Fred_Pickup wrote:
I worry that we have no assistant coach who can offer an alternative view to B M's, and also someone with some ability to implement a team attacking structure to lean on, which stands some chance of getting the ball out to our backs with room to take us forward.
The appointment of someone with vision is IMO vital
The other aspect to this seems to make the coach unsackable mid term, unlike with Wakey and
Hull KR. Another match following a change of coach.......we will need to up our aggression and energy.
And I worry that there are supporters who cry for the head of the coach when things are not going well. May I remind you that with almost three quarters of the season gone we are still in 2nd place and in the semi final of the cup once again. At the half way point we were top and the form side in the competition and that during this period we had the best defence and our backs were scoring plenty of trys. In fact despite the recent leaky defence we still have let in the fewest points.
Since then several things have happened which have brought about a drop in performance. Firstly injuries and in particular the loss of Burrow for so long as he is such a key attacking player no matter what position he occupies. Secondly loss of form of other key players for example Sinfield who for so long has been a key part in our attacking plays. Thirdly some of the youngsters and reserves have shown why they are not yet ready to replace the regular first choices. And last but not least the extended suspension of an in form Hardaker has also played a negative part.
None of the above important factors could in any way be due to BM. Having worked well pre-season to get the team in shape for a good start he also had them peak for the tough run of fixtures that took us to the top. It was only to be expected that there would be a drop off in the mental intensity at some stage and the injuiries to in-form players have compounded this.
No matter how good the coach he cannot give a player form and players have only one way to recover lost form - and that is by playing. Gone are the days when senior players could have a couple of weeks in the 2nd team to regain form. The likes if Sinfield can hardly turn out for the U/19s can he?
You also assume that when the team are not playing well or individuals make wrong decisions on the field it is the fault of the coach or a "lack of structure". Getting a team to run like a well oiled machine is not easy and requires that the players follow the game plan and practiced structures but it doesn't take much for all this to go wrong and when it does it is usually a player or players who are at fault.
Fortunately most of the other top sides have been going through similar patches of poor form and injuries. So on the positive side we have quite a number of key players to return. Burrow, Sinfield. Hardaker, Ablett. JJB, Leuluai plus Kirke Achurch and Clarkson too. Once the coach has this lot back in contention he will be able to build up the mental intensity for the business end of the season and hopefully a return to form and sharpness.
