The Club, IL/KR and Adrian Lam

[acwrlfc]

I ve not posted for a while but jeez with all that happening i feel i have to have my say.

The Club itself appears to be in a precious position, with what appears nominal recruitment, with significant departures both last year and from what we hear potentially this year as well. The notion that this batch of young players can take us, where we as supporters would lie to be, is a distant dream.

I accept the pandemic will have an effect but why effect us more than our rivals Saints, Wire Leeds etc when they all pay the same salaries? We as a club appear to have more main sponsor than most. I accept the Robin Park move and the rebranding would have been costly so it begs the question is this the issue and the timing is unfortunate.

I would love to hear from the Chairman in some form but respect his position however he is the leader of the Club and we need to know what direction we are heading in.

As for Radlinski he has left us with a young unbalanced squad lacking leadership and direction. A legend of the club, a good media guy and capable of interviewing our players for one the sponsors but a director of rugby and recruitment at a world famous club, no thanks. Lazy resignings and not addressing the flaws it was so evident in the front row department. For me he is very fortunate to be in the position however him being in the role is having a negative effect on the club.

Adrian Lam was always in a difficult position taking the role on after the Shaun Edwards saga however did he help himself. We do look a poorly coached side with no season on season improvement. People will say we got to the GF but that was based on Defence, heart. moments of individual brilliance and desire, not tactics or coaching.

The job is way to big for him, but on IL/KR can explain why he got the role. His inexperience was identified with the French injury recently when he should have took him off as soon as he felt his hamstring but he left him on because he felt he needed keep him on to get the win. Compare that to Wolfe last week who said he took players off early as the they felt their hamstrings as a precaution, small detail but so important.

Probably the worst thing to happen was winning those first seven games as it papers overs the cracks. Winning is a good habit and i ll take the start we ve had however most on here will concur we have been average at best.

This is really massive couple of months for the Club both on and off the field, i just hope the people in charge make the correct decisions. Worringly for me the purse strings appear to being tightened but as we know this has a knock effect when trying to attract people through the gates and part with their hard earned money no matter how much they have missed it.

[cherry toffee]

And that's the crux of the matter ,are we releasing players for a big clear out for rebuilding a new team or, is it a financial necessity. The trouble is we're all in the dark and can only speculate on forums as we are to!d very little from the top.

[Mike]

Right now we don't have an unbalanced squad. And we don't yet know what next year's squad will be. I'm prepared to wait and see what things look like towards the end of the season.

[acwrlfc]

For me the squad is unbalanced only one genuine centre, who never seems to play recent times . We have a backline full of utility players not specialised. Hardacker a centre last year moved to the wing recently??? Hence we are filling in with forwards in the centres. i understand its difficult to run with three wingers but with Marshy being injured we should have looked at another specialised winger.

Watching Davies up against Hanley on Sat really concerned me and the way we are moving forward

The GB situation was so frustrating for all involved however with him leaving on top of fkower and SOL our
remaining middles look weak compared tour rivals/ i read an article last weak regarding moving Bateman more in field, so did we sign him as a 2nd Row or a middle. Same can be said of Smithies.

More specialised and less utility, That will undoubtedly cost more!!!!! and possibly there lies the issue

I really hope for good recruits in the bear future as i think we all need a boost

[Caboosegg]

Recruitment hasn't finished and nothing has even been confirmed yet, we are nowhere near panic stations, if we are still left with no idea of the squad next year in August, then maybe post like this have some weight.

The centre comment amuses me.

Gildart/Bibby are both centres
Hardaker has played centre alot

Then amount of injuries have meant our to main centres and back up haven't had much chance to play centre this year.

[Charriots Offiah]

Recruitment hasn't finished and nothing has even been confirmed yet, we are nowhere near panic stations, if we are still left with no idea of the squad next year in August, then maybe post like this have some weight.

The centre comment amuses me.

Gildart/Bibby are both centres
Hardaker has played centre alot

Then amount of injuries have meant our to main centres and back up haven't had much chance to play centre this year.

Only one of those is a good centre though!

[Caboosegg]

Recruitment hasn't finished and nothing has even been confirmed yet, we are nowhere near panic stations, if we are still left with no idea of the squad next year in August, then maybe post like this have some weight.

The centre comment amuses me.

Gildart/Bibby are both centres
Hardaker has played centre alot

Then amount of injuries have meant our to main centres and back up haven't had much chance to play centre this year.

Only one of those is a good centre though!

Hardaker is very good at centre and we have mainly seen Bibby on the wing due to injuries so I reserve my judgement.

[Mike]

We're only unbalanced at the moment because of unbalanced injuries, nothing fundamental in the squad IMO.

[fozzieskem]

We're only unbalanced at the moment because of unbalanced injuries, nothing fundamental in the squad IMO.

I’d agree to a point but Wigan are desperate need of some heft in the prop department a Liam Watts type of player would fit the bill

[acwrlfc]

Recruitment is crucial to all this and as i said previously we need specialists not utility players.

If we lose players we must recruit with like for like so its seamless.

Look at our nearest and dearest Saints recent departures and arrivals

Out Thompson in Graham, Out Graham in Passi

Out Peyouroux and Taai (sp) In Thompson and Mattautia

So minimal disruption, we lost quite a few middles and replaced with JB and Field?

On another note our player turnover/retention is also a growing concern, stability is key but year on year we seem to lose too many players for whatever reason