We seem to be playing a more expansive game too. I don't mind the occasional knock on or dropped ball as long as the effort is there .

indeed!

Was very cagey about him at the start of the year, but he's doing well with the odds stacked against him at the moment.

Bit concerned that we haven't won one of the three big games against our rivals (Wire and Wigan), but we did OK in 2 of those games.

Keep it up Royce!

I think with the injuries we have beating Wigan, Warrington and hudds looks very unlikely but I really fancy us against any of them with our first choice 17.

Well, on Friday we lost two players during the match having gone in fifty men down. And I'm sure Royce didn't suggest Lomax kick that little grubber into Ratboy's hands or that Scott Moore have a snooze on the tryline just as red head was itching to put the ball over. Until we lost Wheeler we were dominating Wigan. We drew with them in Cardiff - could have won if Jamie had had his Cas kicking boots on. Wire was inevitable one day so I'm just glad we got that over with. We beat Leeds very well indeed.

I liked the sound of Royce when I first heard him talk and then from what said when he first came over here. I also was of the view that he would be teaching us a new way to play post Keiron and that it would take time for that new way to embed into the team. We've also had the disruption caused by injuries and Kyle Eastmond and moving to Widnes.

I'm very glad he's joined us.

from a neutrals perspective, you are playing well at the moment despite a few injuries and the loss of KFC last season and Eastmond this season (although some may argue he was never in the team enough to count as a loss).

The true test will be how he rebuilds after the loss of Graham, and Puletula (sp?) next season, who are without doubt your 2 best players at the mo, and between them almost sneaked a victory at the DW.

We're lucky that we have James Roby to build around. He's our best player this season, but I agree that TP and Graham are fantastic also.

But people have been predicting our demise and our big tests for years. Sculthorpe, Long, Newlove, Joynt, Cunningham. They've all left and we continue to compete at the top. We're a special club with a winning mentality and anyone who says otherwise is a fool.

Roby has been our best player this year. The is nothing to say that TP is going yet as he's still making his mind up.

They will be a big loss if they go but we'd also have a huge wedge of cash to splash on replacements.

Also people forget about the passing of his father, that must have had a huge affect on him as well as the team.

As you say he's doing a superb job

And when you take into consideration all those distractions, i'd say he's worked miracles over these last few weeks.

This squad needs 'coaching'. That may sound daft but what I mean by it is that under DA we had such a great squad that 1-17 picked itself. We had the best team in SL bar none.

So to be top of the league (alright, it'll probably change tonight) with this current 1-17 (excl. injuries) is phenomenal!

I agree on the 'coaching' thing, it's not that we have a lack of talented players it's just alot of them lack experience , that squad Anderson had charge of had far more seasoned pro's and established leaders

Simmons has proved me wrong as is working wonders at a club that has got a horrendos injury list but is still winning matches playing a great brand of Rugby League Football. I know for a fact we would have crumbled under Millwards tenure if he was working under similar conditions as Simmons and even the most succesful coach of our Super League era at Saints Daniel Anderson would have struggled with it. Keep up the good work Simmons!

I wasnt convinced when we signed up Simmons , mainly because he didnt come with a brilliant coaching record as a head coach. I wasnt a fan of Potter and never hid it , I got to the point where I had to really really think about if I wanted to keep my season ticket or not the Rugby was that poor at times (even in games we were winning). Plenty people on here defended Potter so I would be interested to hear there opinions now we have something to compare it to , alot of people made excuses for the Bradford esc Rugby we churned out most weeks and they mainly revolved around having a weaker team/squad than Anderson had , so far this year Simmons has been working with barebones and yet has produced a team well worth the entrance money .... thoughts?

True but alot of the youngsters got fed into the team under potter.

Lomax, Wheeler, Clough, Ashurst, Dixon,

I think Potter is a builder of teams. He was what we needed at that point in time to stand still. But he did not look like a motivator. Maybe just me???

I thought he was someone who brought consistency. But did not have that magic quality to win high pressure knock out games and finals.

I still think we should have opted for Wigan at home in the playoff semi last year on a narrow pitch, with home support to sway the ref and get stuck into the wigan players

But when the chips were down, did Potter stick with Gaskell in the halves or did he put Wilkin there? He put Wilkin there. Gaskell wasn't injured after he was first played. But he didn't keep on playing him as Simmons has done. Had he done so then I would have been more convinced that Potter actually integrated the youngsters. We had Jamie Ellis at that time too. As well as Lomax (granted, Lomax was injured quite a bit, as was Wheeler). So he could have done what Simmons has done when we first lost Kyle and Leon. But he didn't. He preferred Wilkin with Moore.

I couldn't be more relieved that Potter has gone. Simmons for me any day of the week. And he really HAS integrated youngsters - #Lomaskell went down a treat!

Paul Clough was brought through in the Anderson era and I think it was Millward who gave him his Debut in 2003??? (Not so sure about the year)

Potter did bring consistancy I agree but we where never going to win Trophies under his tenure for a number of reasons. As you say he was rebuilding a side that was so succesful and lost a hell of alot of leaders in that time. Maybe we where all harsh on Potter as he did bring alot of young talented players through.

As for picking Wigan at home in the play-offs Im not so sure tbh. We beat Leeds in to qualifying Semi's at home twice and lost the Grand Final both years. Picking Huddersfield last year was the right chioce unfortuatley we where 2 half backs short in the GF to give Wigan a game.

I have mixed opinions on Potter but I don't see him as the root of all evil and as bad as some made out at the time.

I'm just enjoying the style of rugby after a boring 3 years. Silverware this year would be a bonus for me, not a necessity.

He wasn't the root of all evil. He was just naff.

The team appear to want to die for each other, and that's a great mentality to have, especially with the youngsters coming through. The comment above about the team needing coaching was spot on. I was unsure when he was announced, purely as the only other experience I had of him was his lacklustre time at Hull, but so far, I am very impressed.

Thats my point really, winning is important obviously but at least if we cant win trophy's (which no team can every year unless you play in the SPL lol) then playing a good brand of Rugby and giving 100% commitment is a must.

I dont think Potter ever really understood the club or the fans (or some of the players if the rumours are to be believed).

Could be describing Eric Hughes, and the team he built that went on to super league glories. Needed mcrae to instill the winning mentality , Hughes must have done a good job!

He's doing a great job considering our injury list and I hope that he can tighten up that defence because it needs tightening if we are to challenge for a trophy this year.

This was also Nobles problem.

He wouldnt stick with the younger players even though they was playing better, and it was found out in the end as it took an injury to Tim Smith to give Sam Tomkins a real go in the team.

It seems both Madge and Simmons will play the youngsters if they are playing well - which is what us fans like to see.

He was tightening it. We were at a 17 point average until we lost five players over three days! It's difficult to defend to the best of our ability when our players change by the minute! I'm sure he will do just fine in defence once - or if - we manage to field a reasonably consistent team.

He should get a great reception at our place on Monday. No one will forget the marathon runs he did for us to raise cash at that time. That's how bad things were when he coached us so don't take that previous stint in our game as anything to go by, I think he's doing a great job at Saints under mitigating circumstances.