Please don't shoot me down for this, but i've seen loads of threads regarding his current position and would like to know what the general feel is. By the way, this in no way means i would be happy if he left.

I think that we should keep him until we know what league we are going to be in. If we stay in SL then I think it might be time for a change but if we do go down I can't see us attracting anyone better so I would like him to stay if we go down.

Although I am not his biggest fan getting rid mid way through such a season would be the wrong move. Beyond this season I would like a new man to come in, once the short term future of the club is sorted, and that would be regardless of if they stay in SL or not.

the option of 'stay but move upstairs to the board/ director of rugby' should be an option. thats my opinion on the matter anyway.

Stay til the end of the season then move on, regardless of which league we are in. After five years its time for a change of ideas.

Kear to stay, regardless of our division.

Stay to the end of the season, then regardless of if we are in or out time to part company for me. If we was going to get rid we should have done it this time last year but we didnt, so we need to ride it out until the season is over becuase its going to be one hell of a change required if we either stay up or go down so the ideal time for me.

He's done his job, and done it well for much of it but as with him at most clubs (for whatever reason) his time has nearly come. You can't live off the great escape for ever.....

I’m a big believer in continuity and the relative success that brings. However stagnant things appear right now he has been the best coach this club has had in the past 10 years. He appears to know his stuff, and on his media duties he does talk a good game, but I would like to see him open up a little more with his tactics on the field, perhaps look at different techniques and see what the younger generation of Australian coaches are bringing over to SL. Whether that means a step back from the limelight and a new man with new idea coming in underneath him I don’t know.

Ultimately his contract is up at the end of the year and I think he will move on regardless. He has applied for two jobs that we are aware of in the past year, so I don’t think he will be staying. I imagine London may be a decent proposition for him should they decide they want a more experienced man at he helm.

i doubt there’s a coach in britain or elsewhere that could do better with the squad that we have and the position we were thrust into. kear gets results from time to time. can anybody seriously name anybody that could do better?

i think he’s made a few dumb signings, but i’d like to think he’ll be at the helm for a good time to come.

I agree 100%. I don't think there is a coach more suited to us than John Kear.

Point is though, however uncertain we are at the moment the one thing we can be sure of is that it will be hugely different one way or another next year. We will be either in SL for 3 years guarateed with potentially decent playing budget given what Glover has said so no longer a bargain basement scratch squad with backs to the wall, or we will be set for a minimum of 3 years consolidation in the 1st division with (relatively speaking compared to most clubs in the same division) a big budget.

If it was still P&R and we scraped through and played SL next year I can see the argument for him staying on to try and get the lads up but everything is different becuase of franchising and if we wat to progress I feel we need to change.

Before considering whether we should change our coach, remember who we've had in the past and remember what JK has actually done for this club.
Without him we would already be in NL1 and would probably not have tasted play off rugby.
Then cast your minds back to the begining of February and consider the state that the club and team were in.
I know that our rugby is not good at the moment but we also know what John Kear can do.
Up the Trin !!

McNally got Trinity into the playoffs in 2004 and made a better fist of it, but generally I agree with your point.

Difficult one this!

It's clear we don't play attractive expansive rugby but is this down to the nature of the squad we've assembled under impossible conditions?
Previous seasons would suggest not, while we've had more talented players in the past we have, for the most part, played the same style of Rugby League. There have been exceptions to this from time to time but are those exceptions down to the greater skill set of the past players or are they an indication that with better players at his disposal JK is capable of coaching attractive rugby.

Our coaching staff is the bare minimum required to operate in a professional team sport, Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Conditioner & Physiotherapist, on reflection maybe not even the bare minimum.
So another question, when facing off against teams with a raft coaching staff each boasting the following specific expertise:

=#BF00BFMELBOURNE STORM
Head Coach
Assistant Coach 1
Assistant Coach 2
Skills Development Coach (Motor Skills - Sport Science)
Sports Psychologist & Well Being Manager
Head Physiotherapist
Assistant Physiotherapist
Head Trainer (Biomechanist - Sport Science)
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach
Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach
Dietician
Technology and Statistics Coach (GPS Tracking, Heart Rate, Endocrine System etc)

In the face of that, maybe route1 is the only way to ensure we are competitive often enough to threaten the play offs!

