The pain of losing last Saturday is very deep but what I am going to say next some people may find an over the top reaction but I have had a few days in which to think about it.

Saints as everybody knows have been a truly World Class side over the last 13 years since SL began but I now have to say we have come to the end of an era.

Personally I think there should be a number of changes to the playing roster as too many players are eithier just not good enough or they are still basking in the glory of the last few years.

Francis Meli: This guy has got to go as we his totally and utterly useless. The only thing he gives us is go forward and if thats the only thing he can give us he should to be moved into the Second Row. His fielding of kicks wheather it be high or along the ground is laughable.

Ade Gardner: The same as Meli without the go forward! The lad has no pace and is just the same as Meli dealing or should I say lack of dealing with tactical kicks. We should get shot of them both and look to bring in decent wingers who do there job.

Leon Pryce: Leon was great in 2006/07 but has seriously dropped form in the last 18 months. When he plays well he's great but has been too inconsistant for long enough now and next year is big year for him! He has too shape up. Hopefully he will thrive on the extra responsability with the departure of Sean Long.

Bryn Hargreaves: In RL impact props are one of the cruical aspects of the game and Hargreaves couldnt fight his way out of a wet paper bag. This guy has been with us long enough now and just hasnt improved to the standard we need.

Maurie Fa'asavalu: The last 3 seasons have been very poor from the big guy and now is the time to get shot. He comes up a couple of decent drives a game and then balls all the rest of the time. Also he gives away way too many penalties.

Mick Potter: I have every respect for what Potter achieved that the Catalan Dragons but he isnt up to coaching a top side like Saints. We have been so poor the last 8 weeks of the season we couldnt build up any sort of intensity need to win the Grand Final. Daniel Anderson would have played merry hell if he had seen his side play such dour up the middle rugby and Potter must learn that Saints are a great footballing side and should give the players more licence put promote the ball and express themselves more.

People may think that I am over reacting but seriously I want the best for Saints as the next supporter. Seeing Leeds lift the last 3 Grand Finals gets us has hurt me and all off you massively. Leeds are a class side and we need to start making changes NOW to get back to where we belong.

I agree with pretty much all your saying but sadly it's not that easy - sacking the coach (or moving him around in the setup) will only cost us money which we may or may not have but offloading players under contract is much much harder.

And how do we fund your lavish spree?

From an outsiders point of view one needs to ask what has Potter introduced to the side that wasnt evident before ???

For me the answer is very little.

He seems to be coasting on the back of Andersons achievments and his contribution seems to be to try to instill a style of play ( Catalans) that clearly the players arent happy with.

Also his judgement on the interchange seems very suspect ...reactive mainly intsead of proactive.

Of the players mentioned Gardner, Meli, Pryce, Fa'asavalu and Hargreaves I would promote from the Academy as the would perform better and show 100 times more heart to the cause. No lavish spree needed.

The answer is rebuild from youth don't try and buy success (look at warrington and Wigan) accept a couple of poor seasons but get the basic core of your team settled and wanting to play for Saints and no-one else then add a few overseas players to strengthen where your youth is weak. But remember Rome wasn't build in a day. And spending silly money on overage stars is not the best way forward. I suspect that Hull next year will have the same results as this year lots of stars but no stability

Not only is Potter coasting on Andersons achievments the whole team are with the exception of Wellens, Cunningham and Graham

Exactly my point. Why on gods earth we have brought Fozzard back is another brainless decision. I have respect for what he achieved at Saints as we WAS a good honest prop forward who made hard yards. We shouldnt be bringing back over the hill players at 33 years old.

makes a change from the old "Sack the Board" chants - "SACK THE TEAM, SACK THE TEAM, SACK THE TEAM".

and who would you have brought in who cost less than £50k (probably £30k) in wages? well worth the money

Well, if no other team wants to take the players off our hands, how do you think we can afford to pay them off? Buttons and lint?

Changes I'd like to see:

Potter replaced if the same dour tactics continue,
Let Hargreaves and Meli go. The former has gone backwards and is a non entity and the latter a gaffe prone chuckle brother, same also true of Gardner. Would be nice to see if we have any youngsters push for a place in the threequarters... Gaskell?
Give Wheeler a sustained run at centre,
Maggenis and Frodsham to get a decent go in the pack should they avoid injury.

