Berrigan has been a bad signing, we should of kept Godwin and rotated him with Houghton and used his Berrigans money elsewhere, been a huge disappointment in my opinion.

Sing was a very poor signing also, a quota winger is a waste of a quota spot when other areas of the team need improving first. Never lived up to the hype again.

Head was only a short term signing and as good as Dykes was, he never played. Byrne was another waste of a quota spot, once again could of been used elsewhere. Cusack has been a very poor signing, no better than what we've got rid of for not apparently been good enough.

His other oversea signing Maiava has got to the worst signing in the clubs recent history.

Overall, during Sharps reign, the squad that had been built by McRae and Kear was dismantled through his obsession with bringing in Aussies.

Ever thought that Houghton's development has been aided by Berrigan though? We've been fortunate with Houghton that he's had 2 fine hookers to learn from, I doubt Godwin could have helped him as much, even though he was a decent player. I personally think Berrigan has been about as good as he's been able to be, team failings have hindered him.



Again, team failings did not help Sing. It was evident to anyone that he still knew how to finish, and if we'd played to his strengths he could have been excellent. For example, we didn't kick to his corner anywhere near enough.



Pretty much agree, but I would alter it slightly. Cusack was good enough, he just wasn't any/much better than what is available over here, so agree completely that he's been a relative waste of a quota spot.



Yup, pretty much.

He's been by far our best player in his three years here. He was pretty much a one man team in his first year and really couldn't have done much more given what he's had to work with.



Sing couldn't have done much more in his first year. He worked his off bringing the ball out and finished just about every chance he got. He didn't have a chance in his second year.



We needed cover in the positions that Byrne played and he was the best available. Had we not brought in that cover, we'd have been short and Sharp would have been rightly castigated.



He was our best prop for two years and was much better than what we've had in his role previously. Plus he was a late signing after other options didn't come off. Had we then gone into the season a prop short with a quota space open, Sharp would, again, have been rightly criticised, especially after what happened to Carvell in our first game.



He was poor, but was no more of a gamble than Moa. One paid off, one didn't. It happens.



Rubbish. He used the available quota spots, as any coach would, and brought in the best that was available in the areas that we needed cover. Not all were ideal, and his hand was forced in a few cases, but his recruitment wasn't bad generally.

Disagree with all of that.

Well argued.

sharpe was like kear and agar, always a better assistant than head coach

The thing was Sharp took us from being grand final challengers to a team who struggled to get in the play-offs. Dykes was a bad signing, not because he was a bad player but because he was very injury prone. Head was a good signing in the short-term however could never have stayed in the long term for the same reason as Dykes. He wasted our quota, at one point we had Dykes (who hardly played), Sing, Byrne compared to now when we have
O'Meley, Fitzgibbon and Berro.

Ultimately the fact is we were top 2 when he came and bottom 4 when he left which says it all.

2nd and 4th under Sharp....Hardy "struggled" did we......we havent even made play-offs under Agar.

Sharp came in with team in dissaray in 2006 and finished 2nd.....2007,cooke,Swain,Domic...chronic injuries and took us to 4th and 1 game away from eleminater....2008 and we struggled with Injurys and he laost his job for a damn sight less than Agar ever did.

Facts are a bugger arent they.

Im Agars biggest critic but he took over a squad that had been decimated by Sharp. How Sharp ever thought that the team he put together could seriously challenge is beyond comprehension. You only have to look at what a mess this team still is to see what Sharp did with his team full of utility players.

So what if he was a nice bloke with some funny one liners. He ruined Hull FC and i hope for Saints sake he doesnt get his hands on them.

cant argue with that surely

We were 6th when Sharp arrived.

The team he received on arrival finished 2nd that year. The last he left us with finished 12th. I don't doubt his ability as a coach but his signings were poor and he took us backwards.

How do we know who was avaiable and who we could afford?

I don't, but starting with a 2nd place side and ending up with a 12th place side is very poor. As for what we could afford, I'd assume Dykes and Berrigan where very highly paid. Sharp brought in Godwin when it was obvious that Swain was an 80 minute hooker and Wagga wasn't needed, he also wasted quota spots on Bryne, Sing and Dykes. He took us backwards, our results in the league prove it.

Spot on there Matty but i feel sorry for Sharp as his hands were tied,
He has been slated a bit on here in the past about his handling of a certain player situation when in reality He had verbally agreed to sign someone only for another side to step in and get him at the last minute.

Berrigan has not performed at all since his first season here. Even then he failed to match his reputation.

Sing was a poor signing. Any viewers of NRL at the time knew he'd lost his pace. Another total waste of a quota space and generally ineffectual for us. The way he slipped off Leon Pryce at wembley was pathetic too.

No-one is in a position to say if Byrne was the best available or not. Plenty of gambles are made on recruitment, and usually with good coaches - the gamble pays off. This said - Todd was o.k.

Cusack was another nothing signing. Almost any prop in the competition could replicate what he's brought to us. Steady Eddy types are not hard to find.

Hutch was not a gamble like Moa at all. Hutch was in the back end of his career and improvement was unlikey. Moa was a youngster and blatantly had lot of improvement in him. Really untypical Hull FC signing and a refreshing change!

Overall his recruitment was as dour and imaginative as his style of Rugby. The only gambles he took was on injury prone players that we suffered greatly for.

so has he got the job or not?

It finished 2nd after the changes he made improved it beyond recognition. His signings generally weren't bad at all. Having hands tied and forced were reasons for the poorer signings, but the majority were fine. We were screwed over by injuries and a defection, which are the main reasons for the poor performances at the start of 2007 and 2008.



Done this argument plenty of times and no-one has yet managed to tell me what it is they expected Berrigan to do that he hasn't and where their expectation came from. Berrgian has been very good in his time here, especially given what he's had to work with.



He'd lost a bit of pace (not that much though, he only really suffered in that area after his foot injury with us), but was still a great player. The amount of work he, along with Raynor and Tony, put in through 2007 was unreal. Possibly the hardest working back three I've ever seen. Picking up on one missed tackle to use as a reason for a player being a poor signing is even more pathetic.



He was undoubtedly the best available at the time to cover the positions he could, positions that we needed cover for.



He was our best prop for two years and I've not seen any other prop in SL perform the role he did as well as he did in those two years.



They were both gambles on big, overweight props who needed to get fit. Moa just about has, Maiava didn't.

So you think if Kear had remained in charge we would have still finished 2nd and made the GF ?

Sharp deserves a ton of credit for bringing discipline to the club and his role in bringing the team together and getting us to the GF despite how the team was in dissaray after we won the CC due to Kear pretty much taking all of the glory and giving very little credit to the players.

Cheers, but I've tried having a conversation on here with you before and it bored me less.

No, I've always said I've rated him as a coach however the quality of team he left us with was a lot worse than the quality of team we had when he came and thus is the reason he got sacked - his terrible signings.

Compare his signings of Hutch, Dykes, Godwin, Sing, Bryne to Agar's of Moa, Long, Fitzgibbon, O'Meley, Calderwood, Hame. He did sign good players in Manu and Tickle but it was too little and he took the quality of our squad down IMO.

spelt sharp wrong

Utter nonsense from start to finish. No point continuing.

He was our top try scorer in his first season here. Was heading that way in his second before his injury. He defended well 95% of the time and worked hard when running the ball back or spelling the forwards.

What else do you expect from a winger?


Recruitment was patchy but the style of rugby was a direct consequence of having no half backs for most of the time he was here.

As concise a summation of 1159 posts as you're going to get, really.