Quote: ploinerrhino "Unfortunately most of the threads come back to R.S because most people see him as the main problem, although certainly not the only one .
i have already made my explanation on Bentley so i will not go over that again .
It is not the league position most are on about , it is the performances and style of play that concerns us .
We need in my opinion (quality) a Full back , a centre , a winger , a scrum half , a prop and a strong running tall 2nd rower to get up to the likes of Wigan , Saints and Hull K.R . That's more than than your two additions and a 37 year old , who would I release ? Miller , Fuz , mom , Frawley , our two French imports and Donaldson . Now before you say it I know it is not that easy as most are on contract but maybe our president could have sorted it out instead of bank rolling Hull.
Oh and we need to retain Handley and Martin .'"
I think if we were top of the league, our style of play wouldn't be up for debate so much. I'm still saying that whatever style of play we want to execute, we can't do it off the back of such a high error count. Style of play is also heavily informed by the players you have: example Croft. He's been worth 1-2 tries every game with assists/kicks through at the line etc.
Ironically this is one of my criticisms of Smith, I'm not convinced he is playing a style which suits the players we actually have, it's like he's trying to force them into what he sees. The problem is that lightweight backs make your yardage carries garbage and puts the whole side under pressure. Or lightweight forwards... I get he is trying to distribute the energy drain more evenly across the side but it doesn't work when we're getting hammered early in sets and then pushed into miracle rugby.
As for replacing six players, that's a bold call. I get where you're coming from but is that practical? You'd sign 6 really high quality players from where? And on usually minimum 2-3 year contracts, what about the risk of losing some of our better juniors whose paths are now blocked? Donaldson is done, Fus is most likely joining him, Martin will weigh up his options. Frawley, we'll see. I'd be amazed if Miller or Mom leaves early. I think a Hall +2 scenario is more likely.
This is probably where we differ at heart: I'm an evolutionary kindof guy, you're more a revolutionist.