Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:25 am  

Chester should have gone last season before he ever put us in the position of nearly being relegated. As others have said, this season is a write off with no relegation, so why not use the opportunity to get rid of the deadwood (players and coaches) and start afresh giving the opportunity to young players in a safer (in league position terms) place for the rest of the season.

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:33 am  

Egg Banjo wrote:

Chester should have gone last season before he ever put us in the position of nearly being relegated. As others have said, this season is a write off with no relegation, so why not use the opportunity to get rid of the deadwood (players and coaches) and start afresh giving the opportunity to young players in a safer (in league position terms) place for the rest of the season.

Putting the youngsters in always sounds good in theory but, they need to be drip fed into a side that is playing well.
Just throwing them in, hoping for improvement, wont help the side and more importantly, wont help the kids.

Our forwards were bullied out of the game yesterday.
Do you think throwing 19/20 year old's into that kind of game will help anyone?

Hopefully there will be some opportunities for Chester to have a look at all of the squad and some of the young up and coming players as the season progresses.

There are sure to be some changes for next week just to cover injuries but, if the 17 players go with the same attitude as yesterday, it will be the same result (or worse).

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:45 am  

wrencat1873 wrote:

Putting the youngsters in always sounds good in theory but, they need to be drip fed into a side that is playing well.
Just throwing them in, hoping for improvement, wont help the side and more importantly, wont help the kids.

Our forwards were bullied out of the game yesterday.
Do you think throwing 19/20 year old's into that kind of game will help anyone?

Hopefully there will be some opportunities for Chester to have a look at all of the squad and some of the young up and coming players as the season progresses.

There are sure to be some changes for next week just to cover injuries but, if the 17 players go with the same attitude as yesterday, it will be the same result (or worse).

100% with the youngsters bit, we will be sure to mass more injuries than what we have now. I just hope we get a good dressing down, good weeks training and not least a good look at ourselves, man up and go again next weekend on a fresh piece of paper.

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 12:21 pm  

FWIW CC is probably coming to the end of his time at the club. Poor lads had no luck at all in the last 18 month but all the same unless you are an exceptional coach or a coach at a club with exceptional resources then 4-5 years is pretty much the limit.

We simply don’t have enough players capable of self motivation, quite a few are borderline SL standard. CC has probably got us much out of them as he could. It’s a simple economic truth that 2 years ago we were on the brink of being good. At that point we needed to replace Finn and a few others with some real quality. We simply couldn’t because we don’t have the cash and more importantly we don’t have the draw.

We’ve gone state it’s that simple. We have more quality than I’ve seen but we don’t have any leaders on the field.

I saw this with Toppo and Kear and it would of happened to Kelly. We simply can’t make the leap and haven’t been able too since the sixties. As an aside we are an unlucky club and have been since 68, gypsies curse they say but whatever the reason it’s painful reading.

CC will probably not see out the season. Sad because I think there is an excellent coach in there. I know some folk will shout about Watson at Salford but his time will come. Coaches who have lasted longer than 5 years at any club are rare, it’s just how it is, even in the sainted NRL.

This is all based on previous experience and I would love to be proved wrong I really would. The team currently needs a rocket up it bum and generally it’s very difficult for the incumbent coach to find let alone light the fuse.

Again hope I’m eating my words in a few weeks, it would certainly brighten up an otherwise dreadful year.

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 12:22 pm  

vastman wrote:

I can’t take this seriously. I’ve been watching since 1989 and I’ve seen far far worse.

Not making excuses we were dreadful but lets get some context.

We were never going to win that was obvious after 10 minutes we never got off the bus. That said injuries played a massive part after that Keats get real. Players totally out of position by the with fat too many having to play way more minutes than normal.

