasn't been successful, as talented as he is, we need fresh blood, we need change and if it means losing Lee Briers for a better future, I'd be happy.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:17 pm  

Wedge>Anderson wrote:

At the moment a good game once in a blue moon is better than none

Great. Let's settle for mediocrity. Or, something a bit more radical, we could aim for a player who has a good game every game.

Wedge>Anderson wrote:

Even at 31 he is still head and shoulders better than any other half back at the club.

And that's the crux of it: at the club. hence why I said if there isn't another young player suitable to start blooding we should be looking to recruit one asap.

Wedge>Anderson wrote:

Sean Long is 32 and he’s picking up trophies at St Helens so the age thing doesn’t matter too much. And also your example of Kyle Eastmond is just hypocritical as even he has been rumoured to have a poor attitude previously on the Saints board!

Sean Long was winning trophies long before the age of 32. you know what they say about winning being a habit. Long is a match-winner and a world-class player, something Briers never has been and never will bem, but something we should be aiming for if we really have big club ambitions.

Regarding Eastmond - I don't read the Saints board so I don't know anything about the attitude problem you mention, I refer only to what I've seen of him play and how Saints utilise him.

Wedge>Anderson wrote:

You are right that we must look long term to replace Lee Briers but the guy is the only option we have this season if we are to compete in any competition. There are other players which need to be released a lot sooner than Lee briers IMO.

I can't see us being competitive this season with or without Briers. I'm not suggesting that we get rid of him tomorrow but I would really like to see the back of him at the end of this season. that gives us 2 years to rebuild the core of the squad before the franchises are renewed.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:24 pm  

Long has never been World Class.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:24 pm  

Briers is a proven match winner. He got dropped to the bench and came back all guns blazing and won us our two wins this year. Now he's injured or whatever is a bit unfortunate but if he's back on friday i'd be very confident of a win. I feel has has something to prove now, and I think he will lead us to success this year.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:26 pm  

Rugbychick™ wrote:

Great. Let's settle for mediocrity. Or, something a bit more radical, we could aim for a player who has a good game every game.

No that quote is actually trying to make the best of our situation at the moment which is completely different to mediocrity

Rugbychick™ wrote:

And that's the crux of it: at the club. hence why I said if there isn't another young player suitable to start blooding we should be looking to recruit one asap.

Rugbychick™ wrote:

I can't see us being competitive this season with or without Briers. I'm not suggesting that we get rid of him tomorrow but I would really like to see the back of him at the end of this season. that gives us 2 years to rebuild the core of the squad before the franchises are renewed.

Secondly we are actually agreeing. Briers Is the best we have at the moment and ultimately we do have to replace him. But that’s no easy task. It would be interesting to see who you suggest we replace him with? Myler - would he leave Salford? Tomkins - wouldn’t leave his boyhood Wigan. Eastmond - allegedly similar attitude to Briers and would Saints let him go? As I have mentioned several times the lack of quality half backs is evident especially British ones….

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:30 pm  

Warrington took a BIG chance on Briers after he had broke onto the scene when Goulding was injured at Sintellins. Maybe now is the time to do the same with another young prospect.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:31 pm  

I can't beleive that somebody is using Sean Long as a role model when criticising Briers.

Long has had plenty of rumours around him and his off field habits, has consistently been shown up at Test level, despite claims of him being World Class, and he walked out on his country mid tour.

Long has won many games for Saints just like Briers has won many games for Wire.
Long has many more opportunities to win games with fancy plays though as Saints are far more dominant than Wire are.

At times we see Saints introduce young lads and they look world beaters. Much of the time this is due to the strength of their overall team. Didn't Matty Smith get a hat-trick against us at the HJ a year or two ago, and people were raving that he would be the next big thing. Actually, he is an average player and was simply playing in a dominant team which allowed him to show what he could do.
How often has Briers played in a dominant team?

I would say that the last 18mnths have been his worst at the club, and IMO it was on the back of Cullen trying to remove our reliance on Briers, by bringing in Monas and taking the captaincy off him. Unfortunately, Monas hasn't been up to it, and Briers has struggled taking a back seat.