Quote: Halifax1987 "First things first, sheffield can only beat what was put in front of them, and they battered us. Good luck to them for rest of season.
With respect to Halifax, irrelevant of the ledgend he was as a player, I am not convinced of KH as a coach of [ientertaining[/i rugby league. (yes I know he is up for coach of the year... ) IMO, On this years performance, he isn't even one of the best 3 coaches in this league
I want to convince myself I am in the wrong, but I really cant see where he has dramtically improved us. He can blame injuries as much as he likes, but all teams get injuries; it doesn't help when he signs players with past injury issues like morrison.
It wasn't a secret he was coming, he has built his own team, and basically in a number of cases relied on the "well he did alright for me before, so I will take him to Halifax"; most of the signings he brought in from Batley haven't cut it.
This isn't a gut reaction, I have 3.5 hours travel time on game days, gives me ample time to reflect on what I have seen; we have been very lucky in many games; we played well in the final for a full 80; cant remember many other games when we did that.
What worries me is that unless we have some major new blood, what will change? many of the players who haven't done it consistently are already signed up for next year. Just because your "a name" at this level, you cant rest on your laurels, I think some of our players have.
Get someone in who can change a game... like a penky, a black, a beswick, a holroyd etc etc ... we seem to have lost quality and replaced with average.
I am sure people will fire off at me, but I am entitled to my opinion, even if its not the same as everyone elses...'"
I agree with a lot of what you say, especially concerning our inability to play for 80mins this year and our product on the field which at times I have found boring to watch. I am not 100 convinced about KH myself yet HOWEVER I do think he should not be judged on just this year. With a squad of equal capability we were very poor last year under Calland, so improvements have been made.
There have been a number of changes in playing staff, coaching techniques etc and KH is much more of a disciplinarian too. The first year is always difficult during transition and this needs taking into account. This off season is probably KH's most important as he has some pretty big shoes to fill in terms of Penky and Leigh potentially have stolen a march on us with their squad looking good for next year already.
John Kear is up there as one of the best coaches in the game and he hasn't improved Batley this year really in terms of position etc.
Fev are the bench mark to achieve and unless we step up next year we run the risk of getting left behind unless we challenge in terms of consistency on the field week in week out. Leigh have quickly improved and the others in the chasing pack are in and around where we are.
