Having watched 99.9% percent of the games this season I can only remember 1998/2003 being a worse seasons that the current one we are in. So only three average seasons out 17 years of Super League is a remarkable achievement. How many other clubs could boast of such a record??? I know people will say we have lost the last five Grand Finals but at least we were good enough to get there which in my book qualifys as a succesful enough season.

We have some marvellous young kids in our squad like Jonny Lomax, Lee Gaskell, Tommy Makinson, Josh Jones, Adam Swift, Carl Forster to name a few. These kids will become stars of the Super League in the near future but we are lacking in many areas of the side that need addressing. I know these changes cant happen overnight but little changes year on year will make us a better side in years to come.

Here's a few changes I would like to see made.

Paul Wellens has been on of the best Full Backs (if not thee best) in Super League. All good things have to come to an end and I think its time Wello stepped aside and allow Jonny Lomax to takeover the Full Back role. Jonny Lomax has done a great job at Scrum Half but I believe Full Back is his long term position.

We need to inject some serious pace into the three quarter line. Francis Meli and Ade Gardner have been good players for the club but now are sadly in decline and have been for quite sometime. Francis Meli has become a serious liablity under the high ball for a few years now and should be released at the end of the season. As everyone knows Michael Shenton is being released at the end of the year and I would love us to go out to the market place and bring in a Right Centre thats got tremendous pace, good hands and solid in defence. We have never really replaced Willie Talau at left centre but I think Josh Jones should be given a serious run there to see if he is capable of making that slot his own. I think the kid could prove to be a star in the making.

We also have to sign a organising Half Back. As much as I think Jonny Lomax is doing a great job at 7 he hasnt got the organisational skills that we desprately need. Lance Hohaia is never a Stand Off in the memory of man and it competley amazes me why on earth Mike Rush isnt playing young Lee Gaskell at 6 every week.

The forwards with the exception of James Roby, Sia Soliola and LMS need a serious overhaul. Everytime we have played Wigan this season we have looked beaten up before the hooter has even gone for kick off!!! Josh Perry has been hit and miss this year with more misses than hits. Where the hell is the form what earned him a place in State Of Origin??? Anthony Laffranchi has done a sterling job upfront but is more of a backrower than a front rower (also been told a rumour that he is off home at the end of the year due to his wife being homesick) Jon Wilkin has been off the boil for sometime and needs to be told a few home truths in my opinion. There is no doubt in my mind that Wilkin has some serious ability but he cant do it on a consistant basis week in week out.

Lomax is never a fullback , Makinson and IMO Swift look like they may be good for that shirt , not forgetting the former NZ international 1 we have doing sod all at 6 atm (who is sadly on a long contract and shows no signs of getting homesick)

Perry is hot and cold - agree

Wilkin has never lived upto his potential unfortunatly

Laffranchi leaving would be a loss but nothing like Graham last year

Josh Jones for me is on course to be our regular 4 and yes a proper replacement for Willie Talau - with luck he'll be partnered with a rejuvenated Shenton (not likely if rumours are true) or Jordan Turner (I'd be happy with that)

FYI Gardner and Meli have never been any good really - Gardner has had his moments(not many) but has always been limited by his lack of pace meaning he is in the 'solid' catagory at best and Meli has been prone to doing 'a Meli' pretty much since we got him (hence he didnt stay in the NRL) - neither are good enough to lace Darren Albert's boots

I agree with most of that, especially the pack needing overhaul and more importantly the organising halfback.

However, I don't think lomax can play fullback no more, he's just to big now and IMO not got the pace to play there. I'd prefer makinson there.

I think brown needs to give us structure, we seriously lack being coached.

Also what I forgot to put in my original post was that IMO we need a Loose Forward as Paul Sculthorpe has never been replaced!

2 things to that. firstly the coaches we've had seem to have preferred to use the loose forward shirt as an extra prop but even if they'd given the job to say Wilkin (a ball player) sadly he is no Paul Sculthorpe. If he fills out maybe Gaskell would could be used as an additional pivot wearing 13

Yeah on second thoughts I would go with Makinson and leave Lomax at Scrum Half to develop further. Also agree with your comment we miss being coached properley.

Team for 2013

1. Makinson
2. Swift
3. Shenton/New Signing
4. Jones
5. New Signing
6. Gaskell
7. Lomax
8. New Signing
9. Roby (c)
10.Puletua
11.Soliola
12.Wilkin
13.Laffranchi (if he where to stay???)

Bench

14.Hohaia
15.Flanagan
16.McCarthy-Scarsbrook
17.Clough

This

I'd love us to get Broughton from Salford-genuine finisher and one of the fastest in the league.

If Lomax isn't a Fullback you best get his name printed on the 1 shirt cos that's where Browny will play him, either there or Prop!!!!

why? who has he played so far out of position?

In all I imagine most would agree with this. However I would say TP should be in that list of pack players that does not need an overhaul. He just needs a bit of fitness after his injury.

Does anyone remember the drama last year when Wire tried to steal him away from Saints and the relief expressed when he confirmed that he had signed with us for 2 years.

As for Lomax and Makinson, I'd be happy with either at FB, but we need to make a choice and give them a good run out.

You will see lots of changes, he changes the team more often than l change my socks.

