Re: Joey's gone! : Wed Mar 04, 2015 8:58 am  

markrammond wrote:

It is a mystery what has gone on, that is for sure.

The timeline in published sources appears to show that Joey has wanted to leave since the start of the season; that he needs to return to Australia and heavily hints have been dropped in that Grima or a close family member has a serious problem which they do not want to disclose.

Grima has been involved with the club just over a year and although history will show just one league win in about twenty games he has always been an entirely decent guy trying his best to rebuild the club, just has Tony Rea did, really working to repair the damage done from the levels above him.

If you look at a very well run club like Leigh, they have managed to get their recruitment pretty much perfect by cherry-picking players from their best part-time rivals, getting in for the better SL players released in their Geographical catchment area of Lancashire and Yorkshire with a sprinkling of club developed players also in there.

It is also true they have been building up for for 10 seasons in the same league and have incrementally improved.

Where have we been left?

If we looked at Joey's recruitment and retention he has made some good signings with Brad Dwyer, Rhys Williams and Rhys Lovegrove who are all Super League standard plus of course Mathers and Harrison, whilst Naiqama has been quiet so far and Riley has been unfit. Slyney, Jon Wallace and Dollapi are probably the best players retained altough Wicks, Everett, Macani and Walker all look useful squad men.

Our worst position is in the halves where we have unproven youths and of the two senior players one has a long term injury and one didn't play well pre-season. There's no one of our own with a good kicking game.

Most of the remaining players have not shown they are better than mid-to-bottom end Championship standard.

Moving forward, I would hope the new manager introduces more aggression to the side; more battle-hardened players.

I don't mind Andrew Henderson getting a shot, he's got some winnable games coming up too.

Cheers
Mark

Didn't Leigh go bust 4 or 5 years ago, so not sure about the 10 gradual improvement!

Re: Joey's gone! : Wed Mar 04, 2015 9:15 am  

STEVEL wrote:

Perry....I have supported this club for many years..I was (until this year)a season ticket holder, along with my family for 10 years.....I have pumped quite a bit of my hard earned income into its coffers..If Joey has problems then he has my genuine sympathy and I wish him nothing but a bright future..But yes..I am a fair bit vexed off at another let down in a long history of let downs from the club .. If Joey has had reservations about his future in London for the last month or so then D H should have been sounding out others about the role and not kicking us long suffering fans in the nuts again and expecting us to grin and bare it while we fanny about yet again..A lot of us are on the brink of kicking our support into touch and this is another nudge in that direction..

Nearly twenty years for me Steve.
When the coach is having issues off the pitch you're always on a hiding to nothing. The minute you start sounding out other candidates you undermine the incumbent, because in the small world of RL your scouting won't stay secret for very long. So if you're serious about supporting the incumbent you can't really start looking for a replacement before they step down. If you look at other clubs in RL (or indeed other sports) it's very rare when a coach resigns that a replacement is already waiting in the wings.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no DH sycophant, he's made a whole series of shocking decisions over the years that have tested my patience. But the situation he had here has troubled far better man managers than him, and whatever he did would have been wrong.
His next decision regarding a replacement however does have right and wrong answers. Forgive me if I don't hold my breath.

Re: Joey's gone! : Wed Mar 04, 2015 9:18 am  

mish wrote:

Here's BG's tweet from a couple of hours ago:
Bobbie Goulding @Goulding7
I would love the oppurtinity to talk with @LondonBroncosRL about the coaching job. Would love the challenge in getting them back to SL

He'd certainly get some grunt and aggression in the team, but he's had his own issues over the years.

[mish]

Re: Joey's gone! : Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:10 am  

Perry wrote:

He'd certainly get some grunt and aggression in the team, but he's had his own issues over the years.

I don't think he's what you need. In my opinion, he was a great player but a below average coach. He's a bit too unstable for my liking.

Re: Joey's gone! : Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:31 am  

mish wrote:

I don't think he's what you need. In my opinion, he was a great player but a below average coach. He's a bit too unstable for my liking.

I agree.

Re: Joey's gone! : Wed Mar 04, 2015 1:22 pm  

Whatever happens good luck from a Leigh fan, hope all turns out OK for you and good luck for the rest of the season guys.

Re: Joey's gone! : Sat Mar 07, 2015 10:13 pm  

I can't link it as Twitter is blocked at work - Bobbie Goulding had a good rant on there about us once, saying we should never been a Super League club, we have never produced any talent and that we are keeping out an 'honest' Cumbrian team. When I defended us, he replied with 'Support a proper club' and blocked me. I would be livid if he got the job. EDIT: Found it! https://twitter.com/goulding7/status/225496551869517824 @Goulding7 wrote: 18 Jul 2012 Well done to London broncos or whatever they are called for keeping there club Australian. Never been British always Australian keep up work

I can't link it as Twitter is blocked at work - Bobbie Goulding had a good rant on there about us once, saying we should never been a Super League club, we have never produced any talent and that we are keeping out an 'honest' Cumbrian team. When I defended us, he replied with 'Support a proper club' and blocked me. I would be livid if he got the job. EDIT: Found it! https://twitter.com/goulding7/status/225496551869517824 @Goulding7 wrote: 18 Jul 2012 Well done to London broncos or whatever they are called for keeping there club Australian. Never been British always Australian keep up work