Even last time around with us as I said to Ian Ramsdale, Tony could always do a Good Talk!

I guess there's not much he can do until their contract expires and he can get his own players in.

Exactly - unfortunately we're stuck with players out there stealing a living until next year. Be interesting to see if they wake their ideas up next week with the prospect of playing at Wembley if we get our act together!

He should be improving the attitude of the players he has.

One is too many.

Is he suggesting that the squad is divided into factions? It's happened before. His job to sort it out.


At least this is a welcome change from the usual impenetrable management-speak.

Yes, but has he not noticed this before ?

Can anyone who was there highlight who he is referring to, who let their mates down ?

The lack of research into injury record has proven ultimately to lead to Powell's downfall and Tony Reas's current struggles because players with long track records of persistent unavailability were signed.

If you picked a team based on putting in all the highest earners in their correct positions you would have a side like this:
=#0000FFDorn, Robertson, Howell, Colbon, Dixon, Witt, Gower, Kaufusi, Randall, Bryant, Rodney, Bailey, Clubb
Interchange: =#0000FFWheeldon, Melling, Lee, Cook

If you then had to make a team with everyone else - which is pretty much all academy players bar for three lower league signings and an assistant coach, this would be your team -
=#FF0000
[iHurst, O'Callaghan, Mendieka, Channing, McMeeken, Bishay, Woodburn-Hall, Krasniqi, Fisher, Dollapi, Lovell, Grady, Sarginson[/i

The side Tony Rea put out was:

=#0000FFDorn, Robertson, =#FF0000[iGrady[/i, =#FF0000[iSarginson[/i, =#0000FFDixon, Witt, Gower, Kaufusi, Lee, [i=#FF0000Krasniqi, Lovell,[/i =#0000FFBailey, Cook
Interchange: =#0000FFBryant, [i=#FF0000Fisher, Mendieka, Dollapi[/i

No team is ever going to have everybody fit half way through the competition, but those who perceive a player who is injury prone have offloaded them onto us and we have also been a soft touch in giving players who would probably have no competition for their signature a longer deal than one year.

If you appraised over the season I would comment that:

In the forwards, I will say that Bailey and Cook have been superb as has Tommy Lee. Bryant and Kaufusi have been ok but seem to be on for relatively short periods. The other Hookers have not been of the standard required to adequately rotate Lee and it would be hard to claim that any of the reserve forwards are of Super League top 8 standard.

Most players in the pack are making an average of 7 metres per drive which is excellent.

However tackle busts is a big let down, with Bryant and Lovell making only four all season with Wheeldon on three and the two Albanians just one bust each. Between these five forwards they have made less than half of the tackle busts than Elliott Whitehead has on his own!

I would also say our workrate from marker tackle for everyone is minimal beyond the Hookers plus Bailey and Cook and allows oppositon players to burst through from a straightforward run from acting halfback. You'd be expecting to see about four or five marker tackles per game and some of our players are making two or fewer.

If you looked at the Backs, you would see that was one of our strongest backlines of the season - so Tony will not be pleased with how they were cut to ribbons in the second half.

If you take Dixon out you would probably be looking at an average of under 2 tries per player from the Backs, from half a season so it is very disappointing.

Looking at Hull FC in isolation - this was a team we should have beat less than six weeks ago - and the main difference was that in that game we had Clubb, Rodney and Colbon versus the two Albanians and Mendieka in this most recent game.

I am sure people will become more critical of Tony Rea the longer the season goes on, however it should be remembered that we have been in the bottom three since 2007 and he has had no option but to keep other people's signings and play a rag, tag and bobtail outfit of reserves when they are not there.

Cheers
Rammo

If he feels there are players who didn't put in, they should be dropped for the Bradford game. It's simple as that. If they are just looking at increasing their pension pot let them do it on the sideline and give someone who wants to play for the club a chance.

Ok....

We are Joint 12th...or joint last if your glass is half empty and that is unacceptable given the talent that TR has at his disposal.

Regardless of anything else, there seems to be a lack of "togetherness"....if there is a split in the camp, then it is TR's responsibility to sort it out. No player (of faction)is bigger than the club and if a couple of "star" names need some time at Hemel Stags then so be it......
Castleford and Salford at home need to be won to avoid ending up bottom at the end of the year.....Widnes away would be a nice insurance policy....with the squad we have available, these should be the minimum expectation.

The Cup this weekend is a welcome distraction......but the real business is the league table. It's 2008 since we finished in the top 10......that, given the "business decision" of spending every brass cent available on players, is a disgrace....7.5 million of DH's cash and zero, nada, nothing and less than SFA to show for it.