I know we won't be playing The Storm any time soon but they are a good example of a club who have every aspect of coaching and preparation covered by experts in each specific field with each adding massively to the teams collective preparation.

With the same resources at his finger tips, coaching and playing staff, would JK have the ability to coach an effective, attractive and incisive brand of Rugby League that we would all enjoy or would it be wasted on him?

Nail on the head!! There in lies our problem though. We are a struggling team who drifts into mid table from time to time. John kear suits this and us as a coach. For me as a club we should be aiming to be a club that kear DOES NOT suit.

Much the way in which Warrington, Huddersfield have shown.

For me, utmost respect for the man and do think he is a good coach however I think we need a new back team.

Need to Reshape the club at the back from conditioners, head coach, processess. New ideas and structure for success is needed.

Kear to stay till end of season and the above to be out of the planning and preparation stages.

assistant coaches, sports scientists, backroom staff, conditioners etc are all great to have and can give sides that extra 10%. the simple truth is that we don't have the squad to put a competitive game plan together each week and produce results at the moment and that has to be the priority, so adding 10% to something that falls well short really will not deliver anything. sure we need all these people, but we need squad with a greater depth for them to work with.

bar for a few duff signings, jk is in the clear for me.

Players and coaches strive incredibly hard every day to be incrementally better than they were last week, last month, last year, a 0.5% increase would be significant. The older and better you get those improvements become almost impossible to find.

If the introduction of experts into the back room staff can offer just a small increase in the ability to perform then only an idiot would ignore it if it was available. The relative starting point in terms of the squads ability is irrelevant as any squad, any player and any coaching set up will be enhanced by the introduction of new expertise into the preparation.

It's an old adage but when people say that turning up 1% off your best will get you beaten, there's a lot of truth in it!

i don't disagree at all. my view is that our squad is so lacking in some areas that we'd be better off bolstering the squad than more backroom staff. in an ideal world i'd want both, but i worry about the physical and emotional hammer some of the young lads have been taking this year.

Absolutely right, however, in the absence of the correct level of player being available then we should look elsewhere for ways of improving.

Maybe it's too late in the season to introduce these sciences to our system of preparation and development, by the time the effects began to show our season would be all but over. That said if we want to do the right thing by the young players who will be our future, we can't introduce these elements soon enough.

Maybe we know that the introduction of new expertise is necessary but we're holding off for whatever reason, short sighted in my view!

The physical and emotional battering is close to my heart and I've posted my views on player management on numerous occasions.

Assuming we stay in SL, I'd like to see a younger coach take over, with a more modern approach to the game and a greater understanding of sports sciences. JK to stay as Director of Rugby and with a media remit, to keep us in the public consciousness.

If we get booted out of SL, the decision will be made for us - he'll be off like a shot.

Stay, regardless of what division we are in.

I'm afraid at the end of the season these would be the first to go. Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Conditioner

Head Coach. No change in playing style for a few years.

Assistant Coach

I must be honest but I don't know what he does. Cos we only see him on match days just stood at the dug outs it's hard to see what he is doing to the squad.

Conditioner. I feel we struggle with fitness and anybody that knows me so do I

. But I'm not as young as them.

when it comes to the end of the season, if kear should go i'd like to see Beans given a shot a HC

I am not a big JK fan but credit where credit is due, other than the awful signings of Motu Tony & Jeremy Smith, I think he did a sterling job getting any sort of squad together how he did in very difficult circumstances.

That said, short term JK til the end of the season.

Long term I do not honestly believe he can take us any further forward and I for one would welcome change in the coaching setup at BV. Hate to knock the fella has I like him, just don't have any confidence in him moving us forward and more importantly developing youth.

Daryl Powell would get my vote. Think he's done a sterling job at Fev. Ideally with JD has his number 2