I'd have Cooke in a heartbeat. I've seen first hand what he did at Doncaster RU attacking wise and I couldn't give 2 stuffs about the way he left Hull because his book has proved that he was shafted big time by us.

Mild Rovver ? Lol
Top of the League for losing but not getting beat - I still laugh at that
I tell my Aussie mates and they just look at me perplexed - “ is there a top of the league for not getting beat ?” They ask. Lol

Over Reaction Monday is coming

As a matter of interest, why would you not want Cooke?

If its anything to do with 2007, then you need to get your head out of the sand.

He's a pr@

Everyones got a right to an opinion, but a statement like that perhaps needs a little more substance to back it up.

I have never met Paul Cooke, so I cannot pass judgement on him. I do not he was a tremendous RL player and with limited resourses has made a difference at the clubs he has coached at.

I must admit these coaches nowadays come out with some great oneliners that are genuinely funny,last night was comedy gold with the stevie wonder quote,and cluless Clarke reporting in the hull daily mail--" what did you say at halftime lee "--if miloudi throws the ball in touch again ill give him a backhander"

Cooke ?? Please no !!!!

Attacking coach absolutely - Wakey have Michael Monaghan - just look at how they move the ball, oh & FC castoffs Lynne & Miller starring.

Sadly our squad recruited to play the forward dominance, lots of biff - big backs who can equally dominate their opponents - but when missing we are absolutely clueless, also NO pace at all without Shaul, even Albi back in his shell.

Much food for thought for the owner.

Sadly the vast majority of our 'kids' won't be SL regulars. There aint Lee Crooks, Kirk Yeaman, Richard Horne or Paul King to bame but a few amongst the current crop. So putting them in now en masse is a no brainer.i

Has Paul Cooke got some photos of you in compromising positions?

That's a vile thought!!!


I would welcome Cooke simply because I saw the difference he made at Doncaster RU and I think his attacking flare is just what we need.

I am afraid some of our emerging youngsters are not good enough.
Dash and Downs bring nothing to the pack .Also What has happened to Lane ?
Maybe after last night the Club’s recruitment plans might change ?

That’s right lose one game and change your full recruitment strategy that’s as knee jerk as tarquin saying sack the full coaching set up what you all have to realise is there are two trophies to compete for and you luckily won one of them two years in a row you could go another 10-15 years without another trophy so maybe just enjoy your success while it lasts

I think Masi is the only one of our younger players who will make the grade.He has been overplayed recently due to squad injuries and hence his performance has dropped.
I agree about Fash.Works hard in defence but has nothing in attack.Too small for a prop and not fast enough to be a second row.Another like Turgut who will fall away when we have a fully fit squad.

Fash is an Ok squad player, the type of player you need if they are cheap and plays 10-15 games, it doesn't help that he comes on with Masi, Downs etc.

Downs isn't good or big enough, I've seen more in Turgut (Who will be gone at the end of the year) and Lane to say they will be better players.

I really like the look of Scott, he is still only 18, could be a great player, any reason to look at Griffin in the pack.

Injuries are helping us, but some senior players like Shaul, Kelly, Carlos and Houghton have been off form for a few weeks now.

We have lost 4 top players over the last 2 seasons. Ellis, Watts , Fonua , and to a lesser extent Pritchard.
That has lost us some grunt and experience.
Add Kelly and Connor to the 2016 squad and that is a Grand Final winning side .
What worries me is that Radford has said no new faces for 2019.
Our pack is weaker than the previous 2 years, even at full strength.
Selling Watts has not helped .
Our squad at the moment, is not capable of Radford biff and bash style of play .
Granted injuries have taken their toll and we have done well to hang on to 5th .
But let’s face it , last night showed us all our inept attacking style.
We have no formation, we just stand still and lob the ball to each other.
There is too much reliance on a bit of Kelly or Connor magic . Team have worked it out . We have no plan B to change things around.

With young players, there always comes a time when they hit the wall a bit.
We’ve played them more than we would have liked, and the team looks jaded at the moment.
We do lack a bit of punch in the forwards, which we lost when Watts went. Taylor’s carried the pack the last few weeks. I’d rather lose two or three of the more peripheral players, and bring one quality forward in.

