Willzay wrote:
I remember when Chester first came in he said the first thing to do was to get the team “smiling” when they came into work. Wonder how many players are now “smiling” when they rock up for training.
I remember when Chester first started too!
He inherited a team that was extremely fit and one which contained some quality players who had a point to prove. Tupou, Ashurst, Kirmond, BJB, Finn, England, Arona amongst others. He also got Johnstone and Jowitt, two young player of the year candidates and eventual winners.
On the negative side which quickly became a positive, the team was demoralised after Smiths 6:00am training regime and strict disciplinarian approach. Chester’s introduction brought some desperately desired relief to the tense atmosphere and the players began to enjoy their Rugby again.
The benefit during that crossover period was the combination of happy players who were fit and had a point to prove. Good times followed but the signs were soon there that elements of our performances were beginning to slip backwards, most notably fitness and defensive organisation.
A combination of things helped us to ignore the slide, a number of clubs, Wigan, Leeds, Catalan, Warrington, Sts & Huddersfield, who’d resided at the top of the league were underperforming or rebuilding and their fall into the bottom half of the table left us an opportunity to finish higher than expected.
John Kears addition to the coaching staff brought about a better defensive structure but his departure after 1 season soon saw his effect on the wane.
We had some amazing highlights that made the good times seem even better, 62-0 v Wigan, Tom Johnstone’s rise, Bill Tupou and Matty Ashursts form and the inclusion of all three into the Dream Team. The arrival of Fifita with his smiling, fan engaging performances made us all think we were building a team that might stay in the lofty position of 5th or maybe even a Challenge Cup Final.
The rot however was there from early on, we never fixed the defensive issues, we didn’t replace key members of the team, poor bargain basement signings, falling fitness levels and an unimaginative attacking game left us susceptible to any form of adversity.
Now with 5 wins from 33 games we are cruelly but predictably exposed and our coaching team doesn’t have the knowledge to turn this ship around. This season we are sailing in a flat calm but there are warnings of bergs ahead. One in particular has relegation written on it but our Captain seems intent on stoking up the final boiler in the blind hope that we won’t hit it!
Let’s hope it doesn’t sink us!
