I think M.P. got effort,on Friday night.but effort alone will not do.I still think we need two quality half back,s.
Its all so a pity we pushed the boat out,at the start of last season,when I think the board probably new they would
not be employing McRae nest season.So Matt Parish as probably got people he does not rate,I feel really sorry for
the new coach.Because by the end of the season,It could be played five lost five,he does not deserve that.But Some people will be moaning,so let,s hope he get,s some backing,to bring in his own players,I think this man says it, as he see it.I don,t think he will be mes,t about.

My irony-o-meter has just exploded

That post started so well.

Unfortunately, it was all down hill after that. I can understand people calling for Holdsworth to the captaincy taken off him, but what better half back(s) do you think we are going to get? We haven't helped Ratchford develop as a player, so he's gone. Holdsworth hasn't hit the standards he set last season, but he has set up many tries this season. As for Matty smith, I'm still undecided, but he odes quicken up the speed of our play at first receiver. I would be interested to know who these better half backs are, that you think the club could attract.

Holdsworth has made mistakes, but I would put money on Rangi Chase also making mistakes. It's not Holdsworth that isn't giving us the cutting it's our ability to play the ball quickly.



My whole theory against taking on a new coach, part way through the season, was to stop a new coach coming and not winning a game for the rest of the season. The team was massively floored by McRae's poor management and coaching. Many of these problems still existed when Parish took over and, probably, will require the entire off season to fix them. All we heard from McRae was the players weren't of his choosing, until he did have his own players and ran off because he was out of excuses!!! A good coach will get the best out of any players. McRae certainly didn't achieve this!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was encouraged by the performance, after being 0-18, it could so easily have slipped into a 50 point drubbing. Second half rally and was excellent and with a few more decisions going our way it could have been a great result. Play the ball was quicker, line speed was quicker. With all that has gone on this is significant progress, more please MP.

Parish does not have a magic wand to make things perfect. It takes time and effort to get where he wants the team to be. We all know that when the team 'Clicks' we can beat anyone as can be seen in the past when it has happened. What Parish wants to do is enable the team to 'Click' more often. I've said elsewhere about how incredibly hard it is to get a team to perform consistently because there's so many factors that directly influence it. In my opinion he knows something that McRae never bothered with and that's Unity. He's going out of his way to have not just the best players he can, but the best people he can. He wants the team to be tight, and he wants the fans and Club to be tight with them. You cannot underestimate the importance of this to take the team to the next level. He wants it to be instinctive to play harder for your team, your mates, and the fans.

The sloppy coaching of McRae will last for the remainder of the season. You can't expect fitness levels to suddenly rise at the -end of the season or too many new drills to become instinctive. Parish seems to be planting the right seeds for the team to grow and hopefully blossom over the next season. I'm looking forward to seeing how different the team is at the start of next season. Not necessarily in who we have playing, more about how differently they apply themselves after an off-season.

What we do for the rest of the season does not really matter, imo.

What I spotted before the game on Friday was a new drill where the third man into the tackle was wrapping up the legs, now this is without doubt a step in the right direction but we were always told at school that the first man stops the momentum and then the second man takes his mobility away.

As I alude to in another thread we now have two out and out speedsters on the wings I'd like to see a change in tactics with our kicking game. The amount of times on Friday that Leeds wingers were in the defensive line for the first two tackles and Webb was not very deep making a chip into the wide open spaces would have been a good option. I'd also like to see if we can try kicking deeper from hand rather than going for touch, make sure the ball goes as deep as possible and then should it go a little to far we then have time to set a defensive line.

I am sorry the post went down hill,but I was only giving my opinion,the best teams
have always had two good half backs and a good loose forward,and that will never change,Gill and Nash,Hardisty
and Hepworth,Gregory and Edwards,to name a few.Again It is only my opinion,but I think Matt Parish will be looking
again at these important position,s next season.this is nothing personal with Holdsworth, It is just an opinion.But
I also talk to people at the Willows,who have the same opinion,maybe we are all wrong.My half backs would be sneyd,
and A.N. OTHER. Just an opinion.

It does annoy me that, the same people who were singing Holdsworth's praises last season, are now turning on him. Granted, he isn't a natural choice for captaincy, but it you look at the half backs we've had over the last 10 years, there;s possibly two better players. One of which would be Dunneman. I'll also say that, he seems far more effective when played at six, with Smith at seven. He's definitely not a seven which is why his performances sometime differ.

