I can quite easily blame Ben for choosing a bird over his RL development. If Liam Watts was being as unprofessional as Crooks is there'd be uproar.

Like I've said, easy to blame the coach when you don't know the full story.

well if you know the full story then tell us as you know it
Choosing a bird sounds more like pub talk to me.
Being made a scapegoat and continually left out of the side even when replacements who have taken his place have been even worse probably has more to do with his disillusion than anything else.

Wasn't in pub when Lineham told me, as for the other stuff, drop AP a line, he'll tell you.

Makes no difference if I put everything I was told on here or not, you still wouldn't believe it. Best to ask those at the club.

Radford is worse then Agar and that takes some doing, but like Agar he seems to be immune to getting the sack even though he is probably the worst coach in super league

Not being funny but how can I or others form an opinion if we don't have the information you tell us you have.
If Lineham has told you certain things then its hardly confidential so will do no harm if you divulge on here all you know about the Ben Crooks situation and why he isnt being considered for selection.
I am certain I am not the only Hull Fc supporter who would be interested

That's a fair enough point, I'll happily tell you that he's basically not doing the extra work the club have asked him to (ie bulking up) because he's more interested in his girlfriend and he hasn't been the same since he met her. But I just don't feel it would be right to spout off certain other things I've been told, because quite frankly I'm not sure I believe it all.

All I said in the first instance was that sometimes these things aren't the clubs fault and the finger of blame lies elsewhere. It happens, prime example for us is Danny Brough.

Maybe Ben Crooks just doesn't want to end up looking like Popeye!
Unfortunately for the lad Radford has no time for pace & flair & seems to want all players to mirror
his own robotic `bash & grunt' style of play, consequently our threequarter line has been transformed from
a potentially exciting one last season, to arguably the slowest in S.L.
`Bulking up' doesn't work for everyone - ask Tommy Lee.
If we lose talented young players like Crooks for whatever reason, then our `off the field' management is almost as
bad as our performances on it. - What happened to Pearson's constant quotes about `young players being the future'?

Regardless of who is the coach the club is clearly putting a massive emphasis on promoting/developing youth players who are believed to be good enough. I seriously doubt there's ever been a time when this policy has been clearer or more important. If there's one thing that Radford can't be accused of it's closing the door on youth players - there's plenty of ammunition to fire at him regarding other things such as attacking structure and organisation as well as first team selection, but certainly not promotion of youth.

The big question isn't over whether Ben Crooks has the attitude required to make it as a SL player, but whether we've enough high quality talent coming through to make this policy work in the medium term.

to be fair, bulking up Crooks is the one thing i'd agree with Radford on, his defence isn't up to scratch for a SL centre. You don't want him to loose that electric pace, but a balance between pace and defence has to be found somewhere or he won't progress.

There is a big emphasis on youth which could be applauded. We could take to the field next Friday with 17 from the academy all born in the HU post code area and despite a defeat we would spin it as the youngest team for a generation and all Hull born and bred. Sadly though that policy will get us nowhere as the players will not develop into the stars that they could potentially be.
We have blahed on about our youth set up for years. But they have not really developed as we would have liked. When was the last time we produced (either club in Hull) a genuine full international player who has had many years at the top and not just the odd season. In all that time though how many players have been like Tommy Lee (easy target) who will be the next best thing.
The coaching set up at the club has lurched from one disaster to another. There has been no great progression or development and with the current set up I personally have absolutely no faith that this current crop of talented youngsters will develop as we would all hope to see.

Given the situation with Crooks (whatever the speculation / facts are) it appears that we have had a dream team member plummet the depths very rapidly and that can not all be down to the player himself. Man management / welfare checks seem to be lacking. I stand to be corrected on this matter though.

I don't disagree he needs to be stronger, but it won't happen overnight & he was pretty good last season until his injury. - What's changed?
I haven't seen anything in Whiting or ,Sa's performances (as centres) to indicate that they offer anything more than Crooks.
Whiting too slow, & I must be missing something as I just don't get the hype with Sa'. - average at best

Sa is another who fits the Radford requirement,no flair,no pace but can tackle and return the ball.
We really have to get some pace into the backs of this team.Even Tom lineham has lost pace since his injury and couldn't even catch Arundel who is hardly a sprinter.

tbf arundel no slowcoach over 30/40m and lineham imo still off full fitness, crooks and sa would be a good centre pairing imo, but rumour has it we are after another,

U are the epitomy of a hull fc knee jerker. He's spent 2yrs in union. In his own words dilluting his own skills. He's moved home n swapped teams mid season having not played for yrs. What would u be expecting n in a struggling team too! Better players than him would struggle!!

Sa has some flair. Check out his highlights also the fact hes played 6 at times in his career points to this. In this team he's mostly been used in the backrow n has come into a struggling team. A centre that can tackle is a great start. He can pass a ball n offload n carry strongly. He wont score full length tries but many centres aint pace merchants anymore.

If we backed up more, speed wouldn't be an issue. It really annoys me to see Feka drive the ball and nobody goes with him, all the good sides always have a man in support.

Doesn't seem to have done Tomkins any harm playing in Union.
What is obvious is that Sa is once again an average Radford signing but fits his criteria of the type of player he wants.
Look at the thread title Third from Bottom definitely not a knee jerker just a fan who can recognise that Radford will never make a good coach.
Have said now for many weeks and at last most people on here are getting the message

Too early to judge Sa, can't compare him to Tompkins as at least he has been playing, whilst Sa has hardly played for two years. How many minutes has he played centre? I would guess less than 100 minutes. I have seem a few signs of his skills and power, he has a good offload on him. Like Talonoa and Lineham a good off season will see him improve massively next year.

this ^^^


watching from the seats on sunday, numerous clean breaks in the first half, no back up!

the top teams have 2,3 or 4 players backing them, with our players its like a scene from a movie, "run forest run", where all our squad stand and watch!

The only time we backed up with two or three players was when we took Widnes apart.Then it was the speed guys in the team Lancaster,Shaul and Rankin

Knee jerker!!! You are aware the season is just about finished?
You are aware of our league position? (thread title should give you a clue)
I do agree Sa' hasn't been given much game time over the past 2 years. Injuries apart - why do you think that is?

I have no qualms about his promotion of young players, just the lack of progress of those once they've `established' themselves.
Only Shaul of last years crop looks to be improving. Crooks, Lineham (ok he's been injured) Green & Bowden have gone backwards.
I admit I don't see them as often as you guys & others may have seen an improvement. Time will tell I suppose

When I met Pearson I asked the same questions.....crookes wants out as he thinks he is NRL standard when he needs to bulk up to help his defense. Lineham has struggled to get match fit after his injury. Our pack are just too nice with not enough grunt and that applies to green more than most.....they club are trying to toughen them up. This is just what I was told and it makes sense to me

What is everyone's obsession with having props who are big rough s? This isn't 1980 anymore. As long as they make metres I couldn't care less how mean they are.

Bring back Tim Street.