right thats ME's comment saved for posterity. no backtracking now Eddie, saying you never rated potter after a couple of losses

I hate to bring a slice of negativity to this thread, but is anyone a little concerned over the circumstances surrounding Mick's appointment?

What I mean by that is the fact that he had to be PERSUADED to join the club rather than going straight back to Aus. In my opinion, the head coach of any club should have some level of desire to be there and should be proud to be in such a position. Having to persuade someone to take the role is a little worrying in my eyes.

What if he is simply biding his time until a position becomes available in the NRL?
With only a two year deal signed, is he really going to be that bothered about the long term future of the club, of the junior development?

Don't get me wrong I'm excited about his appointment, but there's something about it all that still leaves me a little apprehensive...

As someone has said previously. Even if he is, he is going to need to do well in this job if he wants a job in the NRL, so surely that's an incentive for him to bring success to Bradford?




He's not been at St. Helens long, and yet he has brought numerous young players through into the first team (Kyle Eastmond, Matty Ashurst, Jake Emmitt, Andrew Dixon, Tom Armstrong, Jonny Lomax, Gary Wheeler to name a few). Contract length didn't seem to affect him bringing through the youth there.

If you'd decided to return to oz wouldnt you need a bit of persuading to live in bradford for 2 years? think the key words in announcement were 'commit for 2 years' that suggests to me we've tied him down to 2 year contract with no get out clauses. plenty of people moaned about length of contract macca got being too long. Whilst i'd have preferred 3 yrs, 2 yrs is plenty of tim to have a significant impact and set some good structures up. Plus theres no word yet as to whether hes going to be able to add to the backroom staff apart from st hilaire expected to stay on and evans contract extension. So it could be that he brings an assistant in and grooms him with a view to him taking over in a managed fashion after the 2 years is up.

Let's wait and see what's in Connor's interview with him before jumping to conclusions?

Bondi or Bradford...of course some persuasion would be in order!

If we get two good years and successor groomed, that's fine by me.

No



He has a level of desire. His 2 year commitment illustrates that.



What if he is? Better to have great talent working for an organisation even in the short term than average Joe's for years.



Yes, he's a professional.



You don't need to be.

Maybe part of the persuasion was him seeing the new training facilities and learning about the junior development and as a professional maybe working with that appealed to him.

Time to do the happy dance

Indeed. What puzzles me is how a thread titled "Mick Potter confirmed as the new coach of Bradford" strangely doesn't confirm said fact until around page 5??

probably something to do with thread originally being one moaning about how long process was taking and the OP (gledhill) changing the thread title repeatedly as the situation updated

Stranger things have happened. Potter was confirmed as the Bulls' new coach by me in my Outstanding Potter thread (the title of which was a giveaway) on Tuesday

unless theres a more in depth interview in later editions/tomorrows t&a ,then the inteview in theis mornings t&A doesnt really tell us much we didnt already know tbh.

Interview is [url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/8275563.Potter__I_m_not_here_to_revolutionise_Bradford_Bulls/HERE[/url

yep thats same one as in my paper. bit light on substance really.

Suppose it's difficult to go into too much depth until Potter has actually taken his new position, especially with him still being in charge at Saints for the time being. I'm sure we'll hear plenty from him in the pre-season.

I hope Harry goes well for you guys,he has done an excellent job bringing the kids through at Saints but saying that for me his personality was a bit of a let down and that was a problem for me at Saints.

Anyway good luck Mick at Bradford and I hope you bring some silverware to us before you leave.

tbh potter had a bit of a poisoned chalice when he took the saints job. losing a few key players over last season or two(scully,cayless,long,gilmour off top my head) combined with RFL rule changes which affected quick ptb which sts game was built around meant there was a noticeable style change in way sts played which coincided with his arrival. Theres a pretty good piece in todays T&A from the local st helens RL reporter which covers this. Despite Sts going through a transitional period he's still kept them up near the top competing in last years GF and in top 4 this year. If he can manage that level off performance with us then it will be a significant step forward.

Can't really argue with an of your comments but saying that he lacks a bit of personality and that for me was a problem.

In all honesty, I couldn't care less how much personality a coach (or player) has, as long as he comes up with the goods.

Look at Jamie Peacock. Probably sounds like the thickest person on the planet. But with the way he plays, who would complain about it?

And yet JP is a very smart bloke. Articulates himself far better nowadays too.

Can't think of many prop forwards that would read books like "Freakanomics" by Steven D Levitt

Indeed he is.

Too much is being made about his personality.

I think he'll do great things at Odsal.

Agreed. Does he have any more/less of a personality than Daniel Anderson? I don't think so. Maybe the Saints fans just like to see their coach blowing a gasket in the sheds at half time every now and then, like it made the slightest bit of difference

They were spoiled by that graduate of charm school, Mr Millward.

He's exactly what you need. I think he's an excellent appointment for you.

If any saints fans come on here bashing him, write them off as a moron.
He's worked well with a diminished squad and bloods youngsters in an astute manner. He plays steady rugby and his sides have steel in defence.

He's a great coach to rebuild your squad and get you back up the top.
I used to [ilove to hate[/i Bradford, used to fear going to Odsal, and I miss that.