Watts was replaced with Westerman and looked the part till the injury?????

Westerman replaced Watts in the ball handling forward role, but our front row is noticeably weaker now. Especially for a team that is based on getting over the top of teams.

Moving forward, let’s see what happens with Wigan v Wire tonight, shall we. A Wire loss and a few players back when we play them, who knows. Keep playing the best 17 till we’re mathematically out of the chase and I was called a doom and gloomer during the week when I predicted a Hudds backlash to their last game against those who shall not be namedd040.gif

Who knows what our pack is capable of, they’ve only played 2 games together, Hudds and Wigan, first 2 games but think 2 were missing against Wigan now come to think of it, Mini deffo.

Wigan game was Jamie Shaul, Bureta Faraimo, Josh Griffin, Fetuli Talanoa, Albert Kelly, Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor, Danny Houghton, Mickey Paea, Sika Manu, Mark Minichiello, Josh Bowden. Subs: Jordan Abdull, Dean Hadley, Danny Washbrook, Liam Watts

Green and Masi both injured/unavailable.

I think we're underestimating/missing the go forward impact Griffin and Talanoa add to the side, taking pressure off the pack.

Agree with just about all of this.

Especially about the senior players who need to show a bit more.

For the sake of the careers of a few of the finge players, it maybe worth then either leaving or going out on loan for a season to see if regular game time will improve them. Although I would not class Hadley as a frinnge player, the year he had at Wakey did him the world of good.

We need to free up some cap space to sign an other prop, unless either Mini or Manu are going to go into the front row.

How did he go at doncaster RL and leigh?

If he had proven he was any good I'd welcome him with open arms but doing OK in semi pro rugby union is no real pedigree for me

The whole season has been a disaster. I said at the time I thought the Oz trip was a bad idea. We spent a week on holiday, lost against wigan, picked up some injuries then came back and lost a couple of games we would likely have won had we not had the trip. get some suspensions, get some more injuries, sell our 2nd best forward to a near rival, get some more injuries, suspensions etc. Lose loads of away games, get some more injuries, crash out of the cup due to bad disipline, get some more injuries, the season fizzles out, we don't sign anyone new.

Dog shiit

The season never got going for us and is about to end. Let's hope we can still shift plenty of season passes on the back of it

where in my comment have I made it personal. I said where there are failings, our standard from one match to the next is ridiculously variable in quality in all the segments I mentioned. I don't think Radford has the skillset/knowhow to take us forward, he needs help but seemingly isn't prepared to get the help he needs in various departments.
The question was asked about moving forward, I identified what I think we need to do to move forward.
Instead of picking an argument because you don't like an opinion that doesn't match yours why not make a counter to what I've said and explain what bits are wrong/right and how you would move us forward so that we are more consistent/better team?
How about improve the quality/standard of the youngsters coming in to fill for injuries, game management, mental preparation and in game mental strength, how do we deal with lack of basic skills that crop up regularly, how do you deal with the indiscipline that crops up regularly. Or do you simply think none of these are a problem and fine as they are so need not be looked at to move forward?

Go onto the Hudds thread and there are loads who are repeating the same thing about the same issues that blight us!
So, what

Why do players seemingly fit and healthy 'underperform', why does a team of players underperform/not do things right?
There's continual comments about lack of basic skills like passing
There's continual discussion about all the things I mentioned in my first post plus plenty more where the team doesn't seem to get it right or we go from rocks to diamonds and back again.
Yes there are injuries, yes they disrupt partnerships and you are bringing in a subtly lower quality of player most of the time, however how a team performs on the day is more to do with the coach and that preparation/everything that goes on before a game, during training, during the pre season and even in the off season than it is with the players on the pitch managing their performance individually.

this is why a sports psychologist is massively important, I'll keep saying it and people will still call it bullcrap despite the evidence, go ask a world cup winning coach (that'll be Clive Woodward btw) how important mental preparation is and how players need sports psychologists to get the best out of them.