Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 10:34 am  

Slugger McBatt wrote:

I just don't get it. Some results haven't been great, and the occasional performance has been poor, but we have very limited resources and are sitting comfortably in seventh. The six teams above us are all teams we would expect to be above us, with greater resources and much better players. Of that bottom six of the top flight, where we are all similar in terms of expectation, we are the best. We are where we could have realistically have hoped to be.

Bang on the money Slugger.

Trinity are still doing exceptionally well for a club with their resources.
If SL standings were based on spend, we would be 12th every season and to have finished 5th last time (and only seconds away from 4th) has caused some fans to "expect" similar or better this time around.
There are concerns with some of our attacking plays and generally, we're not worrying our opponents enough but, the reality is that we are still punching well above our weight and with all the big clubs in decent form, we will be doing well to finish 6th / 7th and anything above would be a huge bonus.
We're all still hacked of about going out of the cup with a whimper but, when you look back over the past 6/7 seasons, this is just about as good as it gets and with Cas on the slide, there is always a chance that we could sneak up the table.

Come on Trin !

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 10:45 am  

bren2k wrote:

Some of that I can get on board with - and I guess Kear, for all his sometimes unattractive brand of basic RL, did know how to coach defence.

Personally, I think the factor that some people are failing to account for is the one that Chester can't control - the improvements made by other teams on last seasons form; or indeed their failure to perform to expectations - such as Saints; 2 points that absolutely no one would predict we would achieve.

As for change for changes sake - I don't profess to know the inner workings of the squad, so I can't say why the changes have happened; but I prefer the explanation that if the head coach, who's continued employment is dependent on results, makes a change, there'll be a reason for it - injury, game time, form, off-field issues, whatever - the least likely reason, in my mind, is that he does it just for lols.

So whilst I don't disagree that we could defend better in some situations - and our attack is sometimes a bit shaky - I think that on balance, we're doing about as well as could be expected; the early season run (against teams we could reasonably expect to beat) has just raised expectations.

And your last paragraph within reason is what I alluded to in a couple of my posts.

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 11:08 am  

There is just something different to me, If anything I think our defense has got better (Especially our goal line D) but our attack seems lacking from last season which is strange because apparently Chester looked after the offensive side of our game and Kear looked after the defense alongside Gilmour.

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 11:13 am  

JINJER wrote:

And your last paragraph within reason is what I alluded to in a couple of my posts.

You did indeed; that part was more of a general statement than in response to anything you'd said!

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 11:39 am  

homme vaste wrote:

There is just something different to me, If anything I think our defense has got better (Especially our goal line D) but our attack seems lacking from last season which is strange because apparently Chester looked after the offensive side of our game and Kear looked after the defense alongside Gilmour.

Not sure if I think the defence has got better but it is clear that the attack has suffered compared to last season. We look devoid of ideas in the opposition 20 and our last tackle options are shocking. How many grubbers have we seen this season? Not many! Other teams seem to use that to build pressure/force a GLDO, we seem to want to run the ball every time and invariably we end up dying with it and handing it over. A large percentage of the scores in games come from building the pressure until the opposition cracks. We're just not doing that often enough.
The other big thing for me is the amount of times we give the ball to a forward who is standing still, instead of on the burst. If Pauli Pauli took the ball while running at pace near the line would you expect him to be stopped????

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 11:51 am  

Fordy wrote:

The other big thing for me is the amount of times we give the ball to a forward who is standing still, instead of on the burst. If Pauli Pauli took the ball while running at pace near the line would you expect him to be stopped????

That's a thing I've definitely noticed - we don't seem especially good at getting bodies in motion; multiple threats in multiple positions, making defenders have to work hard to cover. We rely a lot on Big Dave, who can create lots of momentum from a standing start, but many of our attacking plays are slow and predictable - with poor old Ashurst, who can be relied on to run a good line, receiving a hospital pass and getting smashed.

I guess they are finesse skills - but if you watched Cas last season and Saints this, at their best it looks like a well choreographed ballet (with tattoos and beards) as they set up an attacking play, with players making themselves useful right across the line; notwithstanding the increasingly pedantic interpretation of the obstruction rule, which often ruins it.

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 11:53 am  

I was worried when Kear left it would show in our defending but my biggest worry has been our lack of creativity, especially in the final 20, on 5th tackles and an apparent lack of balls passed to the wing (particularly the left).

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 12:46 pm  

Who made the call on the signings this season.None look any better than what we already had. If Kear had some imput you can not blame Chester. I think game management is a big problem at present eg Again's Huddersfield last 20 mins of game you could see Finn was having shocker . Gamehad just about gone , why did he not move rocky to scrum half what was ther to lose

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 12:55 pm  

alegend wrote:

Who made the call on the signings this season.None look any better than what we already had. If Kear had some imput you can not blame Chester.

Horo has been a disappointment but Paulie is showing signs of improvement.

alegend wrote:

I think game management is a big problem at present eg Again's Huddersfield last 20 mins of game you could see Finn was having shocker . Gamehad just about gone , why did he not move rocky to scrum half what was ther to lose

Regarding the Shudds game: Why didn't Tupou give the ball to Hampshire with about 15 to go? Only 4 behind, we may well have nicked it regardless of Finns performance.

Re: Chester out : Thu May 17, 2018 2:12 pm  

Our pack may be big but we lack that grunt and aggression . Most S L clubs packs have at least one member who can go over near rhe line we seem to get held up over the line. I always like a no nonsense pack member we just don't have one.