Six months ago we were any hour from liquidation. We are now finacially stable and living within our means. A great achievement.
From a rugby point of view the squad, on paper , looks stronger than anyone every expected. That said we now know that even though the squad looks stronger, the reality is that the relegation spots are between London, Bradford and us. We played well for 40 mins against Salford and Saints, we were dire against Bradford and we were very poor against Wigan. Wigan and Saints were down on numbers, Bradford were in a mess and we were unable to gain a point. The Hull KR performance was 100% proof that we are in a relegation battle and all talk of top 8 must stop. It showed that the players lack passion and fight.
We played Catalans at the best time possible and London are just not a good side. Did I think that we would have 4 points at this stage of the season, no, I thought we would have 2, the Catalans win was a bonus.
My problem from listening to the coaching staff and the players is that they think they are top 8 material and it seems that all the talk is about attacking options. This very much reminds me of the attitude of the team under Tony Casper Smith when the players believed that Wigan would never catch them and that a top 8 finish was achieveable. Remember that fans forum when JD, Korki etc got a bit chuffie when the fans suggested that we were in a relegation battle.
This years staff and team needs to use the distraction of the cup and focus over the next two weeks on preparing for the mother of all relegation battles with Bradford. They need to have a joint understanding on the following :-
- Bradford have proved they can beat us and they will get better and will bring players in, do not daydream into thinking that Bradford are a busted flush, the Bradford players will give every ounce of energy to avoid the drop. We need to be tougher and smarter then them
- Our focus must be to stick with to a very simple game plan, as we did against Catalans. Our players have proved that they simply do not have the mental capacity to understand anything remotely complex. So we must go with quick play of the ball and scoots from the back three bringing the ball out of defence, direct one out, hard running drives, no mistakes and no Rugby in our own half, a good kick chase, only hand the ball over in the opponents quarter. Defend like your life depends on it. Agressive ,strong, determined. We must stick to no mistakes Rugby, the Catalan game should have showed the staff and players that this is all that is required, it is the only gameplan we have the ability to understand.
- The coaches must focus on defensive attitude. Make the palyers watch the second half effort from Saints against Leeds, those Saints younsters gave everthing, then make the players watch themselves against Hull KR when they gave nothing. The saints attitude when a penalty was awarded against them was to man up and stop Leeds at all costs, they pumped out their chests and said bring it on. Our players feel sorry for themselves and give in. Defence is 90% attitude and effort and 10% technique. the players must be made to understand that they have to to give everything in defence
- Get rid of the naked run if a player does not score a try in the season, have the naked run for for forwards who miss 30 tackles in a season amd backs who miss 15. Fine players for defensive mistakes that gift pocession away. We must get the players to buy into the defence wins matches attitude.
- We must stop all this silly talk of the refs been against us, the RFL against us etc etc, its rubbish and the players are starting to think that they are loosing games as a result of the ref, rubbish. We have lost all our games because the players dis not defend well enough. Simple. Stop this woe is us attitude that is prevalent throughout the club and fans.
- Why were there very few fans left at the end of the game against KR, because the fans know when the players have not given their all, make the players understand that its just not acceptable to give in. The swing in points difference could be the difference of Bradford staying up and us going down. The players need to understand that every point scored against us could relegate us.
- We must start looking at matches that we have a chance in and understanding that we need to highlight these games and plan to have the best players fit for these matches. For example Kirmond, Collis and Ali should not be selected for the Leeds cup and league game, we have plenty of cover and the we need these players 100 % fit for the Cas match. Washbrook, Wildie, Trout and Walshaw should play 80 mins in both Leeds game.
- Understand that playing Sykes at full back and swopping him with Sammut in defence and attack is just to complicated for our players to grasp. Mathers is our full back because he is the best at organising the defensive line. Stop messing.
- Harry Seaker is a half back not a hooker, stop trying to fit square pegs in round holes.

So we still have a club which is great but we have a coaching staff and players who now need to revert back to a basic game plan and not be distracted from this, play players in their correct positions but most importantly undrstand that we are in a fight for our SL life, stop feeling sorry for themselves, roll up their sleeves, dig in and defend with every ounce of energy, every drop of blood etc etc etc.

Well said Belly. Let's hope the coaching and playing staff read this. DC/MC et al have worked wonders to keep this club alive and the likes of Snowie and his merry band of volunteers have worked wonders on the ground improvements. It's about time that on field displays echoed this attitude.

I agree with the majority of what you say and wholeheartedly agree with the spirit of what you say.
The Sts match v Leeds showed exactly what could be achieved.

I don't agree with targetting games though. Spell players yes if they need it, but the team needs to be battle hardened and playing as a tight unit. Giving people a free ride to the perceived easier games won't do that.

On the Siejka question I would say, if he wants to play, he plays hooker. He has to learn quickly because we will need him. And I'd prefer to not move Godinet.

Excellent post and one i am pretty much in full agreement of. The fancy stuff can be tried 30 meters out from the opposition line but when coming out of our own half simplicity is the key. Despite what some on here would like to believe this team is a relegation possiblity and needs to accept that so they can set their mindset accordingly and get into a battling mentality.

One note though thanks to the genius move by our coaching staff Wildie, Walshaw & Trout can't play for us until the first 28 days of their loan is completed, so are out of contention for a while. I agree with targeting various games but not making wholesale changes for the sake of it. But if a player is carrying an injury, like Kirmond is at the minute, then he should be rested for the Leeds games in order to get him fit and firing for the key games ahead.

I have taken the day off work on Sunday, so me and the missus will be going down to Belle Vue. My brother is hoping to bring a couple of friends down with him from Knaresborough, who have never been to a match before. Do we honestly think we are going to win - no we don't, but here's the thing- there is always the hope that we might.

Me, SWMBO and my bro' have all been supporting the (not-so) Mighty Trin for over 100 years between us, and will continue to do so until we are physically unable to. We don't expect the players to win every game, and we know that we are highly unlikely to ever see a repeat of the inspirational feats of the likes of Neil Fox, Harold Poynton et al (a few years before our time admittedly). All we want to see in return for our hard-earned cash is the players who have the privilege of pulling on the famous red, white and blue shirt, to be proud of that fact and give 100% effort, 100% of the time, week-in, week-out, because if they can't be bothered to do so, then they are not fit to wear that hallowed shirt, and are indeed insulting the memory of those great individuals that have gone before.
On paper, this squad is the strongest I have seen at Belle Vue for a considerable number of years, and the potential is there for us to be nowhere near the relegation battle come the end of the season. But that will ONLY happen if the players put the effort in for 80 minutes each and every week, and show us what they are capable of. If they are not prepared to do that, then hand over the shirt to those waiting in the wings that are.
Now is the time to start righting a few recent wrongs before it is too late.

GENTLEMEN.....OVER TO YOU !!!!!

the answer is: The Terrace... and thats where we always stood!

It also helps that we are all in it together, with the supporters been part of the set up, as in backing our team & not bagging them at every opportunity.