Re: Assistant Coaches : Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:50 pm  

karetaker wrote:

Like Cunningham great player, not so great a coach what ever the reason just took us longer to end the relationship.

No Karetaker. Too harsh. Have you seen him coach. Have you coached? Have you played? Not on. Have respect.

Re: Assistant Coaches : Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:54 pm  

Smiffy27 wrote:

No Karetaker. Too harsh. Have you seen him coach. Have you coached? Have you played? Not on. Have respect.

No I have not but someone else said earlier if it was a case of the head coach not listening to his ideas or plans then would he of stayed or was it just the pay check, either or any of them things showed it clearly was not working on a coaching front, it’s not an intention to be harsh, I mean come on how much as been said about our attack in the final 20 it’s been poor for a long time. Saints saw is was not working with Cunningham but our club of for me always over done the loyalty thing.

Re: Assistant Coaches : Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:03 pm  

karetaker wrote:

No I have not but someone else said earlier if it was a case of the head coach not listening to his ideas or plans then would he of stayed or was it just the pay check, either or any of them things showed it clearly was not working on a coaching front, it’s not an intention to be harsh, I mean come on how much as been said about our attack in the final 20 it’s been poor for a long time. Saints saw is was not working with Cunningham but our club of for me always over done the loyalty thing.

But you aren’t comparing like for like. Cunningham was the head coach, the buck stopped with him. I feel like a broken record but we have no idea what Briers is like as an ASSISTANT coach.

Re: Assistant Coaches : Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:11 pm  

Anyway, he’s a Warrington legend. Thanks Lee, good luck and best wishes.

Let’s move forward now and try something a little different. I’m excited about Powell and his approach to the game, but it sure does feel weird looking forward to next season when we are only 3 games in. Bizarre in fact.

[Uncle Rico]

Re: Assistant Coaches : Thu Apr 22, 2021 6:28 am  

karetaker wrote:

No I have not but someone else said earlier if it was a case of the head coach not listening to his ideas or plans then would he of stayed or was it just the pay check, either or any of them things showed it clearly was not working on a coaching front, it’s not an intention to be harsh, I mean come on how much as been said about our attack in the final 20 it’s been poor for a long time. Saints saw is was not working with Cunningham but our club of for me always over done the loyalty thing.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your POV but loyalty is a balance not only does it work both ways but there are mitigating factors based on how previous performances are judged. I think this was part and parcel of the TS debate on here which was lively at times.

We are certainly no Tottenham Hotspur that's for sure if only we could be as ruthless as them we may have a trophy cabinet just like theirs

Re: Assistant Coaches : Thu Apr 22, 2021 6:35 am  

The opinion of the power of assistant coaches varies massively on here, and unless you’re in the sessions we won’t really know what influence assistants have at Warrington.

But what I know for certain, after watching Lee Briers play, is that he would not advice/teach/coach/encourage Blake Austin to kick the ball dead on goal from attacking positions. He wouldn’t have spent years mastering the craft of kicking to the corner for Fa’afili/Hicks/Monaghan/King only to show Austin how to be effective at finding the third row of seats.

Again, we don’t know Briers’ coaching philosophy, but we can reflect on a career of attacking skill and trickery. Unless he’s had a ‘hard reset’ and lost all of that creativity, game knowledge and craft, he still sees the game in the same way.

In our own workplaces, we all have good ideas of how to do things better, yet we’ve all had the boss who instructs you to do as you’re told. I’m not saying this is the case, but from my experience the head coach decides who/what/how, the assistants put that into practice.

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

Re: Assistant Coaches : Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:00 am  

Barbed Wire wrote:

The opinion of the power of assistant coaches varies massively on here, and unless you’re in the sessions we won’t really know what influence assistants have at Warrington.

But what I know for certain, after watching Lee Briers play, is that he would not advice/teach/coach/encourage Blake Austin to kick the ball dead on goal from attacking positions. He wouldn’t have spent years mastering the craft of kicking to the corner for Fa’afili/Hicks/Monaghan/King only to show Austin how to be effective at finding the third row of seats.