Where do I start? We have a Fullback playing at Stand Off (Grix). A Scrum Half at Hooker (Robinson), a Centre at Loose Forward (Brown), Second Rowers at Prop (Gilmour & Ferguson), a Centre/Winger in the Second Row (Lawrence), a Centre at Stand Off and Loose Forward (Cudjoe), a Hooker at Prop (Faiumu) and to top it off he has tried to convert a Hooker with tons of potential into a Second Rower (Lunt) who now finds himself on loan at the World Club Champions starting at Hooker each week. FFS he has lost the plot big time. Win nothing and not many signs of that changing. Roll on 2013 season

I can't believe Huddersfield fans are turning on Brown. I thought our fans were bad but this is a whole new level. Do you lot not remember were you were before Brown? As for his team selection v Widnes maybe he just under estimated em like Wigan did but did that mean Wane had lost the plot. Let's go through the team though; Grix is a decent Stand off, Robinson is more effective at hooker IMO, Brown is the type of player I would like at loose forward, correct me if i'm wrong but did Gilmour get MOM at prop? Lawrence is huge and isn't a daft selection at second row and Lunt had a decent season last year but really wasn't as good as he was made out to be and the only reason he is on loan to the 'world club champions' is cause they are awful this year and are not in the top 8 now iirc?

Your not the only team that has out of position players though look at us. A slug at fullback, a young promising fullback on the wing, a stand off at left centre, a world cup winning fullback at stand off, a utility player at scrum half, second rowers at prop and prop at loose.

Coaches try these things, if you look at saints for example: wello was a halfback and went fullback. Wheeler is stand off playing centre, lomax was a fullback playing stand off and in the past we've had Connelly move from fullback to centre, Freddie from wing to backrow etc

Sam tomkins from stand off to fullback, ruban wiki from wing to centre from centre to backrow from backrow to prop. tony Williams at Manley from wing to backrow. Sia from centre to backrow.

It's just the fact they have lost four on the bounce which IMO common for a team of hudds standard.

Nobody was moaning about Lawrence playing backrow when they was top of the league or that he was picking a unknown young lad at fullback in Edan or playing brown at 13.

exactly! he was a genius then!

That's a very young and inexperienced backline.

For me we need a new half back, Centre, back rower and prop. Manu and Turner look to be covering two of those spots, so we need to be looking at two more. I think at full back Makinson could easily fill that role as could Lomax IMO. I imagine Saints will keep Lomax at 6/7 though and will be looking at Makinson to fill Wellens role when he does leave.

I'd be happy to give makinson a run at fullback, he's great in defence, good under the high ball and is much quicker than wello. I'm still not sure on his postion play in attack and I also don't think he'll be a fullback to make breaks on kick returns but obviously will make more ground than wello.

If makinson does become our fullback then it leaves us a winger short and with Meli going we will be two wingers short (when's Ade off contract?)

It look like shenton will go and turner will be his replacement which would leave us with only jones and wheeler which isn't much depth on the centre spot as Meli and flannery will be gone who's covered there.

We do need a halfback and IMO that's priority, no halfback = no cups for us.

We also need a big tough meter making robust prop, a real prop that's played there all his career and not a backrow filling in.

Hes got one hell of a job on his hands trying to assemble the squad over the next 3yrs. Next year will see flannery, shenton, Meli defo going with maybe Ade, wello and Dixon.

That's a possible 6 out! Can we find 6 suitable replacements in the current transfer market? I don't think so.

It looks like shenton out and turner in, flannery out and Manu in but where will the othe 4 come from?

Whilst generally I agree with what you're saying weren't you the guy who was saying that it was easy to sign props so, by your reckoning, finding five players that aren't should be straightforward

How about change 1-13

You missed my point in reference to its easy to sign props mate.

We had two quota spots available when I said we should have signed a top quality prop which we filled with a backrow in Laffranchi playing prop and a fullback in lance hohaia playing at #6.

My other point at the time, we missed out on hill ( prop) and ratchford which we should have moved heaven and earth for due to the lack of quality players available.

The fact our quota is full now and no quality props or halves available makes browns job much harder.

Like I said, Royce poor recruitment will set us back years!

Also, in the off season the has been many props moving clubs. I did list them but can't be bothered thinking of names or finding the posts.

Off the top of my head it was something like 20 odd props moved clubs in NRL and super league.

Yup we all remember where we were before Brown, similar to now really, empty trophy cabinet, not brilliant attendances. Only real difference is he has spent upto salary cap for last 3-4 seasons. Even Jon Sharp got us into top 8!!!!
Never ever said Brown is a genius, always said he needed to prove to me this fantastic coach folk were saying he was, still hasn't done that IMO.
Not professional enough, confuses players when it isn't needed and passes the buck when things going wrong.
Brown isn't a Loose Forward or a Stand Off. Grix isn't a Stand Off, Eden has always been a Fullback and Lunt is a superb player when played at Hooker.

I've heard interviews with Robinson, Crabtree and cudjoe who gave him nothing but praise. Crabtree said he was best thing to happen to his rugby career.

I don't recall you lot wanting him sacked over the last 3 years when you've had mis season collapses, so what's changed this year?

I'll tell you what's changed, he's moving on!

He has been moving on ever since he has been here!!!!, waiting for the big job in Oz that never materialised due to him winning nothing. Think you will find quite a few Giants fans that were saying get shut at this time last year and the year before when he started his yearly I'm going I'm staying routine.
Hope he commits fully to Saints but don't hold your breath if any sniff of a job in Oz comes his way.

In a super league where only saints, Wigan, bulls and leeds as won the super league in 14 years (I think it's 14) shows just how hard it can be to win something.

Even the challenge cup hasnt had to many winners since super league started.

With respect to hudds I've never ever thought you was good enough to win anything. You've done very well since gaining promotion and IMO brown was a major part in that.

I'm not worried in the slightest about what's happened at hudds but I must admit the whole leaving to go the NRL every year is a worry and hope it don't appear every year.