Doesn't matter, he's still breaking the rules. He's allowed to come on to organise substitutions, and remain on the field for 3 play the balls only. He's also allowed to pass messages to individual players.

He's not meant to be coaching the side through entire sets, going to the trouble of positioning players and dictating plays.

I'm not suggesting Briers' is unique in doing this, a lot of clubs do it when they are struggling. It needs cutting out.

Isn't this just an issue since he's more high profile than the other team's guys who spend around the same time on the pitch doing similar things ?

Didn't a Huddersfield water carrier injure a player once by getting in the way whilst retrieving a kick.
What's the difference in Briers running on the pitch giving instructions to a player being given the instruction from the side of the pitch, for me it keeps the game flowing or you would have players going down injured to effectively have a time out scenario to get the instructions from the bench. Any supporter who doesn't think their team does this is blind. All teams have personnel on the bench who are there to run on the pitch and give instructions. The fact that Lee Briers was a player that other teams used to loath is the only reason this post is here. If no one knew who he was we wouldn't be discussing it.

Actually most teams don't do it, they tend to send someone on after a trys been scored or someone on with a kicking tee etc. Anderson wont do it, it proper winds him up when other do it. In play is only pushed by a few teams, hkr were shocking with it using hodgson at the giants a few weeks back.

This exactly. Every single team in the league does this, just Briers gets noticed.

Henry Fa'afili got injured by a water carrier at Huddersfield probably about ten years ago, we conceded a try off it as well. It's already been referenced on this thread that Sean Long once put on a headset mid game and had a chat with Ian Millward who was sat in the stand at Wilderspool.

It isn't just cos it's Lee Briers. Who, although I can see how he'd get on peoples' wick, I always thought was a very good footballer indeed. But that's neither here nor there. Yes, all teams will try to bend the rules, but this is an abuse, and unchecked, it seems to getting worse. Action should be taken.

Nice to see that almost two years after he retired Briers is still getting up opposition fans noses.

Perhaps he should be the water carrier instead then !

He must feel part of the team now, just waiting for him to kick a "water bottle" for a 40-20 very soon.

Briers' continuing to play the panto villain is brilliant IMO. What's not to like? It seems to afford no apparent benefit to his side.

Wire have always done this. Marshall once spent 10 minutes out of final 20 on the pitch at Huddersfield directing the defensive line and attacking play. There's s difference between a "water carrier" coming on for a moment and passing a message and what briers was doing - which was coaching on the pitch. It's been noticed because it's briers- but that doesn't mean it's right.

All teams do this to a greater or lesser degree, it's only because it's Briers that this is now well into its 5th page. Anybody else from the Wire back room staff and nobody would even have noticed. Funny though

You can have a situation where you have a physio, water carrier and coach from each side all on the pitch at the same time.

Only at a break in play. As I understand it, during play, the defence aren't allowed coaches or water carriers on and physios only to attend to a player that's gone down.

You are clearly wrong

Yes quite, Briers is obviously the only one ever to have done it, imagine the length of this 'vital' thread if Warrington had actually won?

With the advent of 24 hour news everything has to be sensationalised to get noticed. File this with with faux hysteria around forward passes, inconsistent refereeing, wrestling, grappling, slowing down the PTB, chicken wing, taking out kickers after the kick, cannonball tackles, high tackles, not square at PTB, not playing the ball, play acting/diving.

It's all part of the training at Wire, Gary Mercer made Briers look like a lightweight, literally.
Perhaps they should fine them for having 14 players on the pitch.

It was just embarrassing

I've got to say I'm struggling to think of instances where the defences coaches or water carriers were on. It's usually the attacking team's because the defence's run the risk of getting in the way.

Although tackling wasn't the strongest part of his game, he was on there so long that he would have probably tried to make a tackle if KR had broken the line

More faux hysteria about faux hysteria.

What's actually happening here in the real world is that people are discussing things - on an internet message board set up to facilitate the discussion of things. Go figure.

6 pages because some bloke from the coaching staff of a club is on the pitch. Get a life.

Continuously contributing to discussions with an affected world weariness about the discussion and/or the people discussing it, because the matter is apparently beneath discussion and not worth discussing. Get a life.

....and yet you can't see the irony in your post! Some folk really are thicker than the average bear!

You support Wakefield so I guess you are used to constant embarrassment.....