This is the headline of an article in the League Express which then mentions nothing about Jacob other than he is being given a number 6 shirt and in which James Webster again says that the squad numbers have no connection to his first choice team. When Miller was signed Webster said miller would not have the responsibility that he had at Hull ( not a key role). Is it poor journalism or mixed messages from Webster?

Both.

Lazy journalism is a given in RL.

If I were a RL coach I'd give out only mixed massages and keep the opposition on the back foot. Only the Coach and the 17 players on the day need the to know the real plan - though under Agar you got the impression that didn't happen.

I'd expect Miller to be given a shot at 6. It's his natural position and as Webster has gone to the effort of buying him, you'd imagine he wants to play him.

The guy has a chance to stake his claim for the no. 6 shirt on Boxing Day.
Regardless of Webster's plans, any of the guys that stand out in the friendlies, have a good chance of a starting spot in our first game.
Playing along side smith will give the player and coach a great opportunity to see if they may be a winning combination.

The expectation of him at Hull was unrealistic given his age and experience ( or lack of). With us he may well start at No.6 but the main man will be Tim Smith. This may well allow Jacob to flourish at No.6. I hope so.

Does anybody know what Webster's plans are other than himself, he certainly does not give many clues' away, which is as it should be really. It seems to me to be wait and see, hopefully there won't be any silly experiments a la Agar.

He has a settled squad, which Agar didn't have so should be no reason to expirent in actual games.
They should be running different setups in training so they know what is worth trying in the preseason games.

They will line up against McGuire and Sutcliffe. Both quality half backs, so will test them out.

What settled squad was it that Agar did not have have halfway through the season when he put the full back on the wing and a player who had been playing in the halves at full back?

There is no point having the Agar discussion again but he tried something he had not had an opportunity to try before because half the team arrived after the start of the season.
I didn't say it was a good decision.

I would say MgGuire is probably one of the worst halfbacks in the league based on last seasons form (Although he does like to perform against Wakefield). I think he has struggled with the transition of becoming a senior player in the fact he cant control a game and he has no leadership skills and is now losing pace rapidly.

Sutcliffe is a fantastic young player but I don't think he is a half back in a million years. 13 should be his position.

Completely agree with this.

I think he was the hull equivelant of siejka .The club wanted him to be the main go to person ,when realistically that is far too big an ask for such a young and inexperienced player at this level.
Hopefully with that pressure largely on tim smith ,miller may be able to play his own game and show why hull were so keen to sign him in the first place. Personally think he could go very well for us.

Webster will have decided what patterns of play and what systems will be in place long ago. To be fair, whether it's defence or attack the systems won't be largely different from what the majority of other clubs will run with.

In defence, It'll be first up contact aiming at the ball and looking for handles to control the attacker, two more joining the tackle with one being a 'chop', peel on the referee, marker system, spacing, numbering up, mapping and swing system.

In attack it'll be a series of lead and sweep runners with an element of doubling up also on show, they'll have a variety of inside options with some plays being sent at 'A' and others at 'B' with either the 9 or a half back being the ball player while sets coming off our line will target a channel to work one or two defenders over while taking little risk with the ball.

The main difference between teams being an ability to read play, and have core skills remain at a high standard under fatigue, pressure and anxiety.

With the odd brilliant performance from gifted individuals factored in!

Who would you consider the gifted players? How many top games a season would you expect from them? Finally what would be the optimum number of players you want performing at the same time to give a match winning team performance?

That should keep you busy

The gifted players are fairly easy:
Joe Burgess, Kallum Watkins, Danny Brough, Albert Kelly, Ryan Hall, Whatshisname Escàre, James Roby etc etc

Not sure you can measure it in "top games" but they're the type of players who tip the tight games and are the most consistent throughout the season.

As a coach surely you want all 17 performing at an optimum level but that's perhaps a touch unrealistic. Apart from practice ad infinitum in order to embed core skill so well that even under extreme circumstances performance holds up, perhaps one of the best attributes a player or team can have is patience.

KPIs and live GPS play a huge part in modern day Rugby League and when GPS highlights that a players KPIs are dipping it generally signals fatigue or injury and a spell on the sidelines helps to prolong optimal performance. The reality is that to read the live numbers and make enough sense of them you need to be Neo from the Matrix and there's not too many good enough to do it, especially in RL

I meant our team TBH.

Ah sorry!

Tim Smith is the obvious one but much depends on the success of our pack in any given match. If we are on the front foot Tim will look World class but if our packs getting smashed Tim might as well stand next to Webster on the balcony.
IMO that's the very reason Websters built such a strong pack with a fair bit of depth.

I think we have a few others who on their day can pull something out of the bag and turn a game. Ali, Sammut and Craig Hall each have a special play in them and can cause havoc if they're having an on day.

Collis too.

Agreed but I'd add Miller and perhaps Godinet to that list to that list - I don't expect miracles to start with but you have to assume he's a potentially gifted player or why sign him - lets just hope he matures quickly.

Personally feel that McShane or Godinet (assuming he's the other 9) need to be having a good game and at least one of the HB needs to be having a great game - if the rest of the team do the basics well we should hopefully see more wins than losses.

The framework is there, we just need the players to want it enough.

add to all the KPI, GPS, Stats, Skills etc. is also a Want and Desire, and will to win. if Webster gets the players playing with passion especially the forwards, it will make life easier for the skilful "Special" players to do their stuff.

a good pack which we seem to have now with fire in the belly every game will be immense with controlled aggression (IE not Ben Flower style)

Spot on there.
Big season needed from both players this year.