Does the CEO not oversee the day to day running of the club ?

Depends who the chairperson is

I assumed you thought it was him too as you called for us all to email him after the disgraceful treatment of Rufus the other week

Maybe Kath does all her running of the club by telepathy from Headingley?

That'll be it

Long missing never cost us the game. Would he have made us defend better? Would have have been able to carve up their defence with no runners?

He was a miss and his voice would have been useful in telling people what he wanted from them but our attitude cost us the game imo, we did not start the game with the right attitude and paid for it.

So why didn't the attitude change then? They had a half time team talk for crying out loud.

It did, we were much better in the 2nd half, we just did not do enough on their line with the ball. Long would have made some difference but he needs players running off him and Horne and Washy never had that luxury today.

Training been very poor and flat this week, agar should have brought in turner and moa at least and freshned it up after 2 big tough games

Thats where the differenc lies imo, if Longs strike players aren't running the correct lines he'll duly give them a rollocking. Did Horne/Washbrooke do that today? If they did then fair play he may not have won you the game

No they did not. And that would have been where Long would have made a big difference to me, as much as his skill set. Horne and Washy were poor, but they were receiving poor ball with little or no time to work and generally zero options as nobody was running off the ball.

Bit of a concern that a loss of one player has such a negative effect on the team, lets hope Agar can look/use other options as Long is bound to miss matches over the next couple of seasons

I doubt it was just Long's absence - they looked half-hearted in the warm up and never achieved the energy levels of the last two games - but it certainly made the situation worse.

All this coming out about the players being 'flat' all week in training is where the coach should be making the difference IMO.

Totally agree with that it is the responsibility of the coach to stop that happening. Anyone 'flat' in training should be worried about their place in the squad before the weekend game.

TBH, not defending the team, however we have to ask the question how much did the first 2 games take out of the team?
I suspect Long never trained so it poses the question how much of the show does long run in training? surely we train with other players as h/backs (we even do that at under15s), as you have to have adequate cover..
I am a bit concerned,however looks like Long will be out Friday, so we will get a better indication as to where we are and how the coaches and team respond, I am really hoping it was just a bad day at the office and we can get back on track..Not totally lost my faith in Rich..yet

Exactly right. This is why it's not just a case of teaching someone to pass the ball flat in training and then telling the best ones who can do it they are at half back this week.

Players run off Long because he tells them what he wants when he wants it. It's been the same for 2 seasons with the exception of Dykes' cameos and isn't hard to fathom. You either have an organising strong character like Long in the middle and things happen, or you don't and nowt happens. Yesterday was the latter.

Spot on, and interestingly in the article about Hall, he said Tansey was always telling him and Briscoe where to be etc..

Tansey may well be that organiser we are searching for

Completel agree but still the calibre of players we have should not need telling, they should know their own jobs and the coach should remind them if they are not doing it. The other players have to take responsibility.

Plus it was not just with ball in hand we looked sloppy, it was in defence too, we started off with the wrong attitude and paid for it.

This for me is a failure of Agars ability already, as after 2 very tough games against teams that finished 2nd & 3rd and on very heavy pitches which will undoubtedly have left some players heavy legged etc and may well be a reason why they were a little flat in training. This should have been rectified and changes made to freshen things up if it was flat during the week. Alot of work is still to be done but Friday is a BIG test of Agars ability and although early days into the season its important they come out firing and showing that the Crusaders was just a bad day at the office or if not his days should be numbered early in the season or not as we can not afford to waste another season.

But but but were not allowed to change a winning team.

He's been here 3 months now. Has nobody watched and learned?

I agree about players taking responsibility and we dont have enough of them prepared to do it. For me the halves should lead the way in that as they are the ones who steer the game.

Agree also about attitude and it is up to Agar to replace players who don't show the required level with those chomping at the bit to get a shirt. If he doesn't show he can do that now he has options then he will fail.

As I have said elsewhere if it was that simple then top halves would be ten a penny which they are obviously not. It takes a type of player with character and natural ability not just someone who can watch and then try to emulate someone else. We need someone young on board with the potential to implement the skills Long possesses.

It's a mind set as much as a skill set. You can't learn that by looking. If you don't have the personality then you're never going to learn to be a Scrum Half no matter how long you hang around a good one.

Case in point is Horne. He does actually have (or at least had) the skill set but he just doesn't have the personality/mind set to direct a team around the pitch.