This is spot on, how many times even in this season have we seen players being picked we already know are going to be leaving the club, this should of been the time we gave the youngsters a run out. We are not Wigan who always seem to give them a go.

I am not a big fan of Price but I do have a tiny bit of sympathy.
I am convinced he didn't recruit Burrell and I would even stick my neck out and say he didn't recruit Latu either.
The Greg inglis signing is another one for different reasons.
I Guess most coaches in RL would struggle to turn down the opportunity to sign GI I am not convinced that it is the best move for us.
Yes it creates headlines and under normal circumstances puts bums on seats and sponsorship but do we actually need a left centre/ full back. Maybe price agrred to GI straight away but I am it feels like the signing of GI was not thought through the same way that Saints, Leeds or Wigan would have considered that move.
As it happens if Widdop leaves he might slot in at HB on that left edge but that would be more by luck than judgement.

Price has made mistakes and I amazed that he was given a contract extension after year 1 and being beat by Catalan in the CC final but I do think he is working with his hands tied behind his back. I also think that there are some senior players at the club that go running to tell tales to the teacher if they don't like what is going on and they are the same that saw Smith leave the club.
The problem is the teacher should be saying "don't tell tales" and backing the coach.
Some of the players were here at the back end of the Tony Smith era so I think they also need to take a look at themselves because we all know they are capable of much more than the performance against Salford and Hull FC

Agreed, but remember the popular view on this forum at the time was that TS had reached the end of the road and anybody would be better than TS. I think Price has basically been as close to continuation of the later TS years as we could get. We didn't go backwards (which is an underestimated risk when changing coach) but we didn't go forwards. The pattern has been 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. So the idea that anybody would be better than TS was proven wrong, and just ditching Price now and playing coach roulette risks the same - or worse, hiring someone who takes us backwards.

I feel the same about Price now as I did about Cullen at the end of 2006. We know what we have got. We're likely to be around the same level as long as this goes on. We had a similar situation if I remember with Cullen going into a contract year in 2007 and I remember always having the feeling that the board liked Cullen and wanted to find an excuse to extend him - which they did when we had a bit of a good run - but that was a mistake, and even Cullen himself said on the Woody and Higham show that with hindsight he shouldn't have signed that extension. I don't think the board is as wedded to Price as it was to Cullen but there is a risk that if we jump to extend him after a few wins, we will just be where we were at the end of Cullen, going into a wilderness period where we can't move forward until we have the right appointment.

Although Lowes didn't work out as Cullen's replacement, the board was at least thinking ahead when it saw TS was going to be available after the 2008 world cup, and had him in mind as the long term replacement. I think the same approach is called for now. Find a guy who is really good - Wane, McDermott, one of the top Aussies - see when they are available. Rather than extend Price, give Anderson or Henderson a shot in the interim.

Paul Anderson did well in his previous head coaching job - he won the minor Premiership with Huddersfield - and was sacked prematurely as Huddersfield's fortunes afterwards showed. Imagine how we would feel if say Anderson went to Cas to replace Powell and had them back on top of the league like he did Hudds. We would be asking hard questions of the board saying how did we miss this guy on our doorstep.

So I would say take a long view - start lining up which of the real elite coaches is coming available in 2022, 2023, 2024 etc. Give Anderson a crack at Wire in the meantime. If Anderson takes us to GF winning level then we have our answer, if not, then pivot to the big gun down the line.

I've thought the same thing.

Imagine being on standby and being required to play.. then winning the big prize... would that feel right?

No

Need to separate running a financially stable business from running a successful club - only need to look at Bradford Bulls to see where the latter without the former might lead.

Then consider the business decision about the cost of sacking and paying off coach and hiring a new one, when balancing out if you can then afford to bring in player xyz.

So maybe these considerations have to be accounted for, it's not just as easy as chop & change.

Totally agree with your idea of head coach planning.

No, but would give no end of amusing posts from the folk of WA9 ad infinitum.

Anderson worth a go for a season, then get Wane.

Very good call about Paul Anderson. Past experience and knows all the Academy lads well. Big change of playing style needed and far more reliance on youth. Ashton, Thewlis, Doro, Dean, Longstaff, Wrench and Butler prominent.

