Was impressed with Abdul's contribution and weight loss.
Varied our attacking options when he came on.

When we got back in front was you jumping up and down??

Great idea!

Once you've done that, perhaps you'd like to go back through the games and see how many tries he created with a kick; how many games we won due to his goal kicks; how many games we won due to his drop goals; and how many games he changed with a timely 40/20?

Once you've done that you may want to check if he won any Man of the Match awards in any particular games this season?

However, please do check out try assists from passes and let us all know, because ultimately that is all any of us were really bothered about at the start of the season.... weren't we?

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What it may also highlight is that once teams know what he does, he is easy to defend against

Perhaps, but by the time we got to Wembley we had played over 25 games, not 2.

As Staffs FC said, part of Sneyd's ability to play is dependent upon the pack providing a platform and shield, which was not as evident in the past few games.

Another playmaker option in the team may also allow alternative plays to keep the opposition guessing.

But just felt some other comments were a little harsh on what has been a great season and effort from all the players and everyone at the club.

I doubt he will either seeing as it was Robert Hicks refereeing

?

Said it before say it again opinions ..yes but knocking the players ect after a season we have had is pathetic,same people who find any excuse to have a dig. Best season for years and still not happy,did you really expect us to win all three ? i would have loved to have done but if every season saw us win one of the three will do for me

Well said,some people just aren't happy,maybe Sneyds form has dipped but I think that can be down to taking on a more organising role as Carlos is a runner and IMO never a 6

Ah blow We've come unstuck again to a slow start and again from what's been written here another bout of clueless attacking options in the 20.

Easy to just blame the players when we lose but not the coach.Radford's own words regarding why tell you part of the story and indeed part of his failure as well as that of the players.
"We've been constantly fit, played a lot of footy and the players look drained", yes but many have looked drained well before wembley. I can think of several losses were the forwards were not dominant and looked knackered from the off as a consequence of lack of aquad rotation. Hudds, Leeds, Cas (sicon_cool.gif, Wigan (Sicon_cool.gif and some close games were we sneaked it.
Failing to rotate the players at crucial points in the season cost us at the back end of the season as well as 2/3 the way through were there was a noticeable drop off.
I said in June to rest players and use the squad more or they'd get burnt out.


I asked the quesion some months back about how people would feel regarding this season if we didn't win anything but had obviously improvedawould they feel ddisappointed. We won the CC and it's obvious from the comments that people are disappointed somewhat. Probably because we tailedoff so badly and that we had a real chance at the treble. We wwon't get as good an opportunity again IMHO..
Hugely better than the last two seasons, massive elation at winning the CC but tinged with disappointment we couldn't finish things off and really lost our way in the Super 8s

Very negative attitude to suggest we won't get as a good a chance of the treble again. There is nothing to suggest we won't be in with as good a chance next season. We might even get an easier Cup run.

Summed up perfectly.

Congrats on a great season, your best for a good while. Dissapointed that you didn't make it to the GF, I really wanted to see a final where the result would definately see a new name on the trophy. See you next season.

Perhaps some are disappointed we've had one our most successful season for quite a long while?

VERY negative, no, not really, it's being realistic. Look at what happened through the season, read what Radford himself said last night. He played virtually the first 17 all season compared to all the other top teams, that got us through the campaign to the top of the league for most of the year and to sneak the CC win with a fantastic comeback despite playing mickey poor for 60 minutes. We managed it on the back of forward power/domination + Sneyd's kicking and certainly not on the back of guile/inventive play.
As has being mentioned a few times by posters, teams have figured us out, we don't have a plan B, we aren't that good in the final 20 far too often and come the back end of the season we got found out fitness/endurance wise (Again Radford's own words) and as a consequence we dropped off and lost 6 of the last 9 games.

Repeating this season next is going to be far harder, we are unlikely to be as fortunate with injuries (it must be the best season ever with respect to that) and clearly players unless rotated within the forwards more than this season will flag at the back end as seen throughout the 8s (and even further back as I alluded to). Even Ellis and Houghton looked shagged against Warrington and that was in the first 10 minutes. Importantly we need to start having some creative play, that hasn't happened much for a while.
We were a loss against a micturate poor Hudds Leeds away from winning the LLS and a definite home tie in the play offs. Continuing with the 'Hulk smash' formula for next season won't reap the same dividends this and IMHO we won't replicate this season. might we still be in with a shout, of course and of course I want silverware again, it's just an opinion based on what we've seen.s
WIZEB, read again, some are disappointed how we have performed in the S8s, me included. That does not suggest for one second that fans are disappointed in the season overall, but then you have a hard time at deciphering plain English and like to put your own spin on things for the sake of wanting to cause a ruck.