Other than that I think the side is fine. Pryce will have to start pulling his finger out, though

Thats exactly the problem - I've said on another thread I'd love to see us with 2 new wingers , the young lad from Leeds (cant remeber his name) and Ainscough from Wigan would be imo great as they wouldnt cost the earth but the biggest issue is who would take Gardner and Meli off us and make it worth their while to leave? There is nothing stopping players like this from sitting on their contracts. even if we did have the cash to pay them off I think it still counts on the cap

A lot of people are bagging Hargreaves which i don't really understand. Apart from the mistake Saturday (in which 3 players were caught out) he hasn't put a foot wrong. He may not be a world beater but he certainly puts his hand up and gets stuck in. Ramps up every set, doesn't miss a great deal in defence, not sure on his handling errors but it doesn't strike me as being poor.

Who else would we get in to play for the money he is getting? Give the lad a break! Fact of the matter is we can't have a squad of 20+ world beaters.

I love posters like this!


and then

Doh!

Make up your mind mate!

When you signed him a few on here asked my opinion, what tm - tl has just posted is what I said about him, an honest hard working prop, but never top class.
At Wigan we had a choice of Prescott, Hargreaves and O'Carroll who is a year or two younger. IMO Wigan made the right choice in letting Bryn go.

Leon move to Centre or wing (Leon is banned from kicking)
Wheeler at 6
Kyle at 7
Meli takes over from Gilly in the pack
Gardner keeps his wing place (for now, untill his contract runs out)
Armstrong on t'other wing
Soliola centre for Pryce
Bring Kevin Ward back
Maurie told he does not pass the ball EVER
Hargreaves told to watch Jammer more
Potter given more time

To add his blistering pace to our attack lol

Give me a break. We lost the GF in an very close fashion, just as we lost to Leeds closely a few weeks ago. We beat them twice ealier in the season, don't forget (i was extraordinarily happy with the way we beat them at headingly). We've also turned in some excellent defensive performances in the playoffs.
The game significantly changed this year and robbed us of our main tactic of the quick play and scoot (which wasn't exactly rocket science from DA), add to that our main playmaker has gone steadily down hill, Cayless hasn't played at all and our board is expecting young players to do the job of seasoned pros.
Potter's job is to get the most amoount of Ws he can, and he didn't do a bad job.

lol, well thats the easy bit. You can sell or offload as many players as you want, however the coach is most pivotal.

The chairman either trusts potter to coach a group of players whomever that may be or .......

you dont trust him, get rid and bring in someone else.

The chairman in this case is most pivotal as he needs to see how many boxes potter ticks of the 5 most important leadership traits

Honest ? will be if he tells meli he is sh** and gets rid
Forward-Looking ? beyond 10yards would be better
Competent ? I will give him that one
Inspiring ? 1/2 time dressing room didnt look inspired
Intelligent ? benefit ot the doubt

personally speaking, i reckon although trophyless the season was ok,
defensivelylooked better than most
offensively we weren't at the races

if i was chairmen i would change things, get after noble whilst he is on the market. Thats nothing against potter, but i wouldnt want to find out next october that i should have changed things now.

I really really hope your taking the p!ss !!! swap 1 5 drives and a kick man for another? I think not

Yeah your right the game has significantly changed but Potter has changed our style of play and it has set us backwards there is no doubting that. Our defence has improved point taken but we have failed to score more than 15 points in the last 8 weeks of the season so that tells me our offensive play has gone way downhill. We have gone backwards this year and changes have to be made. Potter hasnt got the most out of us because as I said before our attacking play has gone backwards to non existant at times and Im sorry if you dont agree with this but he has to go. As for Cayless he should have been released at the end of 2008 due to his injuries and replaced accordingly that was a big mistake as Jammer has taken on the workload of two props this season and Ive said this before he will end up like Stuart Fielden if his workload isnt cut.

That point was made earlier in the season when Leeds were going through a bad spell which I didnt see them coming through. I stand corrected and they fully deserved to win Super League.

what about cullen



your right, we should wait until next year, when everyone else improves again and they may even over take us as second best.

But at least we will all sleep better because we did the "noble" thing and stuck with potter!