Re: Pre-season chat : Tue Jan 17, 2023 12:21 pm  

WWste wrote:

I think it’s a funny time to come in to the coaching squad as our attack last year was great and mainly put down to briers. Tommy is solid and I’m sure it wasn’t a coincidence he got the assistant NZ job. He’ll need to make sure we keep performing and hopefully he can bring that extra for us to push to the final

After hearing Sam Tomkins I'm quite hopeful that Tommy will ease into the coaching setup without any major issues at all.
He seems to be very knowledgeable about the game and over his career has played for great coaches and has played with some really top class players.
I've got a feeling that he may become our "secret weapon" this year.Will be interesting to see how Smith develops and if Powell changes his style of play.

Re: Pre-season chat : Tue Jan 17, 2023 12:55 pm  

Be interesting to see if Gleeson ends up back in RL. He was very well thought of at Salford (who played some great rugby at the time) and that rep got him his gig in RU. Now he's not part of the England RU set-up, there's a potentially very good backs coach available.

Re: Pre-season chat : Tue Jan 17, 2023 1:22 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

Be interesting to see if Gleeson ends up back in RL. He was very well thought of at Salford (who played some great rugby at the time) and that rep got him his gig in RU. Now he's not part of the England RU set-up, there's a potentially very good backs coach available.

I think he did some work with us last year. He would be a good addition for anyone. A shame we can’t get him in. Salfords attack looked great at the time he was there and he was an amazing player.

I’m looking forward to see what Duffy has to offer both in the reserves and 1st team has a lot of experience.

Re: Pre-season chat : Tue Jan 17, 2023 1:50 pm  

WWste wrote:

How do we all feel we’ll go with Tommy replacing Briers. He’s got the experience on the field and has done his stint with New Zealand. Not sure what stamp he can put on the team creative wise that he hasn’t as a player

That isn't necessarily how it works though.

If you applied similar logic, Matty Peet only ever played at St Pats and has ended up coach of Wigan...

Re: Pre-season chat : Tue Jan 17, 2023 7:31 pm  

One addition on the staff I’ve not seen confirmed is Chris Barron (I think that’s his name and aka Bubble). He works with England and was at Wire. I noticed him in some of the pre season photos. That’s an interesting appointment after Briers going. Now I’m not saying Briers was just the club comedian/quiz master but I thought as much as we felt his coaching knowledge last year, we also benefitted from his personality and I think he really helped the team spirit.

The reason I make that point is that I’ve seen plenty of England training clips or behind the scenes stuff from Tours and Series here and Chris Barron seems to also bring that energy and the players seem to love him. He could really help soften the blow of Briers leaving in terms of keeping that team spirit going and making sure the place is an enjoyable environment.

Re: Pre-season chat : Tue Jan 17, 2023 10:24 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

One addition on the staff I’ve not seen confirmed is Chris Barron (I think that’s his name and aka Bubble). He works with England and was at Wire. I noticed him in some of the pre season photos. That’s an interesting appointment after Briers going. Now I’m not saying Briers was just the club comedian/quiz master but I thought as much as we felt his coaching knowledge last year, we also benefitted from his personality and I think he really helped the team spirit.

The reason I make that point is that I’ve seen plenty of England training clips or behind the scenes stuff from Tours and Series here and Chris Barron seems to also bring that energy and the players seem to love him. He could really help soften the blow of Briers leaving in terms of keeping that team spirit going and making sure the place is an enjoyable environment.

Good spot - surprised we've brought in a new head of strength and conditioning without the club publicising it. Could be an important move if he does well - I'm sure many will remember the boost Mark Bitcon gave us in that area.

Re: Pre-season chat : Wed Jan 18, 2023 7:15 am  

MadDogg wrote:

Good spot - surprised we've brought in a new head of strength and conditioning without the club publicising it. Could be an important move if he does well - I'm sure many will remember the boost Mark Bitcon gave us in that area.

Fingers crossed. There are a couple of lads like Mago and KPP that you’d be interested to see what he can do with. I’d love to see KPP go in to the season with an extra stone or two on him, especially now he should be starting in the forwards (all being well).

Re: Pre-season chat : Wed Jan 18, 2023 8:13 am  

nathan_rugby wrote:

That isn't necessarily how it works though.

If you applied similar logic, Matty Peet only ever played at St Pats and has ended up coach of Wigan...

Well there was a big gap between Peet taking over and playing. Peet has also has been earning his stripes over the years. It must be a massive change to get use to not being able to be on the field and influence a game.

Re: Pre-season chat : Wed Jan 18, 2023 8:13 am  

nathan_rugby wrote:

That isn't necessarily how it works though.

If you applied similar logic, Matty Peet only ever played at St Pats and has ended up coach of Wigan...

Well there was a big gap between Peet taking over and playing. Peet has also has been earning his stripes over the years. It must be a massive change to get use to not being able to be on the field and influence a game.

Re: Pre-season chat : Wed Jan 18, 2023 11:24 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

One addition on the staff I’ve not seen confirmed is Chris Barron (I think that’s his name and aka Bubble). He works with England and was at Wire. I noticed him in some of the pre season photos. That’s an interesting appointment after Briers going. Now I’m not saying Briers was just the club comedian/quiz master but I thought as much as we felt his coaching knowledge last year, we also benefitted from his personality and I think he really helped the team spirit.

The reason I make that point is that I’ve seen plenty of England training clips or behind the scenes stuff from Tours and Series here and Chris Barron seems to also bring that energy and the players seem to love him. He could really help soften the blow of Briers leaving in terms of keeping that team spirit going and making sure the place is an enjoyable environment.

On his Linkedin profile he started with us in December.
Not sure why it hasn't been announced.