www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... 51056.html well done to the pair of them always liked them both as players.

www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... 51056.html well done to the pair of them always liked them both as players.

Where's the story? That's the wrong link.

Did you mean to post this: www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/local/R ... 5620977.jp

Did you mean to post this: www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/local/R ... 5620977.jp

I was also in Serbia with the Euro Celts team and was a great event both on and off the field. I was fortunate to be involved in a training session with Tony Smith the England and Warrington Coach and had a good chat to him about many things. I know Tony also ran a session with Scotland and Serbia. Thats great that somebody with such a busy schedule took time out to spend time with volunteers and some kids.
Tony Anderson was great alongside Tracey, Gary and Carl. We will keep in touch and we would like to try and organize a tour for next year to Germany with a Scottish Student team. The Scots had a tough week as sadly one of the boys fathers died on the eve of the opening day and that hit them hard. Yet Tony got the team playing good Rugby and deservedly beat the Euro Celts and Serbia.
Bobbie Goulding was also involved with the French and although people question whether he is right or not he certainly brings a positive attitude to where he goes. He livens things up and has some interesting stories as well. Very passionate person who has wasted chances in his life. Whather he is right for France not sure. But he is very open and again offered to help the coaches in germany as much as he can.

From what I have seen I think Tony is wasted not being involved in the Pro game and I feel was unfairly treated at Fax as he knew what was involved while others did not want to know the truth. I know people involved at Hull FC and still speak very highly of T.A

oops sorry, that was last link posted..

agree, tony anderson is a good coach. was good at fax but the club was in trouble and he took the flak for the poor performances on the field when he had no players as such.
was always good for fax over the years.

I seem to remember when we first got relegated from Sooper League TA said it would be 5 years before we would be able to mount a challenge to get back in - he was spot on in that respect. I feel too feel he took a lot of flak for things that went on in his time in charge but his hands were pretty much tied by the quality of players the club could afford - just look back at the team we had then, compared to where we are now!!

He brought his own players in for our first season in NL1 and he would've had a bigger budget than most clubs yet we nearly ended up being relegated. Don't want to start slagging the guy off but we massively underperformed that year. Anyway nice to see he's still involved in the game.

I also agree. When Tony first arrived we played great stuff, but the team was decimated and we were trying to compete in SL with sub-standard players ... there were heated discussions on here, I stuck up for TA but others even claimed it was TA's fault we had the players we had, because they were "his" players. Total ignorance. It was a real shame he never had the chance to prove himself, he would have worked excellently with our current playing squad.

I won't bag him for what hapenned in SL, don't think Wayne Bennet could've kept us up that season. But the NL1 season he would've taken us down if nothing had changed and that would quite possibly been the end of the club.

Don't know how you could say this, we were in a higher position when TA left and don't be kidded by us avoiding the drop ..... a dodgy Hadcroft try and an alarmingly tired York saved us, NOT a change of coach. But ... hey ... that's all in the past so let sleeping dogs lie eh?

What you on about? That's the most conclusive try I've ever seen in my life

I take your point Tony but the club was going backwards at a rate of knotts whilst he was in charge, maybe TA wasn't to blame and it was the players or a combination of the 2 and the off field situation. Anyway like you say it's in the past and hopefully we'll never be in a position like that again!

I must have been watching some other games around that period, because on the field we clearly had no idea. Do memories fade that much?

I wish him all the best... but in all honesty... everyone seems to have forgotten how he couldnt sign a check never mind a team... I seem to remember Moxon being one of his "wild card" signings in a key halfback position with just about no back up to speak of... those were dark days, and while the clubs position more than contributed, he was a complete waste as a coach... good technical coach who wouldnt know a good player if he bit him

had success with the second team and young players as coach.

When T.A was coach the club was in a mess with no money and likely few players wanting to come here-so I bet T.A just had to get in who he could and it sadly showed. I think if we had a director of Rugby like Martin Hall back then we would maybe have signed better players but I know professional players in SL who rate T.A highly with his coaching. he knew the amount of work that was needed at Fax but everybody jumped on him. Maybe due to lack of money, bad atmosphere and uncertainty the players did not do what T.A wanted. People blame him way to much for the way we nearly got relegated. However I do not think any coach would have done much better due to the circumstances. I also think we had to try our luck with wildcards as players simply did not want to go to a club with serious money problems and going backwards. The rot was in and no matter what coach was there he would have struggled to get decent players

Pretty much spot on.

He may not have been tough enough with the players we had when it needed an authority figure, but the finances at the time played a big part in his ability to field a decent squad.

I think he came believing the clubs debts were something like £30k and they turned out to be something like 10 times that when all the un-opened enelopes and draws were emptied.

That's the kind of ignorance I was talking about .... yeah, beax, TA wasn't able to distinguish between a good player and a bad player, whatever you say

He'd secured Brad Davis who then went on to do the dirty on us after signing and virtually win the league for Cas.

I think TA was under-rated and under-funded.

There's been enough slagging-off of people on here in recent months. Let's tone it down now, please.

EH? Why single ME out? Anyway, off to the match now to cheer the lads against the froggies. UNITED WE STAND, DEVIDED WE FALL!

You poor, persecuted old sod.



Didn't mean you anyway.

I can be called many things TF(small, bald, devilishly handsome!)... but ignorant is not be one of them... esp when you consider I was actually working down at the shay at the time TA was in chanrge and was in contact with a number of the players at fax, and some of the players he had previously coached!!! That seemed to me to be the general feeling, but I take my hat off to him for taking on the impossible job and trying to make it work, given more funds etc he might have done a wonderful job, the fact is, we will never know.... but facts speak for themselves... we got relegated from SL and almost from NL1!!! coaches live and die by those facts, I understand and mirror the sentiment towards him being a fax legend, but that aside, facts are facts!

now go bark up another tree

That was my understanding of the problem, awesome tactical coach but a players friend rather than someone to beast them when it was needed. Reckon he's one of the best assistant coaches on the market, dare I say it, one to look at when we get the academy set up back on track?