Relieve him of the cataincy and play him at six, then we'll see more consistency out of him, but it's doubtful we'll find a better 6 than Holdsworth!!!!!!!

I find it strange that people are having a pop at Houldsworth as he is without doubt a very good player, I do though agree that he isn't natural captains material. For me MP will change it to either
Godwin.
Adamson.
Patten.

Godwin for enthusiasm would be a very good choice for me but then would it take away from his game?
Adamson I can see having his best ever season for Salford next year or him having his final season at the club so maybe captaincy is an added burden for me.
Patten seems like the logical choice, fair enough he makes mistakes (but like I've mentioned elsewere he has never had to deal with a defence as poor as we have letting wave after wave of attackers swarm him) He is a talker on the pitch, has more eperience than any other player in the squad at this point and you would guess he has the respect of all the players in the team.

I bet now Ratchford has gone we'll target a high quality scrum half (especially if the reports linking Feka to Widnes and the money that would free up) and then see DJ play in his more accustomed role of stand off, that would then release Smith to play hooker with Godwin and then negate the need for money to be spent on a pivot.

Based upon the current playing staff I'd have;

1 Patten (Capt)
6 Sneyd
7 Holdsworth
9 Godwin/Smith
13 Wild

but would expect that to change before the start of next season

Interesting that we still see a difference between a 6 and 7 (I do) whereas many teams are moving to left and right receivers. What will MP do?

Harrison always used to say he looks at more than the player's ability, he checked into the background of the player and whether he would fit into the squad on a personal level.

I agree Holdsworth would be better if left to play his natural game rather than be Captain. I'd leave Godwin alone to be the personality he is, not sure about Patten as Captain.

For me I'd look at someone like Wild

Think Wilde is a bit injury prone to be captain, you need someone not likely to miss chunks of the season. That's another reason why for me Patten would be a good call as think in the main he's stayed pretty injury free.

Nero anyone, he has rarely missed a game in his 8 seasons over here so he's got the experience and durability on his side.

I'd go with that yeah, certainly leads by example, my only concern would be is he a talker on the pitch?

Doesn't matter who the captain is we play as a team, we need to know whats happening and whats going to happen with any captain, Sure a kevin sinfield/lee briers would be great but its not going to happen work that easy.

For me i would have Matty Smith, he's the one thats doing all the directions recently, just depends on if hes getting a full game or even 65-70 minutes.

Really I think he's the one offering the least or at least not getting involved enough.

Holdsworth
Tries - 6
Try assists - 23
Meters - 1,418
Offloads - 11
Attacking Kicks - 118
Tackle Busts - 15
Clean Breaks - 3
40/20 - 3
Kicks in general Play - 218

Smith
Tries - 2
Try assists - 3
Meters - 912
Offloads - 6
Attacking Kicks - 77
Tackle Busts - 12
Clean Breaks - 3
40/20 - 3
Kicks in general Play - 148

Ratchford
Tries - 11
Try assists - 11
Meters - 1,254
Offloads - 15
Attacking Kicks - 34
Tackle Busts - 44
Clean Breaks - 11
40/20 - 0
Kicks in general Play - 51

... Ratchford's going unfortunately but its not about the stats for captain its about incouraging the team and helping us play better, i understand a captain has to lead by example but Mattys done some excellent stuff at crucial times.

As much as i think smith has improved this season setting up 3 tries as a scrum half is quite poor.

Funny you mention Nero, I was only saying on Friday that he has been a surprise to me, I wasn't that keen when we signed him but his application and effort have been faultless.

Nero was outstanding on Friday, his tackling was superb but for me I would have Wild as captain. Would've liked to see Godwin get more game time on Friday but overall I felt for long periods of the game, maybe 20 - 40mins aside I thought we were the better side. Mistakes cost us in the first half and they made several long distance breaks from our mistakes. I actually thought Holdsworth attacked the line more than usual although didn't have the best game. IMO Ratchford was pretty terrible apart from the lob for our 3rd try I think it was. Was Feka dropped to the 20's or was he injured? If he was dropped I think it shows that MP won't play players on past reputation alone which can only be a good thing. As for playing Ratchford for the last games I think he should be left out and either Sneyd should play in the halves with DJ or Godwin should get more game time and Smith in the halves.

Feka has been linked with a move to widnes aswell wounder whats happened there?

Ditto. Hadn't even thought of him but agree with KotS and would rather see him as our Captain than Patten.