Doesn't have an aussie accent, would promote youth and would deprive the CEO of a jolly down under. Hmmmmmmm.

As has been mentioned in a previous post about Aussies putting bums on seats in the stands , it sounds good if they perform as we expect otherwise fans will see through these imported bums & lose interest.

Absolutely spot on. This idea that the cub are suddenly skint and that sacking Price a year early would cost our finances severely is a nonsense. We signed Greg Inglis in the middle of the pandemic.

No, absolutely not. We don't deserve a second chance after last week.

The big problem with running Price's contract to the (more than likely bitter) end is that he is essentially a dead man walking. Putting off the inevitable until this time next year unless we are putting some serious plans in place NOW wouldn't seem like a good strategy for improving performance or player recruitment.

Most satisfying performance this year for me was the kids V Salford where we played as a team and with heart....if only that mantle was picked up instead tossed off by Price's first choice it might have bought him some time on the basis that we were heading in some positive direction

We shouldn't underestimate the financial impact this will have on the club. £1m has been quoted, that was before they knew 2021 would be impacted, I'd expect lower attendances next year with a mix of lower capacities at the start and people with potentially lower disposable income due to the economic impact of the past year along with reduced corporate and sponsorship income.

The owners could easily be looking at £1.5m by the time things return to some form of normality and this doesn't take in to account the reduced cash flow we can expect between now and the start of the 2021 season. Normally the club would be launching Season ticket packages by now, I can't see many people signing up to that until they have a clearer view of how the season will look. I'm not sure how many season tickets we sell and at what avg price, but 7,500 season tickets at £250 each is knocking on for £2m in reduced cash flow during that period. ( I accept the impact won't be as great as that as some - like probably myself - will buy a season ticket regardless, but it will no doubt be a big problem for the club I expect). The players will still need to be paid in November / December and it's unlikely we will see massive season ticket income coming in to support that.

£200k (or whatever the amount is) to pay off the coaching staff is unlikely to be looked at favourably by the owners, when they already have massive financial headaches at the club and their own businesses.

The sensible option would be for the club to explore options for a replacement 2022 coach now, whilst at the same time, giving Price time to 'earn' his new deal (even if behind the scenes they feel a replacement is needed).. If they line up a good successor and performances drop as a result of Price knowing he is not sticking around, let Price go midway through and hope Briers / Henderson / Anderson can step in and make a difference till the new guy comes in.

Moran and Middleton are multi millionaires. Moran himself is worth £150M. Losing £1.5M would be like me losing a tenner.

But where does he fit into “proven winner” or “ demanding excellence” etc How is he any better placed than, say, Henderson?

Thought I better check the forum to see if he’s gone yet.
If we waste next season by waiting for for his contract to expire then that will be a real travesty.

I would agree with all of that. But I feel pretty certain there will be no change next year unless Price and family themselves feel the need to return to Oz. The directors have already stumped up £1m this year and the club will have to pay £280K back to Sky next year. Add in to that the lack of clarity when paying spectators will return, likely low level pick up of next years season tickets, the end of the Sky contract in '21 and drop in income from the new one ( an open secret), and finally the need to payoff Price before making a new appointment. I think the directors will already have their tin hats on.

As you say, I would hope the club are firming up several possible options for the position of coach in '22.

Have you rung the club shop.


Sidenote, I see people on Facebook and twitter asking questions, and very moodily say

"No I've not rung the club shop"

Its getting me through the pandemic if im honest. Its my little addition to the world

This.

Simple fact is that if Price is kept on, then it's a general admission that the club themselves have wrote off 2021.

I, and I believe many other people, would do the same and simply not bother with the club - I have to admit that many of these lockdown matches have passed me by. The quality of our rugby was that bad that I couldn't be ar$ed watching half the time. I've reached the point where the club needs to show they are serious about competing and providing watchable RL. Keeping Price (And Fitzpatrick) at the club is a statement that simply smells of not caring anymore.

As many have already said, would Saints, Wigan or Leeds put up with such mediocre results and performances from their coaching staff?.. no, they wouldn't, so why should we?

FMC I have the club shop on hold what am I supposed to ask them again?