Again, we don’t know Briers’ coaching philosophy, but we can reflect on a career of attacking skill and trickery. Unless he’s had a ‘hard reset’ and lost all of that creativity, game knowledge and craft, he still sees the game in the same way.

In our own workplaces, we all have good ideas of how to do things better, yet we’ve all had the boss who instructs you to do as you’re told. I’m not saying this is the case, but from my experience the head coach decides who/what/how, the assistants put that into practice.

You know it wouldn't surprise me(and I'm not saying I have inside knowledge so don't be spreading rumours) if Briers bloody detested austin and his obviously limited game, and what that right hand side has become.

Not even just the kicks, swann and Westwood, and gleeson and bridge and hicks fa'afili and monaghan all running off him, space being created cos the defences were shitting themselves for whoever might get the ball, and we only needed half a gap to exploit

Its a far cry, from Austins slow dummy, or Hughes putting the breaks on and running centre field

Re: Assistant Coaches : Thu Apr 22, 2021 8:16 am  

Fantastic Mr Catpiss wrote:

You know it wouldn't surprise me(and I'm not saying I have inside knowledge so don't be spreading rumours) if Briers bloody detested austin and his obviously limited game, and what that right hand side has become.

Not even just the kicks, swann and Westwood, and gleeson and bridge and hicks fa'afili and monaghan all running off him, space being created cos the defences were shitting themselves for whoever might get the ball, and we only needed half a gap to exploit

Its a far cry, from Austins slow dummy, or Hughes putting the breaks on and running centre field

The right side is a shambles. I’ve said on other threads about the vulnerability that having such a passive back rower brings to a team. And the centre, be it Mamo or Wrench so far or even Gelling last year, is there to plug a gap in the defensive line. They offer nothing in terms of a threat.

For as average as Austin has been, there needs to be some work on that side if we’re ever going to make genuine attempt at the GF. Inglis, if even half the player he used to be, will make a huge difference, but that back rower needs to act like a bulldozer in attack and really make defenders stop and take notice to create some room for the outside men.

I’d consider letting Robson have a go, or Longstaff. Both young, but not necessarily raw. They’re talented players. And all you need them to do is run that lead line at 100 miles an hour and defend for all you're worth. Hughes, good pro and all, but is a poor mans Ben Harrison. Lots of effort, good defender, but on an edge he’s just in the way.

Re: Assistant Coaches : Thu Apr 22, 2021 8:35 am  

Barbed Wire wrote:

The right side is a shambles. I’ve said on other threads about the vulnerability that having such a passive back rower brings to a team. And the centre, be it Mamo or Wrench so far or even Gelling last year, is there to plug a gap in the defensive line. They offer nothing in terms of a threat.

For as average as Austin has been, there needs to be some work on that side if we’re ever going to make genuine attempt at the GF. Inglis, if even half the player he used to be, will make a huge difference, but that back rower needs to act like a bulldozer in attack and really make defenders stop and take notice to create some room for the outside men.

I’d consider letting Robson have a go, or Longstaff. Both young, but not necessarily raw. They’re talented players. And all you need them to do is run that lead line at 100 miles an hour and defend for all you're worth. Hughes, good pro and all, but is a poor mans Ben Harrison. Lots of effort, good defender, but on an edge he’s just in the way.

Hughes is bang average. His defence last week for both Hull tries was a shambles. There’s a reason why Wigan didn’t think he was good enough and now he’s our captain!

Re: Assistant Coaches : Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:51 am  

This thread has gone down the same road as my way of thinking as I walked the lad to school this morning. Our back row just doesn't run the angles or give our halfbacks the options that Briers enjoyed in his career, particularly down the right hand side. Briers played with Westwood, Swann, Waterhouse, even Steve McCurrie... guys who could hit a ball at pace on an angle and score, or create a decoy to make space for the outside backs. Currie is a fine player with good hands, but is more dangerous from 40+ metres out than he is close to the defensive line. What we need is a player of the type described above on the right, which would improve everyone's game. Hughes has (or had) the physique to do that, but just hasn't for some reason.

None of that is a complete pass for Austin btw: he should do far more and is senior enough to be making the guys around him make the runs and create the space to score tries.