Re: Chester : Mon Jan 25, 2016 9:13 am  

barham red wrote:

Bottom line is that nearly every fan could see we needed some impact in the props and it was essential to get in quality into the 2nd row. Now if this was apparent to the fans what the hell did the coaching staff do about it?

Chester sounded shocked and stunned, why? No one else was, it was obvious is was going to happen all we have done in the off season is compound our weaknesses.

Totally agree with you.

Ater finishing in the bottom 4 I, along with many others were concerned about our lightweight back row and was hoping for some big, busting aggressive signings. Watching others sign players it was evident that they were going for big, powerful and mobile packs, why couldn't Chester & co also see this.

When we didn't sign any decent players for key positions, instead going for backs I feared the worse and commented to a B&W mate of mine that 'FC would steamroller us' if we didn't sign some quality soon. Yesterday was not a surprise to most of us, but seemed to be a surprise to Chester & co, REALLY, if this is correct then you need to look for alternative employment as soon as possible, if I made such glaring mistakes in my job I would be shown the door immediately.

I have renewed my pass as I always do and will go to games as I always do to support whoever pulls on our shirt, but unless something significant happens very soon, I see us firmly anchored to the bottom of the table as Wakey, Widnes and Salford have all made better signings than us. I will be shocked if we keep Cas to 20 points on the opening day.

Re: Chester : Mon Jan 25, 2016 9:25 am  

On the bright side, you won't be playing Frank and the rest of Hull's pack every week. You lacked leadership and organisation today so when campo and lunt are back you should be in a stronger position however, looking like the mid 8 again

Re: Chester : Mon Jan 25, 2016 10:02 am  

I think at the end of last season the jury was out on Chester, with most (myself included) willing to say lets see how we go this season after a mediocre 2015. League form not great but a cup final gave us something to put a bit of gloss on despite the result.

That said, every rovers fan I know knew what our squad needed in terms of recruitment. Quite simply we haven't gone and got that, just signed more players in the mould of last seasons squad. When you compare our squad to the teams around us on paper you do wonder if we are spending the cap wisely, with big chunks taken by a few quality players rather than a balanced squad.

Yes it's only pre season so we might be over reacting, but the results and performances are so alarming that it's hard to believe we're going to improve on last year. His tone in interviews and such worries me, he clearly thought we were shaping up alright before the friendlies and after them he seems shocked. If he can't fix it in 2 months off season the task of fixing it in 2 weeks for the season proper is huge and I think he knows that.

Finally, in today's HDM quoted as saying 'we need a few bodies back out on the field' I'm sorry but it's clear we have a small squad he knew that and he knew we tend to struggle with injuries, you can't ignore that and then use it as an excuse. If we're struggling to cope now, how are we going to manage getting through a full season?

Bring on 2016.

Re: Chester : Mon Jan 25, 2016 10:08 am  

Who are these few bodies? Campese and Lunt will add to our attacking structure but lets be honest neither will help our defence in fact I'd say Budebza and Marsh are better defenders.

Re: Chester : Mon Jan 25, 2016 10:36 am  

My worries over this season have proved to be an issue. Yesterday it was men against boys, not in skill or effort but in size. FC players in every position 1 to 17 were physicaly bigger than ours. wingers the size of our props. Add to that the quality of the big blokes they have we were on the back foot from the off. It is no suprise that FC & the Giants beat us as both their coaches were part of the monster Bulls side that took super league by storm in the early years & have taken thier teams down the same path. I would hope Peacock will have some better conections with the new genaration of players & can find us a couple of monsters up front as I think that is what we are lacking. We have not replaced Weyman or Bailey with like for like. It showed last year & is showing again pre season. We have some prospects but they need experiance & an older head to play alongside or they will get wasted & burnt out before the season is half way through. I think it will be a hard ride this year but it won't all be bad (I hope)

Re: Chester : Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:05 am  

The cup run papered over a host of cracks last season,some terrific performances the cup wins at wigan and the semi v warrington and sporadic good wins in the league,but the facts are we finished 10th,conceeded 646 points in 23 games an average of 28 pts a game.So what happens,poching the defensive coach keeps his job and nobody seemed to question this and instead of addressing the major problem of our lightweight pack nothing is done and campese as I have said before is a disaster waiting to happen.The guy has been a great player ,but we took a calculated risk with him knowing he had a dodgy knee and canberra let him go because of this and now we are sat around waiting for him to reappear with 2 dodgy knees.
As usual i will be turning up as normal home and as many away as possible but after yesterdays thrashing it was plain for all to see it was men against boys and as we all know what chance does any team have behind a badly beaten pack.I feel 11th or 12th place awaits us,and maybe worse than that I fear in the play offs.In the 10 years of us in superleague Iam dreading the season more than any other,but please let me be wrong.

Re: Chester : Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:12 pm  

Beverley red wrote:

My worries over this season have proved to be an issue. Yesterday it was men against boys, not in skill or effort but in size. FC players in every position 1 to 17 were physicaly bigger than ours. wingers the size of our props. Add to that the quality of the big blokes they have we were on the back foot from the off. It is no suprise that FC & the Giants beat us as both their coaches were part of the monster Bulls side that took super league by storm in the early years & have taken thier teams down the same path. I would hope Peacock will have some better conections with the new genaration of players & can find us a couple of monsters up front as I think that is what we are lacking. We have not replaced Weyman or Bailey with like for like. It showed last year & is showing again pre season. We have some prospects but they need experiance & an older head to play alongside or they will get wasted & burnt out before the season is half way through. I think it will be a hard ride this year but it won't all be bad (I hope)

We are a big side now, like the old Bulls sides. But then we have some classy players like Logan and Tuimavave who can unlock a defence, and some decent pace in Shaul, Lancaster, Michaels etc to finish off breaks. I think top 4 for us, maybe 9th for you guys, but you need a couple of forwards

Re: Chester : Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:42 pm  

Your lack of back up options is another issue. If you lose a couple of props and a back rower then who will be there to step up?

Re: Chester : Tue Jan 26, 2016 7:35 am  

Wilde 3 wrote:

We are a big side now, like the old Bulls sides. But then we have some classy players like Logan and Tuimavave who can unlock a defence, and some decent pace in Shaul, Lancaster, Michaels etc to finish off breaks. I think top 4 for us, maybe 9th for you guys, but you need a couple of forwards

We were gash no doubt about it and your lot made hay, what didn't happen was that you werent tested and to be fair when we did have the ball in your half (rarely) we scored. If you come up against a team that can defend then I think your stuffed. Its ok having size when there are unlimited subs and a lenient ref but it just doesnt cut it anymore at the top level, Leeds weren't a massive side, neither are Wigan or Saints the top teams will tire you out and run around you.

As your facebook page has posted, this is your season highlight enjoy it, but in typical Hull fashion on the back of one preseason match your a top 4 side.

Re: Chester : Tue Jan 26, 2016 7:41 am  

barham red wrote:

We were gash no doubt about it and your lot made hay, what didn't happen was that you werent tested and to be fair when we did have the ball in your half (rarely) we scored. If you come up against a team that can defend then I think your stuffed. Its ok having size when there are unlimited subs and a lenient ref but it just doesnt cut it anymore at the top level, Leeds weren't a massive side, neither are Wigan or Saints the top teams will tire you out and run around you.

As your facebook page has posted, this is your season highlight enjoy it, but in typical Hull fashion on the back of one preseason match your a top 4 side.

let them build themselves up for their almighty fall from grace (again)