as good as released then. No way the Dragons will want to pay him a SL salary for reserve grade games....they want him gone but can't fire him, so they'll hope he requests to leave.
The French had planned to stay on the UK this week but instead flew back to France for crisis talks across the squad/coaches.......maybe this guys attitude/opinions at these meetings wasn't appreciated by the club.
If it's an attitude problem, then we have to ask do we need the potential hassle?

I think it's a risk worth taking. As we've been saying we don't have a big impact prop. I'd take him on and play 10-15 minute bursts.

+ He'll be having a point to prove to Catalan and their coach. Take him on until the end of the season.

Well....Hughsey told Rammo he's spend the money, so let's get him in!

A lot of Powell knocking but someone who I respect and would know thought that he was or had the makings of a very good coach but needed a wise old mentor alongside him after the initial results tailed off but the funds were not forthcoming for such an appointment

Well said PP. My understanding from aussies that played for him was that he was a good coach.

He never hired you though. So every cloud.



Sorry GF. Your post makes you sound like a petulant child. "Best buddy Dave" and then further snipes at Rammo later in the thread. Are you jealous or something. What's going on in your head?

I take it you mean Luke Dorn then.

He was the only Aussie who "played" during that period.

Yep.....he never hired me. Remind us all again how that's panned out for him, his wasted millions on the Club? Regale us with the long list of success stories at London's SL club whilst he's had overall control since the end of 2008?
I'll help you out.....since the last game of 2008 and under his leadership we have shed 67% of out average fan base and in excess of 1,000 season ticket holders. In the 5+ seasons to date, we have won 36 of our 139 SL games and are now un-backable as favourites to go down.
All of this has happened with NO CONSEQUENCES for anyone responsible. Towel was even offered a role at the club but his pride got in the way, administrators have come and gone with nobody being held to account for the £11,000,000 in losses over the last 5 seasons....Einstein's definition of insanity fits Hughes perfectly


He's quoted as saying to Ian Lenegan in the book A pastel revolution:

[iI am an oil trader and successful at that but, but marketing, finance, business management, human resources etc are not my strengths[/i
.....YEP......fill us all in on how well the club have done under his ownership this time





Mark Rammond made an open and very vocal attack on me here...in this very forum. He suggested that I be banned.....he called on the moderators to ban me because I wasn't posting anything positive. He is the Comical Ali of the club now.....He has said earlier in this thread that he feels better having spoken to Hughes.
This is worse than gushing/fawning....David Hughes is a megalomaniac who will do it his way or he wont do it at all. He thinks fans should come back to the cub because he's sorry he "wobbled" in October. Bollox to that Mr Hughes.......I'd suggest that you market the club or employ someone who can market the club if you want fans to attend. I have never said don't go to games. I have never said don't spend money at the Hive or the shop either.....but this self declared voice of the club has that audacity to tell me where and what to post? Fuck him and anyone else who thinks that because they are "chipper" that I shouldn't be allowed my opinion.

The Team are not good enough for SL and that is a harsh reality for some to accept, but a reality all the same. The reason the team aren't good enough is down to the Owner and his bad decision making over the last 5 or 6 years. Hughes had a real chance of leaving a lasting legacy after all of his investment....but what he has now got is a "husk" of a club that is heading for the lower tier.


BTW, your assessment of Rob Powell may well be that aussies like him and rated him as a coach, but the STATISTICS of a W D L ratio of 19% - 2% - 79% would point to him being out of his depth at this level. He may well have been a really good bloke to work with/for, but in another shocking decision where David Hughes wouldn't take advice on the matter, he employed Powell and as a result, the guy was shot to bits by the time he resigned.

Nope. I live in Sydney. Ones that are back here. Ask PP. Reading what he wrote would suggest he was told something that was true.

Powell, along with Blanchard and MacKay are all examples of people who "might" have been ready or could "possibly" have done a job for us. Problem is, we didn't have the luxury of time to nursemaid these people and as such, we reaped the rewards of not employing people with experience of the roles.