Move on it was a stinker but next week is another game and I’ve rarely seen a Trinity team not respond to a dire performance.

that Catalan team yesterday were far fitter, faster, stronger, they were hungry and enthusiastic to smash us to bits. We’ve got some decent backs with pace but the way our pack is playing we could have the full Aussie back line and it would be the same.
We built a big pack and we never use what we’ve got, we’ve got to take them on down the middle hard and straight and get on top. We’ve forwards chucking balls out all over the place, it’s so frustrating, we’ve our best prop on the bench get him on the field. We can’t afford to have back rowers just stood out wide against a pack like just passing on like a centre.
Like I say we’ve got big forwards so change the structure and play to them, we we’re crap last week, Wigan had a young inexperienced pack and we should of took them on and bullied them but no change of tactics and we got bullied. Clearly playing the same way over and over and over again isn’t working

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 12:30 pm  

vastman wrote:

FWIW CC is probably coming to the end of his time at the club. Poor lads had no luck at all in the last 18 month but all the same unless you are an exceptional coach or a coach at a club with exceptional resources then 4-5 years is pretty much the limit.

We simply don’t have enough players capable of self motivation, quite a few are borderline SL standard. CC has probably got us much out of them as he could. It’s a simple economic truth that 2 years ago we were on the brink of being good. At that point we needed to replace Finn and a few others with some real quality. We simply couldn’t because we don’t have the cash and more importantly we don’t have the draw.

We’ve gone state it’s that simple. We have more quality than I’ve seen but we don’t have any leaders on the field.

I saw this with Toppo and Kear and it would of happened to Kelly. We simply can’t make the leap and haven’t been able too since the sixties. As an aside we are an unlucky club and have been since 68, gypsies curse they say but whatever the reason it’s painful reading.

CC will probably not see out the season. Sad because I think there is an excellent coach in there. I know some folk will shout about Watson at Salford but his time will come. Coaches who have lasted longer than 5 years at any club are rare, it’s just how it is, even in the sainted NRL.

This is all based on previous experience and I would love to be proved wrong I really would. The team currently needs a rocket up it bum and generally it’s very difficult for the incumbent coach to find let alone light the fuse.

Again hope I’m eating my words in a few weeks, it would certainly brighten up an otherwise dreadful year.

il always thought Chris Chester was a very intelligent player and there might be a good coach in there but he’s unwilling to change tactics and adapt and this will prove his downfall

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:02 pm  

wrencat1873 wrote:

Putting the youngsters in always sounds good in theory but, they need to be drip fed into a side that is playing well.

We haven't had a side which is playing well in a couple of seasons now, just the odd lucky win. There's nothing to lose by removing the lazy senior players and replacing them with someone who might have a spark of desire to win about them.

Under the current coach, there's little to no chance of them seeing any progression, he's more interested in keeping his golfing buddies sweet than developing the squad

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:13 pm  

dpbnov wrote:

My family and I have been supporters of our great club for 38 years. We have also been regular season ticket holders for the same time period as well

I have witnessed some disappointing team performances over the years (and you don’t become and remain a Trinity fan if you expect otherwise), and during that time I have never taken to social media to ventilate my frustration about a game, but I am unable to contain my sheer anger and embarrassment at today’s woeful performance which was quite frankly a disgrace.

Our club has always prided itself on its grit, team spirit and determination but there was none of that on display today. I accept that there were injuries in the game, and that obviously has an effect on the level of performance, but those injuries do not excuse the complete lack of effort and leadership from minute one of the game. The players who took to the pitch today – a virtually full strength side - were highly capable of competing with that Catalans side but they delivered up a performance devoid of effort and any attacking threat and need to take a long hard look at themselves. Whilst many rational fans can overlook a number of issues, a complete lack of effort is not one of them. If many supporters had turned up to work and put the level of effort in that those players did today, the reality is that they would be sacked or at the least be facing some kind of disciplinary process.

