Correct , first of all sign a 37 year old winger and most of us were not fooled by that , now try and appease us with a DOR instead if sacking the coach . He is taking us for idiots

Rob Oats :



Nice bloke and good at what he does , but D.O.R

I doubt we'll see a change in coach until after the DoR is appointed unless Smith throws in the towel. I wonder if this move has been influenced by AMT. They've pumped a lot of cash into the club, and no doubt want to see something more than just bumbling along in the constant hope things will eventually get better.

Shame on the timing - means we've narrowly missed out on Richie Myler being available for the DOR role

GH isn't going to fill an expensive position just to appease the fans.

So why was this position not put in place the end of last season or the beginning of this one.
Do you honestly think if there was not all the unrest amongst the supporters that this position would be announced at this stage or even considered. Even GH's mate Peter Smith is having a go at the situation in the media which says it all. Of course its to try to keep the fans on board.

I think there has to be an element of appeasing unrest. Otherwise why would you announce you're looking to put something in place rather than announcing 'We've identified a need and we've recruited X' Playing the recruitment out in public is pretty amateurish in my opinion. Shouldn't be announcing anything without a name of the person who's taking on the role

Because its a deflection and something to mollify the fans calling for Rohans head while letting GH distance himself from having to admit that the latest coaching appointment hasnt panned out.

If you want RS out then I imagine this new appointment should please you. It undermines RS's role, gives him an unknown to deal with, and if anything adds more pressure to him from his point of view. The message is "sort it out ASAP or you'll be on your way".

I see this as an admission from GH that he's out of touch and not up to the workload/judgement any more, maybe he recognises that and wants to make something of a step back. Maybe he realises that if RS does go, this is just the latest in a sequence of decisions from him which hasn't worked and the fans ultimately will turn on him. He's not daft. It makes sense to put someone else in now before it gets too hot for himself.

I think this means RS will announce he is leaving as the new role kind of changes his role and what he was brought in to do, I think its a way of keeping face for both RS and GH

Im not pleased that were going through another coach, far from it. I honestly wanted RS to work out after the miracle run to the GF I really thought we'd unearthed a real gem of a coach who played a fantastic brand of rugby league. After 2 and a bit years of RS gimmick laden tripe its obvious that he hasnt anything resembling a plan B and the miracle run to the GF was unfortunately just that, a miracle. Thats why I want change.

Could well be. Whatever most on here say, my belief is that RS has not had the best of luck since joining, and unfortunately given the state of us when he came in, he just hasn't got the wiggle room or time to show whatever it is that he can do.

He's compounded that with some errors of judgement in signings here and there - or had his hands tied by GH who knows. Croft and Ackers have improved us, but beyond that nobody has really added significantly to the mix in truth.

It's all very frustrating but it is what it is, and the club needs to find a way to move forwards. I'm still not convinced RS is as bad a coach as most on here make out, he does have a long track record in coaching, just not at this level. Sometimes it's just not the right mix and maybe this is one of those times. The next few games and new Sporting Director will be very illuminating.

Hetherington has been trying to give this role away for years. Agar would have been ideal for it (and still would tbh) but that plan got messed up, as did the disastrous learning on the job attempt by Sinfield.

Agree - not sure on Agar - not sure he is dynamic enough for whet we need right now. Sinfield was in way above his skill set at the time.

The one thing nobody wants is JJB to get the role - hopefully the board are not that daft

Agreed. He's the wrong personality for this job, you need someone with attention to detail and who can really manage the numbers as well as the personalities.

I'm hoping we bring in an Aussie to be honest. Someone with some NRL pedigree here could be useful - especially as we need to get way better at who we bring in from overseas if we're going to challenge again. Those OS quota spots are vital to get right, and generally we just haven't. Literally Prior and Martin are the only ones I think worked, and Prior went on 18 months too long.

Wasn't Matt Adamson touting a bit recently? Not sure he has the right skillset either TBH.

Have just listened to the pre match press conference and it does not sound like Smith is going to resign.

He’s certainly putting on a brave face if he is.

I think Smith has had some bad luck with bad injuries to the likes of Simpson and Gannon’s HIA, however he has been hit harder by our poor recruitment. As you said earlier Jim, was Smith or GH making the decisions?

Start of 2023, we brought in Hooley, Olpherts, Nene and Roberts in the backs. 3 have gone with people saying Roberts is likely to leave at end of this year. We kept Fusitua and are paying Olpherts to play for wakey which puts you in a weak place when Lumb does his hamstring.

And of course our weakness at prop and losing Walters.

I know you think errors are the key, I won’t go on about style of play as I think we all have our own views

Yes he seemed more cheerful and happier in the press video than for weeks.
He has either been given the full backing by GH or he has a great poker face.
It would be interesting if the new Sporting Director said he should go and GH refused.

Yep I was wrong on that one!

He actually sounded like he would love a DOR to take some of the stuff off his desk TBH

Yeah I think it's a case of emphasis on those aspects rather than disagreeing that either has a part to play. I just don't think our stats or style can flourish with the amount of individual errors we're making as I've said... but then RS has recruited or selected those players and he can't just wash his hands of that either.

We have made a hell of a lot of project signings (Hudson, Ruan, Roberts etc) and none of them have paid off yet, if they ever do. The common theme here is "bargain basement" - we are trying to find diamonds in the rough, or assume that our magical environment will turn average players into great ones, or we assume that players with long histories of injury will come good for us. This is where I see the hand of GH in these decisions, but I could be wrong.

For me you have to get a balance of projects/punts, but you can't base your entire strategy on high risk signings. Even Miller at FB was a risky call. I think once he settled and we learn how to use him, he'll be a good player for us but he's also been a liability at times we couldn't afford.

I think this all means that RS will leave at the end of the season.
Probably announced in the coming weeks.
Then, the first job for the new DoR is to find the new coach.

Not sure what the evidence is for this conclusion.

It'll be interesting to see who applies for it. Are there many examples of this kind of role at other clubs?

I used the words "I think" because it's my opinion.
This is a place for opinions.

Sometimes opinions on here are put under the same scrutiny as testimony in a court of law. It’s ridiculous. The response is always “but this is a place for debate, is it not?”.