Same goes for the lady Gus "hand picked" to do the clubs marketing in 2012. Imogen Gaunt had a background in Communications, Media and PR with both the ECB and LTA. Gus hired her, then in the mid season review to discover why the re-brand had failed, he fired her, only for Harlequins RU to take her on as a....wait for it.....Media and PR Manager.
Same with the "hand picked" Tony Langenegger. Gus plucked him from a background with the LTA and Surrey Cricket....he was in charge of Commercial Sales at the London Broncos and he too was culled in late 2012.

Completely irrelevant to what I was on about. Talking to yourself again. I was talking to Cowgirl.

Rob Powell could have become an outstanding coach. He did an unbelievable job at South London. We threw him in solo far too quickly, he was still building contacts, his reputation etc. He needed a mentor at that stage in his development.

I've also heard persistent rumours that one player was far too prominent off the pitch in the cosy little world that was the Broncos back then. Whether intentionally or otherwise, this badly undermined Rob who was vulnerable to charges the highest level he had played was Uni RL. It seems Rob had the responsibility but not always the power, the player had the power without the responsibility.

Rob Powell is a loss to RL. One of the many things our club has got badly wrong off the field in recent years.

I thought he was a terrible coach. Earning the respect of the players is the first rule of coaching he didn't have that or much else. It makes me depressed just thinking about the team he coached.

Totally understand why you think that. We judge coaches on results.

Daniel Anderson made a Grand Final with the Warriors despite the fact that most of his team couldn't stand him. And then when he became coach of NZ, several players chose to play for teams like Samoa and Tonga instead.

Not liking is not the same as not respecting. I doubt many players 'liked' Alex Ferguson.

I think if you looked at the Broncos Head Coach, regardless of who it is, you'd tend to see him supported by a relatively small backroom staff of people.

In general over the past decade the sports science mob have been pretty much all home grown without any Rugby League background outside our club and have at best a bit of amateur level playing experience in Rugby League.

The assistants have been in the main players who have had very limited top-flight experience and unlikely to lead to ones people would be aspiring too; when this was also the case with the Head Coach then we have tended to not really have the level of leadership required to command respect and discipline; especially when they were daft enough to try and share power with a leadership group.

By comparison if you look at Wigan they have a twenty strong mob of Doctors, Professors and a host of other roles from Psychologists to Nutritionalists with the highly respected Mark Bitcon seeming to run the show. If Wane was to go, the new guy walking into the role gets the likes of Paul Deacon, Iestyn Harris, Kris Radlinski and Steve Hampson as well as all the theorists and practitioners.

I'm really pleased to see that we have employed the very highly regarded Joe Grima who is in my opinion the first Assistant we've had since the days of King Billy Peden who would be externally known and who would excite players by the thought that he can help them develop their career.

I certainly do not think everything is going great with the club at all times and hopefully not just fobbed off with a few weasel words and nor do I see myself as the voice of the club or any other nonsense. I would however say I am well placed to ask a few questions because the guys involved know I genuinely care about the club rather than asking a question just to name them on the internet or throw in a quote etc.

I think all supporters would feel it very relevant to know that David Hughes lost enthusiasm with the imports who badly let him down - most noteably v Wigan and Warrington - and paid them off but is now genuine about rebuilding the club. I thought he was just marking time on the cheap but that isn't the case he assures me and I feel his enthusiasm is beginning to get back to its old levels, after all there was a time he was barely seen towards the end of last season and not his usual chirpy self. He wants to win though that is for sure and he is not despondent. I don't think TK is a definite long-term option just yet but I feel his interest is growing and if more people come back then that will all help.

Cheers
Rammo

I'd give some credence to the views of Mark Bryant.

The rest don't deserve their opinions to be taken into account.

He's not the only one.

Watching a team actually putting effort in works wonders.

