Just remember folks, a brain is for life not just for destroying at Christmas.

How about a reasoned argument rather than burying your head. Hull are unlikely to win anything this year (the cup is a possibility)+ but neither will Warrington. No pace, too many soft forwards and your best half back is on the treatment table every other week.

You try to come back with a (slightly) reasoned response and then resort to this! Soft forwards? The 'massive' Huddersfield pack didn't find our forwards too soft. Briers isn't on the treatment table every other week, his career was nearly ended by a neck injury. Don't get carried away with how good hull are - certainly don't get carried away by how bad you perceive us to be after watching us for one game!

Reasoned argument?

After the
X>Y post of yours, you're beyond 'reason'

Briscoe better than Monaghan, Holdsworth better that Briers?

And you want me to take you seriously?

I think the hull fan is getting a bit excited by our excellent victory and good form, there are plenty of things to be positive as a hull fan, but he is going over the top. I still expect you to finish above us and still have a better side than us, although we aren't far off IMO.

I will be very happy if we can match your success over the last few years, everyone goes on about the age of your team, but I have been impressed with your young players like Riley, currie, evens brother and Dwyer.

I'd like us to meet in either the semi or final of the CC as I think it would be a great game.

I'll give you Briers better than Holdsworth, although Briers has got, what? another year in him at best. As for Monaghan better than Briscoe, total rubbish. He's much better in the air than Briscoe, the rest of his game isnt in the same league. Please dont give try scoring records as a measure of how good a player is, especially when he plays in such a good attacking team as you have been over the last couple of years, it means nothing at all. I would wager that Briscoes tries/chances ratio is much better than Monaghans.

If Monas had Briscoe pace he'd be the complete Winger, but don't kid yourself his speed is deceptive, one game v Wigan in the cup were he was caught with a knee injury and everyone thinks he's slo

What a silly debate this is. On Friday we were the best team. Over the past few years Wire have been the best team. Hull fans are rightly excited by the progress we are making, but until we are regularly challenging for trophies then we need to be realistic. Let's just enjoy the fact that we're both going well.

Mr Zucchini Head's post is one of those that only comes up a couple of times a season, a belter.

It also has the special quality of containing every Hull fan's Achilles heel: the built-in dream that Richard Horne is back to a mythical best that someone vaguely remembers from about fifteen years ago.

Hull were better side the other night, no doubt.

I haven't read every post in this thread, of course I haven't, that would be silly, but the last page or two sum up what I expected to see - people reading far too much into Friday.

I've heard all sorts of crap since the game. We're not fit enough. We've lost our spark. We had no ideas in attack. Atkins is poor, Westwood is finished. I didn't hear any of that when we beat Huddersfield 14 days previously so the real question is - what has changed in those 14 days? Some sort of seismic shift in the power balance of RL? All our players suddenly becoming too old? Tony Smith lost it?

Possibly.

Or, did we just get beaten by the better team on the night. The key to the game, for me, was Holdsworth's kicking game. It was superb. Hull were happy to turn us round time and time again, defend and wait for the error. They got it when Briscoe milked that penalty (as, frankly, he should be doing). They were well organised, defended superbly, had a game plan and stuck to it. We did look devoid of ideas attacking their line, especially in the 2nd half. Suspect that was partly due to all the heavy lifting Hull made us do.

I don't know if we're finished as a team. I doubt it. Clearly, the window of opportunity for this group of players is closing. As for Hull, no issue with them pressing the giddy button. They've had a rough few years, seems churlish to begrudge them getting excited about their team - certainly I would be if I were in their shoes.

As a final point, there is a culture in sport to look for excuses or a wider meaning to every defeat. Sometimes, there is one. Somtimes, you just get beat. We won't know about Friday till the season's over but for now, I'm going to assume that it's sport and we're still allowed to lose.

Agree with that, nobody threw more than Ratchford on Friday night IMO. In fact on one of them I even thought the recipient was already ahead of Ratchford when he threw the ball, so technically offside never mind a forward pass.

I would have been very disappointed if Houghton's pass had been pulled but would have accepted it.

If that's the case, how can these statements;




have any credibility?

The credibility they carry is that the debate posted was a player vs player comparison of the 2 sides on Friday, which from a fans point of view will always be biased towards your own team. My comment around national selection is one off a view of the quality in your squad from a neutral standpoint. One that should be picked on form however rarely is!!!!!!!!

I agree about the bias of the player comparison earlier in the thread, but I still think there's a flaw in your argument about international selection. It isn't as neutral a standpoint as you suggest. As you say, it is rarely about form, so has it's own bias inherent in the selection policy right there. Straight away then it's not necessarily a case of picking one player over another simply because he's better. There is also a tendency to pick more from certain clubs IMO. I'd honestly never use England selection in rugby league as a tool to measure one player against another.

Nor do I usually as its made up of old faces from dominant teams. However the post I was disagreeing with on Friday was a player vs player analysis between hull and wire which was a unique assessment of a team on a good run ie hull vs ourselves who are not. My offering of int selection was to bring them back down to earth
I could have used other means ie dream team, man of steel or just said he was talking rubbish!!!!

I'd have plumped for the latter!



On a serious note though, there are a few in your team currently looking shadows of their former selves. Be interesting to see whether it pans out as blips in form or time catching up with them.

Haha your right I should have
Bit worried about where were going, are we saving energy in the tank for play offs, are we ageing as a squad. Certain players are definitely unrecognisible in terms of presence on the pitch but as things stand nothing has been won or lost ey. We're in both comps, won't do better than top4 in sl but were in the hat so to speak
Good discussion with ya mate

Yeah, it's been a question mark over your squad the last couple of years; is this one year too far for some? You just have to hope Smith gets it right. Could be interesting at the end of this season.

3 defeats on the bounce.
Is Hull's season unravelling as quick as it gained momentum?

Hull's season never really had any momentum, journalist and fans went ott just because they beat us and proclaimed the second coming, then they've flattered to deceive badly on sky and lost 3 in a row.


Take a step back, hull don't look to be playing any differently than they have the past 5 years

What is going on with the video refs? Ellis clearly lost the ball forward in the build up to the try, it only ended up going backwards because it hit the Wakey player!

That's what we thought at the match. Just glad it didn't affect the final result!

Well I'm not normally one for bringing up the past to prove a point, but this is all starting to look a bit prophetic now.

Last year I may have gotten carried away saying Hull had a better team (although we both reached a final and both won feck all), but a lot of what I said about your team is turning out to be very true, yet I was laughed at for it.

I'll say it again, no pace, no bite in the forwards. The only thing that's changed is that your best player isn't on the treatment table every other week now, he has retired. Like I said, Warrington are on the decline, Hull, whilst still nowhere near where we want to be, are on the rise.

All that said though I wouldn't just give up and say the glory days are over like I've seen mentioned in other threads, you still have some really good players to build a team around, a couple of years of strong recruitment will see you right at the top again. I just think Smith was a little naive to think the ageing side could keep pushing on without recruiting some young blood.

PS, to the guy who laughed at my suggestion that Briscoe is better than Monaghan. Now that Briscoe is in a good attacking side we are all seeing that Joel isn't in his league.

The only thing that is worse than seeing my team underperform, is coming on here to see past threads being dragged up with people from other clubs standing on the rooftops shouting "LOOK LOOK, LOOK AT ME, I WAS RIGHT, I WAS RIGHT, I WANT ATTENTION. NER NER". It's extremely sad and pathetic.

Presumably these are what social workers refer to as 'low esteem individuals' that desperately seek attention on boards like this. Still, at least we are providing a social need, a bit like charity work really.