Totally agree. Next season, in theory should be the litmus test for Tony as he would have brought in a couple of newer faces that he chose. Interestingly you approve of Tommy Lee. The only person he had an involvement in recruiting this year.









Please pay note to Rammo's comment about the squad and depth.

What if we play Widnes with a team depleted of our stars through injury? Will that change your minimum expectation?

I have watched decidedly average London Squads grind out wins with star names missing.....all I am saying is that there needs to be a bit more "us v the world" about the squad...they do seem to crumble once a team get "amongst them" at the moment. First half v Hull and we sounded the better team.......Hull went in first in the 2nd half and that was that.....30 minutes to play and the game was already over.

We're one trick ponies, as been before on this board too predictable with no plan B.
Half seem frightened to tackle and when going forward in attack pull up before contact - what's all that about, the forwards (especially the props) need to watch O'Meleys' try over and over again, when you get a head of steam - keep going, make yourself look big and hit a full ramming speed.

You're not being fair to Bryant, Krasniqi and Dollapi. They have different styles to Kaufusi. Bryant is the best offloader we have which means he's sometimes less interested in breaking tackles and more interested in freeing up the ball; Krasniqi and Dollapi are the best at making metres (about a metre more per hit up) and getting quick PTBs - these styles naturally mean they deliver fewer busts.

And Whitehead plays backrow/centre so any comparison is an odd one.

Now - on to who feels sorry for themselves when the going gets tough: Sarginson and Witt are the worst offenders but the general despondency must be blamed on the team leaders because they allow the youngsters' heads to drop and that is the real crime.

Just seen the video.

Peter Gentle: Run at Gower and Sarginson, lads - one always jumps out of the line and Sarginson hasn't made a tackle since 2011. Oh - and when you get bored of that, there's am immobile prop at right centre. Target him and Witt.

...

But worse than that. Look at the body language of that professional rugby league side in blue. How sorry for themselves do they look?

Just watched it as well. Appalling, might as well put tackle backs in their instead, at least the opposition might trip over them.

Love the avatar, mate

Just watched it. Really depressing stuff. No idea how to defend in a line.

I love the avatar too - but you can't kill a zombie club!

Such a poor defensive display especially on the flanks...again. a total of 5 hull tries were due missed takles by either sarginson or grady. Not good enough!

Hello Colly,

I don't mean to be unfair to anyone.

I want to see players running their weight and I would rather players make 20 runs with full aggression than 18 runs at three quarter pace in case any offload opportunity may present itself. If they break the line, then I'm sure that would be better than just offloading in the tackle whilst the line is intact. I'd expect a man like Bryant to overpower some players, but the Albanians making 1 tackle bust each all season is of no surprise, they are young lads who are not match weight.

A top Prop would be making about 30 tackles, of which about 5 would be marker tackles, plus 15 to 20 drives and over 100 metres. All three of those mentioned do not make that defensive effort. I do appreciate an extra couple of metres per drive than just the standard five metres or so but it is not enough on its own and if we were fair we'd note that a quick play the ball is rare from any of our forwards.

I was looking for a comparison of a player with a similar position and physique playing in a comparable team rather than for example picking Eorl Crabtree who is a giant or Liam Farrell or who is a team that wins nearly every week.

I thought someone like Whitehead or Corey Paterson who are both forwards who have made 30 or so tackle busts show that an intelligent runner with aggression can do well.

The main thing is that we put more in than we did at Hull - the three of us who went were appalled.

Not with Hull who were good lads but the complete fold.

More is needed.
Rammo

I really appreciate your detailed analysis. But the main problem seems to be lack of passion and a basic will to win. There are a lot of technical flaws which can be masked by enthusiasm and effort but when that is lacking the cupboard is exceptionally bare. You should get an award for watching this lot away!

I don't think you can give all props targets like that, Mark, as they have different styles/roles and, of course, very different game time.

The point I'm making about Krasniqi can be seen in Michael Witt's try vs. Hull. He hits the ball up, is quick to the floor, is quicker to the PTB than all 3 of his markers and Ben Fisher gets a massive head start out of DH because of it. At the risk of sounding like a teacher - please do watch it! That's Krasniqi's style because he is smaller and leaner than average for a prop. Of course, I wouldn't 4 Krasniqis in my 17 but then neither would I want 4 Kaufusis.

You would need about 8 Kaufusis to cover a full game.