Having seen us play Bradford and Catalans i think you are in with a shout of staying up.
We were awful against the Bulls and still could have won and Catalans were the most gutless 17 RL players i have ever seen grace a pitch.
OK maybe with some harsh words the Catalans will change around, they have the "pedigree" and home advantage over some of the smaller clubs.
Will the Bulls pick up many more points? i dont know.
Will the Bulls make it through the season?
Who else is in the mix, i guess us! do i think we will be safe? Never.
We have some very good creative players In Sammut, Godinet and Mcshane, perhaps more than in previous years and we have Siejks fresh over from Oz so maybe he will be a plus too?
The forwards are missing a little from last season, Amor and Poore were big lumps to lose.
I have us down for 13 possible wins, out of those we've played two and won one and lost one, Saturday will be the third then tough games against Saints, Hull KR and leeds before the visit to BV or our nearest and dearest neighbours Castleford (incedently the fourth of my targeted games).
If by then we are on 6 points i would be fairly happy, depending on how yourselves, Bradford and the Dragons have gone on.
Us being perenial favourites for the chop is nothing new and call me old fashioned but i think P and R is the right approach to tak,e by the RFL, even if...i won't say it!! But you know what i mean.
At least this season it comes down to 17 v 17 on grass (with some bent refereeing thrown in no doubt) rather than geography, stadia and licensing.
lets hope all conserned make their respective supporters proud and make it to the finishing post without the vets screen being pulled accross.

I think that this game has come a little too soon for us. We are getting 100% from the players and every game helps us gell but injuries are killing us ATM. If we have a 'get out of jail card' this is the time to play it.

Doesn't anyone else think Hull KR are contenders to go down? They've got a thin squad and, as each week goes by, it looks like Dobson is a bigger and bigger miss for them. Their fans don't seem to have much patience with Sandercock either.

At the start of the season I had Us, Bradford and Wakey to be the three main contenders with Widnes and Castleford as on the fringes of trouble. I still say the bottom 3 will be as I suspected, but HKR have certainly made a worrying start this year. I still think they will pick up 12 points from the bottom 3 though.....and Castleford and Widnes are only a couple of wins each from safety.

Having read this Mark i genuinely think that [uif we escape relegation [/uwe will be OK. After this seasons relegation the ones who go down will be so disadvantaged they will have little chance of getting promoted under the new system so we must avoid the drop. If DH is going to continue to back us i think the club will get stronger after this season. We have signed what seems like some quality players this season and ones who will give 100% but we don't have enough yet. The club has clearly learned a lesson in terms of recruitment which means they will make sure we get quality players who will put a shift in next season. Some of our youngsters are punching above their weight and will be better players next season. If we get a couple of good props soon we may turn the corner but the odds are against us anyway but i for one am pleased that DH is behind us once again and we will come out stronger next season if we can avoid the drop.

First up, David Hughes as a "fan" is as entitled to get as despondent with the dross served up over the last couple of years, but as an "owner" who put his name (and money) behind the application for 3 more years of licencing, he really had an obligation to back the club for the duration of the licence that he and the club were awarded. His wobble has cost this club its place in the SL, no matter how plucky or gutsy the team performances are, they aren't good enough to win the 8 or 9 games needed.
As for doing things on the cheap? In 2012 our first team costs were close to £2,675,000 with another £500,000+ spent on coaching staff. Given Hughes ploughed £2,200,000 of that years £4,400,000 turn over into the business, nobody could ever accuse the man of being cheap. I don't think anyone ever has.
What I have often accused him of is something that he is reported to have admitted to Ian Lenegan to being....which is not very good at running a business. His generosity is pointless unless he gets the correct people in place to deliver it and his track record in all of his key appointments since 2007/2008 has been atrocious. Therefore, whilst it is fantastic for both Mr Hughes himself and the club that he has "regained his enthusiasm", whilst he still employs those who are in part responsible for the decline that led to his despondency, I fail to see it being anything other than "lip service".
His published defence of MacKay in the Programme for the Salford game shows his continued reluctance to admit he is wrong and that he made a mistake employing MacKay. He pointedly said it wasn't the CEO's fault that we nearly went under, but made no mention of the astronomical financial losses and the awful drift of the core support of the club.

In short, I suspect that there are a great many "supporters/fans" of the club who have simply had enough of the total disregard for their opinion or their custom for that matter. The closing of the terraces for the next few weeks at the Hive simply reinforces the opinion that the club really don't care about the fans.