Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Tue Sep 23, 2014 12:45 pm  

as an aside mr B,what's your run up to now ? is that 10 complete seasons.Hopefully next year you will get the rugby your support deserves.

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:57 pm  

poor man management and sometimes bizarre team selection (player gets MOTM one week then is dropped the week after) are just some of the things that I feel went wrong for us. Negative/over cautious tactics didn't help but I feel the crowd getting on the backs of the coaches and players constantly can't have helped. Flashes of great play (Holden was a good thing to come from this season) but we were too often found out and lack of plan B always left us vulnerable

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Tue Sep 23, 2014 4:34 pm  

In the words of Blackadder
"it started badly, it tailed off a little in the middle and the less said about the end the better — but apart from that it was excellent."

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:12 pm  

Two words sum up this season. Dire & Clueless.
The highlight of the season was the final hooter on Sunday.
Another season where players with flair and invention were shown the door to be replaced with willing workhorses, who then had any thoughts of inspirational play coached out of them.
A season where the pitches were either too soft or too hard.
A season where passing the ball seemed to be a dirty word and backing up a player in possession a rarity.
A season of declining crowds ( but oddly not according to the published attendences LOL )
A season of hopeless P.A. systems on a Sunday, but very good the previous day usually.
A season of invisible directors who were quieter than a Trappist male voice choir.
But hope springs eternal and there were some positives:-
Fax TV, a great idea which improves all the time.
Keith Holden. His enthusiasm created a buzz every time he came onto the pitch.
Andy Bracek played his heart out every match, usually having been selected in the wrong position.
Fax still have a core of about 750 fans. There is massive potential waiting for good rugby.
There is passion for the club. Harness that passion and light the blue touchpaper.
Appoint Barry Eaton as the next coach and "Bring On The Bulls"

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:00 pm  

Been away for a couple of weeks so just got back to catch up on what's been happening and latest story lines etc.
I did manage to see the Dewsbury game and think that really summed up where we were at for the season.
Plenty of huff and puff but sadly lacking in pace and class-especially in the pivot positions.
One statement from KH at a pre season supporters meeting 'you can't have enough props' just about summarised how we were going to play this season and that's exactly how it panned out.
Over the 3 years we have binned/lost some very creative players and replaced with ones that simply haven't been in that league.
This league seems to just pass the same players around the clubs and having a no 'foreigner's and dual reg recruitment policy I'm afraid meant we were never going to surprise the opposition with unknown talent as our players were already known to opposing teams and coaches.
The 5 drives and a kick was clearly not working and in the middle of the season, when we woke up to that, we did play some better rugby.
Some players appear to me to have been disllusioned by the 'stick' treatment when they probably would have responded more with the 'carrot' treatment and the best coaches have a good balance between the two. Ours didn't by the look of the want aways that have since ripped up trees at other clubs.
We as spectators also must harbour some responsibility as the negativity on here and other social media and on the terraces will be read and heard by the players, whether they admit to that or not. Sport is all about confidence and we looked at times as though we were playing with the weight of the world on our shoulders.
The club and its coaching staff need to get that bond that other clubs have with their spectators-look at Rowley after the Leeds v Leigh game applauding and mixing with the Leigh fans on the terraces; listen to the Dewsbury fans on Sunday 'Morro Morro give us a wave'-I never heard that with the Fax crowd and KH. These are the building blocks of any successful club and Fax need to rebuild that quickly and try break down this stigma/perception of just hitting the fans for money all the time and allegedly not paying our bills!
However what we must not lose sight of is that we did finish 3rd from top-not bottom.
That's a good base to build on but we need to up our whole game both on and off the field next season in what is going to be an even tougher league to play in.
I see on another topic the RFL are having a presentation and Q&A day. Might be a good idea to get the positive ball rolling once we have a new coach to get a' Meet the new coach and Directors meeting together' so we can all start to get on the same page and push this historical and great club forward and put all the negativity behind us. (One suggestion for you on Fax TV Triran?)

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:03 pm  

The Lucky Black Cat wrote:

The problem was for me was Karl didnt really know how to put his gameplan across to the players last season and then made massive changes again including 6,7 and 9 which was always going to see problems this year. He couldnt see or help improve players and they were just drifting along. He never really trusted the U20s to make the step up and they probably felt they would have little chance to show what they can do. You cant just build a team and get success it takes time to gel properly. The spine of the team was too slow and changed from week to week. Why drop Johnson for Brown who hadnt played for weeks? Scott Murrell is too slow for Stand Off and is best at 13.
The players seemed to lose faith in Karl and Karl in them and in the end nobody had a clue what was supposed to happen. The players and Karl were not honest with each other or us. Excuses kept coming and things got worse. It was the excuses and lack of honesty which caused me to lose interest. The Club was not being honest about certain things and the buying of The Shay drama was just the icing on the cake. Mentally the players season finished weeks ago. They needed lifting and needed help to sort themselves out as players and as a team- but Karl and the coaching staff for whatever reason couldnt deliver.

I think we need to have a mass clearout. Get somebody in who has a record of working with quality players and improving them. Richard Marshalls name has come up and having worked at Warrington with Tony Smith might be a good option or a young assistant from an NRL club- I understand there are a couple that have been interviewed. I dont want somebody like Kear, Noble etc. Honesty and telling things as they are needs to start coming from the Club as well as the new Coaching Staff and Players. I dont mind losing if people put in their best and are honest. The club needs to start respecting the fans a bit more IMHO and the Fans need to have a bit more appreciation for the things the board and others do. Without the Board and Volunteers we have a weaker club. Without more fans we have a weaker club. Halifax RLFC needs to grow and it needs all to pull in the same direction and be honest but respectful with everybody.