Its been a fantastic season for you Guys. After the Widnes game early in the season who would have guessed that you would win the Challenge Cup (by beating all the big teams along the way), top SL for most of the season and be within a whisker of making the GF.

Next season will be another great season for you because the players that you have got are very good.

It's been a good season, completely surpassing my pre season expectations and wembley will live with me forever HOWEVER I can't get away from my thinking that we've blown an amazing chance to win all 3 trophies on offer this year. If we were playing now as we were mid season then we'd have taken the LLS at a canter and we'd have beaten whoever we'd have ended up playing at OT next week. Despite being really poor since wembley, we've still given saints a good game at their place, thrown away a game winning lead against wigan at the KC, been in the shoot out for the LLS with less than 10 minutes to go and led at wigan in the semi with less than 1/4 of the match left. It's just really gutting for me that we've performed so poorly and still being there or thereabouts.

For anyone questioning effort and commitment, you've been watching a different team to me all season. Other than (maybe) widnes away, it's been the most hard working, committed group of players I've seen in hull shirts since the Brian Smith era. Similarly, sneyd has been off since wembley but this is the guy who has won us plenty of games this season with his kicking, including the CC final so people need to get a grip.

Being an eternal pessimist (no, really I am), I can't help but think we won't be as good next year. ellis and mini a year older, no yeamo to shore up our left edge defence, a lack of pace in the team, still question marks over the stand off position, a lack of attacking flair, no dummy runners and a shortage of players who support the man with the ball (how many times did mini get his hands free last night only to have no one to pass to?). Plenty to fix up in the off season but radford now has some runs on the board so hopefully less pressure will allow him to build again from here.

Next season could see us moving into a period of transition as the likes of mini, ellis and maybe pritchard could potentially retire and recruiting suitable replacements will be a big challenge for motu. We also need to look at tying down sneyd and watts (who has been outstanding this year IMO and could have his head turned by his bezzie at warrington if we're not careful) to longer term contracts.

For me, we need a bit more pace and flair in the team. We'll still grind out wins, I'm sure, but we need to become a better attacking threat as a team which will mean we still win games even when we're a bit off like the wire and wigan games at the KC.

All in all, a season above expectations but one which I'm still gutted that we haven;t really achieved what we might have

No one has figured us out at all, we've simply hit a wall since wembley.

Summed up very nicely Jake..





Going forward, the bar has been set to a high level..

I think Radford, needs to take a long hard look, at why our attack, as a team has diminished.

IMO ,Our attack declined, when we removed Pryce at 6....

Shaul, is a great runner, but doesnt have the nouse, to create the openings , but coupled with a ball playing 6, or a direct 6.. works.

For mine Sneyd and Carlos are too similar...

Too many occasions, players take the ball from a standing start.. this has to be addressed in training.. - maybe a new attack coach, would aid this problem.

According to Lee Radford when interviewed, "Is it basics?" - He said "No, its nouse"


The Jake Connor signing is interesting,, will he play 6 or 1????????????.....

Also interesting, recruitment wise.. Will be... IF its Ellis.Pritchard & Minichiello last season in 2017?

Do they replace them with 3 backrowers???

If any team has been figured out it is Wigan. Its been known for years what they do but it hasn't stopped them winning. Similarly if opponents know what Hull are going to do it isn't the end of the world. Execute it well and its hard to beat - the execution has dropped off in the last month probably due to fatigue and players carrying injuries.

We could have won all 3 trophies and there would have still been some supporters not happy
Live and enjoy the time we had and aim higher next season

we hit a wall long before wembley, some of the performances were average but we sneaked some wins but we also lost a couple of shockers with tired legs already showing (when Radford should have freshened things up). Teams have figured out that we've been running out of gas in games and that we are crap in the 20 and that our attack mainly consisted of forwards smashing it (aside from Minichello) and a Sneyd kick. Adjusting how you deal with that is simpler than say a team like Cas, Wigan, St,Helens even Catalans before they totally imploded..
Sure Fonua pulled out some great stuff, indeed Shaul earlier in the season but since Carlos came into the halves (not blaming him BTW) we have been clueless and easier to deal with as our main threat has got progressively more jaded.

Exactly this!!

No doubt Wigan deserved to win but does anybody think Farrell should have got binned for deliberate offside?