As recruitment and retention dominate our thoughts once again isn't it interesting to look at the Cas side that beat Wigan on Saturday.

No fewer than 4 'rejects' played in this game - Jamie Ellis, Lynch, Dixon and Wheeldon. At the beginning of this season, answer honestly, how many of these would have got in our 17 - most on here would without a doubt say none.

Interesting eh!

Discuss.......

It is interesting. Though for me, the most interesting thing is that Darryl Powell has taken a rag tag bunch of cast offs (this label unfairly applied in many cases) and turned them into the surprise package of the competition. No one gave them a chance after Chase left and a supposed "talented" coach in Ian Millward failed to deliver (my opinions on Millward's class are at odds with many of his fans).

It's an impressive turn around this season after being a gimme fixture since they came back into SL. Well done to Powell I say.

The only one that would get close to our 17 is Lynch.

The discussion to be had here isn't about recruitment, it's about the difference a good coach can make. Lynch is a good player, the other 3 are bang average. Yet Powell has got them playing well.

Its precisely what some fail to see. This is a classic example of what a good coach can do. Powell has good players playing to a system and with desire and pride. We have had very few coaches over the years capable of this. Kear managed it for the odd game (2005 CUP RUN) In my time of supporting the club only Smith and Bunting have managed it for us.
Powell is working within a tight budget with a group of players who whilst they are of SL standard are playing far beyond the sum of their parts. I personally hope that Cas are not raided in the winter as I think Powell is going places with them.

Not only that but how many ex FC players are in the Semi Finals?

They'd all be as bad as they were previously if they came back here

could just about get a team of ex FC together

1. tansey
2. dixon
3. arundel (on loan)
4. turner
5. briscoe
6. hall
7. ellis
8. lynch
9. hodgson
10. wheeldon
11. g horne
12. manu
13. washbrook

not all rejects but apart from a couple most will be seen as that

The one recruit from hull to cas who has made the biggest difference his Ben cooper the conditioner, he's turned us from semi pro to the fittest team in the league.

Presumably he's conspired to get your guys fitter than before

This Ben Cooper? www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/16354818

This Ben Cooper? www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/16354818

The obvious answer is the coach yes, what Powell has done with these players.........

However, no one has mentioned that Cas have regular half backs who although not big names by any stretch are more than capable of leading a side around with a first class kicking game too. Both their regular halves, Sneyd and Finn are a country mile better than our young bucks (currently!)

So, if these 2 were in our side would we also be transformed? Impossible to answer but I think we'd have won a number of games we've lost with these two 'unknowns'.

Comes down to recruitment to me, rather than the coach. Just my opinion.

Or that Powell is capable of getting the best out of what he has available unlike Radford.

I didn't realise Radford had no say in recruitment?

He has but his hands were tied massively this year because of previous recruitment and been appointed so late.

more excuses

when will someone ever take responsibility (and not just aimed at Radford, it seems our perennial excuse "not his team"icon_wink.gif

I'm pretty sure that powell saw the need and recruited those 2 half backs. radford saw the need and recruited rankin

I first read this post yesterday, and I just can't come to terms with it being more about recruitment than coaching with the players in question. 'Not big names' is actually understating it a bit IMO, they've got a relative rookie (like ours, arguably with a less notable pedigree) and a (pretty much) career lower-league player playing very well consistently at the top end of SL, whereas we have 2 former aussie schoolboys who at times just look lost. It's not like Cas went out and signed up 2 career-proven top-level players, they identified 2 relatively obscure players who suited their needs and the coach did the rest.

I'd accept the point that it was mainly recruitment if our 2 halfbacks were playing at or near their best regularly and it still wasn't good enough, but that is obviously not the case. On occasions we've seen what both are capable of (and IMO there still possibly is what we need in there, it's just a question of whether we will bring it out of them quickly enough), it's just that we don't get it often enough.

Rankin and Miller may well prove not good enough for where we want to be, but IMO they should be doing a damn sight better than they are showing now regardless, and it's not all down to them.

Our problems stem from basic support play, we dont have dummy runners
to ask questions about the opposition's defence.

It stems from repetitive training,until it is perfected - I dont buy the excuse the quality of not Agar's/Gentle's/Radford's team.

Doesnt matter the quality of a HB. its the quality of support available to the organiser.

If the HB has no options, the attack will not function, be the HB Cronk,Thurston etc

So did Peter Gentle but made a better fist of it than Radford is doing atm

I'd say the opposite to be honest. When Powell came in as Head Coach at Cas they were absolutely dire and had won once in the 2013 league (one in 18 overall) and were bottom and won 8 of the remaining fixtures taking Cas off the bottom and clear of both London & Salford and only 6pts off 8th placed KR.

Powell has taken a group that were awful and got them playing and winning more than they were losing even before he got chane to recruit.

As CS has mentioned Rankin & Miller haven't set the world alight and may not prove to be good enough however they are I believe playing below what they can produce which is down to both the players, the system and the Coaching.
How many times have we seen Miller running laterally? Is this because he isn't any good or because as a team he is given few options due to lack of runners/support as we are so static.

We started the season with what looked like some promise with runners etc but that soon stopped and have struggled since.

Maybe Miller is running laterally,as he's had the confidence of taking the line on, literally battered out of him
by the opposition's defence - due to no support & slow play the ball.

Radford should revert back to Westerman,as central organiser, as he possesses the physical attrition, if there are no support runners.