Found this on the Cream site ;

Like Arthur Bunting Hull have a coach in Lee Radford who is now acquiring his more than justified praises. Bunting came into the role a legend whereas Radders has had to endure a lot of stick – some of it certainly unfair – but now along with Andy Last and Motu Tony, he has built a squad capable of winning titles.


Until Yeamo found that sublime pass to Shaul on Good Friday we were looking at comparisons to Len Casey !!

I think he wrote that piece late on Sunday night

Just worried the doom and gloomers will be out in force if we don't win anything now, reckon if we lose a couple in a row it'll be back to radford out and Standee might even reappear.

enjoying the ride atm, maybe top for one week, maybe 3 or 4 or rest of the season, not very often as fc fans we can walk around with huge grins atm

the old saying has never been true though, take one game at a time

Question. Is this team better then the 2006 team that got to the Grand Final?

The team that played at Old Trafford was:
Briscoe, Tony, Domic, Yeaman, Raynor, Cooke, R. Horne, Dowes, Swain, Carvell, McMenemy, Radford, Washbrook. Replacements: Whiting, G. Horne, Wheeldon, King

I think only Raynor, Cooke, Swain & Carvell were better then what we have now, I know Brough had fallen out of favour by then (Richard Horne at Scrum Half anyone?)


As a side note how good was the 2006 Saints team?

Wellens, Gardner, Lyon, Talau, Meli, Pryce, Long, P. Anderson, Cunningham, Cayless, Gilmour, Wilkin, Hooper. Replacements: Roby, Graham, Bennett, Fa'asavalu. 

That bench is unreal!

Peter Sharp was a very under-rated coach and did fantastically well with what he had in a very very short space of time. Even more so given how tight the Hetherington's were.
I'd have Domic over Fonua, 2006 Yeaman is still head and shoulders above 2016 Yeaman, 2006 he was on fire and bags more pace.
McMenemy is as hard working a 2nd row as you'd want and versatile enough to put in kicks too, a bloody good tackler and very decent passer of the ball and would be miles in front of Washbrook both then and now.

Saints were a team full of top top players though

I would have 2006 Richard Horne in my side now

As an aside, thin it will take a long time to forget the scenes in the concourse after the match sunday. Epic.

Interesting context from Cooke on Radford, Pearson, Tony and Last and the challenges faced: m.hulldailymail.co.uk/Paul-Cooke ... story.html

Interesting context from Cooke on Radford, Pearson, Tony and Last and the challenges faced: m.hulldailymail.co.uk/Paul-Cooke ... story.html

I think my combined side would be.

Shaul
Talanoa
Domic
Yeaman (2006 version)
Raynor
Horne
Sneyd
Taylor
Swain
Watts
Ellis
Minichiello
Cooke

Houghton
Carvell
McMenemy
Pritchard

Think it's too soon to be making comparisons to 2006, that side won a Challenge Cup, finished 2nd and made a Grand Final, this team is on a very good run but hasn't done that YET! There are some comparisons with the team showing similar hard work and team spirit though, McMenemy for example wasn't the most skilled player but he gave us 100% every week.

On another note that Saints team does show how SL has declined IMO, almost all of that team are international class, household names, whereas now the league is more competitive but has less stars.

There are parallels with SL in 2006 where we took advantage of an unexpected drop off in form by leeds and bradford while wigan were floundering at the foot of the table. Before this season, no one would have predicted leeds and huddersfield in the bottom 4 at this stage of the season which has created a good opportunity for someone to step up. At this stage it could well be us if we can keep the momentum going.

I don't actually think we're playing that well consistently but we're playing with a lot of belief and resilience and we're looking really good in patches. I think the saints game showed what we're capable of if we actually put a performance together.

Signs are good but I still think wigan and wire will be firing at the end of the season and with sandow back wire will be a tough side to beat.

On the flip side though that Saints team was probably the best of the SL era, and we were the only team that really came close to challenging them. This year we have imo a much stronger team on paper than the 2006 one.

Some teams have less quality in their squads than 10 years ago (Saints have probably fallen the furthest in this aspect, Bradford aside), some have an awful lot more. I think the standard of the top handful of clubs has indeed slipped, but the quality across the board is better, and that makes for a much more interesting comp.

I'm not sure there is more quality but the game has moved on and there is much less of a gap between the top and bottom team than there was in 2006. Then, there was no real likelihood that a bottom side would beat a top one unless the better side just didn't turn up on the day. Now, any side can genuinely beat any side which is what we've been wanting in the game

Interestingly Salford have won their battle to have their 6 point deduction appeal heard by an independent body. If revoked they'd be back in the top 8. Been a really surprising season so far.

Got to agree with come on you hull... While its great to be top of the tree for me its all about opening up a gap to 5th so we have a bit if breathing space come the 8's . when and we will taste defeats its about how we bounce back (I'm very confident we will if I'm being honest)
Long way to go but things ate looking better than I've seen in many a year .. Coyh

It would be great to open up a gap between us and 5th. If we could maintain that, it becomes a one off 80 minute game to get to the Grand Final. Anything could happen!

A Wembley appearance ( hopefully a win ) and 4th or above finish in the league would do me this season .

Wembley is the one for me, we've a good chance this year as on our day we can beat any team, I see Leeds as the team we struggle with & their out, Radders wants the lot even though he's taking it a game at a time, but he's an eye on silverware, he said he won't be happy till the cabinets filling up.

Wembley win for me, although the grand final would be nice to , we can all dream

We never know pal eh? We just enjoy the better rugby for now, see if we can gather momentum, it's if we hit a bad patch. Injuries or results it's how we recover.

well cert enjoying it at the moment mate

Nice atmosphere around the club at the moment.

Our league position is most pleasing. The players are all playing forces bother and the team spirit is fantastic. Lee Radford has proved all his doubters wrong ( and I was one of them).

The future stability of the staff and squad are already place for next season and beyond.

The fans are also keeping the season in perspective, with hope continuing ahead of expectation. We are maintaining a focus on the next game only mentality. Each week will continue to be a challenge, but one we are now capable of rising to and competing with.

It's th prospect, however fanciful, of playing in the WCC

Who knows it may even be in Melbourne !

My Storm mate said last night that he easn't happy at all that we were sniffing st Blake Green !

The way I look at it, if we were offered top 4 at the start of the season, we'd have jumped at the chance. The aim still has to be cementing that top 4 place for the super eights, but as this run goes on and on, the prospect of doing even better than that becomes real. The league seems very open this year, every team is beating each other, and there's not really a stand out team in the league as of yet.

The form and consistency we are showing gives us the perfect opportunity to be one of the frontrunners not only for the League Leaders Shield, but the Grand Final and the Cup too.

I'm torn on what I would prefer. The Cup has the history and significance about it, but the Grand Final has the prestige and status in terms of a season-long effort. It's nice to be in this position for once though!!!

For me I think a Wembley appearance and win would transform the club massively by getting rid of that monkey on our backs.

Top 4 was the aim and that should still be the case, anything more is a bonus and something to continue to build on and enjoy the moments so far. Looking at the top 4 currently and over the last few rounds there has been no more than 2-4 pts in it so as long as remain within the fight until the Super 8's we have a great chance.

As Radford has said they are just using the old cliche of taking it one game at a time and creadit to him and the coaching staff and players for at last for having a better mental attitude to achieve success this season.

I'd like to hold my hand up and say I want to be arrogant for the next few days. Thank you, that is all.