It is not just the players who must take responsibility for that performance but also the coaching staff because the team is seemingly incapable of executing basic rugby league skills in both attack and, on the basis of today’s performance, defence. You did not need to listen to the embarrassing Sky commentary of the game to put your finger on the issues with the performance, which have not just appeared overnight but have been gradually developing ever since John Kear’s departure from the club and have often left us, and many supporters we know, feeling more and more disheartened with the direction of the team’s approach to playing the game:


1. There was no structure in attack whatsoever and at times you could throw a blanket over the whole team in the middle of the park. It may be unfair to draw comparisons with other teams but look at Salford, a team very similar to ours in terms of the calibre of playing personnel and budget constraints, who week in week out play free flowing rugby, utilise a deep attacking line, run onto the ball and use dummy runners to confuse the defence. In far too many games our attacking line is too flat, players do not run onto the ball, the passing is laboured/misdirected and there is too much one out rugby which makes it is so easy for defenders to gang tackle and pick off our runners. We desperately need a midfield general who can organise attacking structures because we seem rudderless in attack and have done for some time.

2. The kicking on last tackle of sets is woeful. In both this game, and the Wigan game last week, we did not contest kicks and kick pressure was virtually non-existent. We also seem unable to get any appreciable distance on kick-offs compared with other teams so whilst we end up taking first tackles on our 10m line, the opposition manage to reach the 20m line before being tackled.

3. Leadership from the captain was non-existent and often seems to be. It was plain for everyone to see today that there was no leadership on the field when heads dropped and when stood under the sticks - try after try - there was little, if any, communication from the captain to the other players.

4. The defence, which has been decent and has so often kept us in games over the last couple of seasons, deserted the team today but that is not the issue which concerns so many supporters.

5. The players last week and this week look completely unfit, lethargic and uncommitted to the cause. General fitness and match fitness are different but look at the NRL teams and many other Super League clubs, who right from the restart, are competing at the level they should be.

I am no coach and don’t profess to be one; just someone who cares passionately about my club and is frustrated by regularly attending matches and seeing points 1 – 3 identified above game after game, which have been issues now for a couple of seasons. I don’t know what the answer is but maybe an attacking coach to assist Chris Chester and a half back who can marshal the team around the park. I fear that if we continue to perform like we have for the rest of the season there will be a significant reduction in season ticket numbers, supporters will fall away and attracting new fans will be extremely challenging.

I listened to Chris Chester’s post match Sky press conference and I am all for blooding the younger lads in the squad and giving them a chance to prove themselves for the rest of the season but, let’s not be under any illusions here, that is not the panacea to issues 1-3 above, which many fans perceive as fundamental problems which urgently need addressing if we are to compete and survive at the highest level.

All of my family and I have committed to forgo any refund/rebate on our season tickets and have indicated that we will purchase season tickets for next season but, unless the level of commitment that Trinity deserves from its team and coaching staff is significantly raised over the next few games, I am afraid that regrettably we will no longer be season ticket holders and will no longer be sponsors in the future. For supporters for nearly 40 years this really is not an easy thing to say but it is unfair to expect loyal fans to give up valuable time and spend significant money supporting a team not willing to put in the effort and with seemingly no pride when they put on the red, white and blue.

Couldn't have summed it up any better. We've been poor for a while now and hve won the odd game here and there. But it's the same problems every week.

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:44 pm  

A win rate over the recent history of 20% is not good enough. We survived last season by winning the final game and this season it will be because there is no relegation. It is not just yesterday’s game but the fact that our performances have deteriorated in both defence and attack since Leeds away. We do not appear to have any pre planned moves and despite the warning in the first minute we were unable to adjust our defence to cover the gaps.
The bottom line is that we are just poor and not once did I see Chester make any attempt to pass on instructions during the game.
I know that the majority of the forum will continue to pay and watch however the team play but it is not us the club need to consider but those that do not buy season tickets, join the club draw or adopt a player who need to be entertained preferably by Wakefield not the opposition. In many ways they were lucky yesterday because there were no supporters who I am sure would have made their feelings felt quite loudly.

Re: Time for some honesty. : Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:51 pm  

Going to get shot down .The reason why we are looking so bad this season is that Teams in S L were allowed to dump players who are past it or not good enough ,on to us to free up money for this season Not one but 8 players who would have not got in to our first team last year ,all over seen by the coaching staff .With these signings They have taken us back 5 years .Feel so sorry for the Chairman and Mr Carter they are watching the excellent work they have done been destroyed by a very poor coaching staff .