I expect us to be rebuilding next year and not really challenging. You cant expect the new coach to turn things around quickly after what has happened. Also the new coach needs to be given time to show what he can and not people calling for his head after the first couple of defeats.

Top post and I agree, honesty is the word plus professionalism in ALL departments at the club, I keep saying it but I want Halifax RLFC to be known for being both of these and sadly they are not renowned for the latter one especially.
I did not enjoy most games last season as for me I never saw one where we did a full 80 minutes, we only won two games with comfort the Donny and Whitehaven home games, all the rest we toiled and whilst we lost a few we should have won like Batley and Dewsbury away we also could have lost a couple as well like Workington and Crusaders away.
We saw players in and out of the team to the point I struggled to recognise some of them, nobody really stood out over the whole season Luke Ambler apart and nobody seemed to get better in most cases only worse.
So lets put a line under last year and look forward to better things next season, I am sure it will be I have forgotten this season already!

[triran]

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Wed Sep 24, 2014 7:05 am  

I thought I would write with an alternative view point away from the pitch but my view on the season.

At the beginning of the season I was asked to help the coaching the team with the new performance software. This software has changed how I view the game now. We took an age to get to where we wanted to be in analysis. Obviously this is only a small piece of the puzzle but it was something we wanted to get right to help move forward. Very interesting to see the software and the camera angles to view how the game was played. It can only help us moving forward now we have everything working fully from the beginning of 2015.

The second view point was trying to improve the communication as I saw the hard work of the BOD and the office - it was a shame you guys couldn't see it - hence the "re"-birth of Fax TV. I wanted to create a channel to show you guys a glimpse of the hard work and not the stuff produced by Alex Simmons. KH was brilliant at bringing ideas and supporting the channel because he felt the same. KH brought in the fantastic folks at Hudds Uni to help too. I loved interviewing Karl midweek to try to get the message. Some folk have said it can be too serious but I felt we needed to get the message across. More to come next year - I promise. The BOD have been quietly brilliant in their support especially Michael Steele - who wrote a recommendation for me on the professional network LinkedIn.

This season has been hard for various reasons and you all have your reasons. 3rd place is what it is. I would rather be there than the bottom of SL. I enjoy our battles versus Leigh and Doncaster. Fev not so much. I know the players have all tried but it simply has not happened but that is sport in my eyes.

Moaning folk about the PA - yeah I understand, I wish I knew why it is different on various game days. Past few games have been a different mic which is dross. My favourite bit was the singer Scott Conrad for the Fev home game - it was something different.

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Wed Sep 24, 2014 9:50 pm  

Rod,Jane & Freddie wrote:

Two words sum up this season. Dire & Clueless.
The highlight of the season was the final hooter on Sunday.
Another season where players with flair and invention were shown the door to be replaced with willing workhorses, who then had any thoughts of inspirational play coached out of them.
A season where the pitches were either too soft or too hard.
A season where passing the ball seemed to be a dirty word and backing up a player in possession a rarity.
A season of declining crowds ( but oddly not according to the published attendences LOL )
A season of hopeless P.A. systems on a Sunday, but very good the previous day usually.
A season of invisible directors who were quieter than a Trappist male voice choir.
But hope springs eternal and there were some positives:-
Fax TV, a great idea which improves all the time.
Keith Holden. His enthusiasm created a buzz every time he came onto the pitch.
Andy Bracek played his heart out every match, usually having been selected in the wrong position.
Fax still have a core of about 750 fans. There is massive potential waiting for good rugby.
There is passion for the club. Harness that passion and light the blue touchpaper.
Appoint Barry Eaton as the next coach and "Bring On The Bulls"

The crowds include season ticket holders as all clubs crowds do but I disagree we have a hardcore of 1250 fans imo.

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Thu Sep 25, 2014 10:50 am  

mr t hall wrote:

as an aside mr B,what's your run up to now ? is that 10 complete seasons.Hopefully next year you will get the rugby your support deserves.

Yes i have now managed 10 seasons,i have to say my resolve & commitment have been tested this last couple of seasons.Ihave now seen 306 consecutive Lg/Cup games & missed 2 of the last 507,not sure about next seasons away games as i said to Hudd-Shay on another post "Hang on every game is away for me".
Onwards & Upwards keep the Faith

Re: YOUR season review and reasons why it went as it did. : Thu Sep 25, 2014 10:50 am  

Whether we have 750 or 1250 hardcore fans it just illustrates how difficult it is for the club to get back on an upward spiral. How the club can build a successful business on such low income streams is beyond me. Its a miracle we are still going! For me I find it impossible to be really positive about the future. To get better we need a major injection of quality in terms of playing staff and coaching setup. It seems an enormous task but we need to hit the ground running next season; no easy matches (and some very difficult ones) but we still need to be competitive from match 1. OK defeats are acceptable for what is likely to be a transitional season but we have to competitive. Being on the end of a walloping does nothing for a young players confidence. I await with interest the news of the new coach. Hopefully this will be a quality appointment. There are many reasons for our demise but for me the principal reason is that the board have made some appalling decisions over the years in the selection of the team coach. This goes back to our even to our SL days!