Re: One man rugby : Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:16 pm  

halifaxjohn wrote:

:MOTOR:
Welcome Standidge are you in the services?

Yes John, been in the Army 20 years. 3rd time out here.

I never miss a game when i am home. And today I actually got to a phone and rang my son at half time. He was at the game with a couple of my mates. Looking forward to my R&R and getting to a game over Easter.

Re: One man rugby : Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:25 pm  

Standidge wrote:

Yes John, been in the Army 20 years. 3rd time out here.

I never miss a game when i am home. And today I actually got to a phone and rang my son at half time. He was at the game with a couple of my mates. Looking forward to my R&R and getting to a game over Easter.

Very proud of you all, tell your mates, Halifaxjohn sends his admiration and regards, when they say "who the f**k is Halifaxjohn, tell them he is one of thousands who thank you all for what your doing.
Return home safely to your families, all of you.

Re: One man rugby : Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:27 pm  

I think you should all follow your coach and say well done to Keighley for a decent job done on an awful pitch.

Re: One man rugby : Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:29 pm  

halifaxjohn wrote:

:MOTOR:
Very proud of you all, tell your mates, Halifaxjohn sends his admiration and regards, when they say "who the f**k is Halifaxjohn, tell them he is one of thousands who thank you all for what your doing.
Return home safely to your families, all of you.

Thanks John, its comments like that which make this job almost bearable at times. Thanks again, I will pass on the message.

Re: One man rugby : Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:05 pm  

cowfax wrote:

Think back a couple years. Everyone went to the Shay and was excited. Ok a few games that should have been won were lost but we were entertained. Oh and we won the Final that matters. In comes Karl to much acclaim. We win a final.
We all new his team would be organised, enthusiastic and win more games than lost. So we thought that KH`s template added to Fax Flair would give a team the equal or beating of Fev etc. Unfortunately he has removed the spontaneity and flair and now we know (and probably every coach in the Championship) that its one up , one miss pass out, one reverse pass , one up and kick. A winning formula? Maybe but i get more fun watching Eastenders and that is the most miserable show on tv. All i can hope is that the team keeps grinding out the wins or the crowds would plummet.
It isnt just me who was bored silly today I spoke to quite a few who felt the same.
I watched every game we lost the season 77/78 ago and was at Huyton to finally see a victory and i have to say i was still looking forward to each game, but not too sure about next week. Maybe i am just getting old and cynical.

And that is pretty much the reaons I didn't go today, oh, and the fact we were playing a March coached Keighley. The fact is that i wan t to be entertained and I'm not being, yes I want us to win but at the moment I'd rather take a win and stay at home as I was bored to tears against Sheffield.

Hopefully I will be reinvigorated for the next match but we need to do something and it needs to start with renmoving Handforth.

Re: One man rugby : Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:49 pm  

Handforth was OK today in my opinion. He set up a few tries. I think a major problem at the club is we have no set moves or are unable to create an opening for the backs. Harrison was a top-rated prop and this reflects on the 6 drives & a kick mentality at the club. I think the club need an assistant coach to develop the backs into a fluent attacking unit, something i don't think Karl can achieve on his own. The Rugby today was dire & tedious to watch. I know lots and lots of fans that haven't bought a season ticket this year. If they are not going to be entertained, they ain't gonna turn up. Most diehards are giving us the benefit of the doubt during the bad weather, but in my honest opinion, we WILL get found out when the pitches dry out by the likes of Leigh, Fev and Sheffield.

Re: One man rugby : Sun Feb 17, 2013 10:21 pm  

This thread will open an hornets nest....!! I'm not sure what we can tell 3 games in how the team will fair later in the year. However my observation so far is that our halfbacks aren't good enough as I'm at a loss what Thackeray brings to the team if I'm honest, he's out of the game for 90% of the time and creates little. We have been spoilt at hooker over the last 5 years but this is an area we look poor. Young Ashall isn't good enough for 1st team footie in my opinion right now but what else do we have.

Still it's early days, 3 games in and 3 wins so that's good. Like a few others though the brand of rugby served up is pretty predictable and boring, maybe it's the weather / pitch ........ I don't know?? However I don't see us troubling Fev just yet.

It's a long season though so lets not get disheartened just yet!!

Re: One man rugby : Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:11 am  

I think KH was hoping bringing Murrell in would make up for our problems at half back last season and also may make the new problem of hooker less obvious but so far Im not sure. I think Handforth looked ok yesterday and did against Sheffield as well but he needs a good stand off to play with and Im not sure Thackery is that person although I thought he did better yesterday and may go better on dryer grounds.

The main problem is hooker though and I have to agree with Chris that Karl Ashall dosnt look ready for 1st team rugby at this level yet and Craig Ashall simply dosnt look good enough to play hooker. Both their distribution and reading of the game looks poor. Hopefully with us now taking a look at Craig Cook things may brighten up in that spot when he makes the team.

[triran]

Re: One man rugby : Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:50 am  

I agree Craig Ashall is more a loose forward than hooker.

Carl Ashall I think will take a while to be coached into the sort of player KH wants. He and any other hooker we sign will sadly be always compared to Penky - we shall see.

Don't forget we have also signed Holden, same boat as young Ashall, talent but needs converting into something at the top flight of the championship.

Thacks - doesn't do muddy surfaces very well it seems.

Handforth - for me, he was involved a lot and was key to quite a lot too.

If we got the kicks yesterday and the score was wider - may be we wouldn't be as bothered - who knows.

Re: One man rugby : Mon Feb 18, 2013 12:30 pm  

Sadly the scenario we see at the moment reminds me of a scene in "gladiator".
When he goes out and kills everyone in the arena really quick and shouts " are you not entertained ", proximo then takes him to one side and says its not how good you are, its how you go about doing it, kinda thing.

Well, i feel like this about the games at the minute, Yes we are winning and havnt lost but they are grind out wins that are poor to watch and not very entertaining, not to me, not to many leaving the shay yesterday or the ones i met in the pub after, people were flat at what was witnessed and all said we are clueless in attack.

If we dont kick on very soon, it will be too late. Leigh, Fev etc will dominate us with their attacking prowess whilst we will try to just drive through them.