I think the problems started long before we ended up in the shield competition. Although Richard is a good coach technically he lacks leadership and man management skills. All the tinkering at the beginning of the season, favouring certain players ( the undroppables), leaving out some of our strongest players with no good reason and failing to keep those not playing engaged has led to a very demotivated and unhappy set of players this season and I have had that from a couple of sources. A number of players are leaving for other clubs at the end of the season and we will have a fresh squad next year, but my worry is that unless Richard starts to learn to motivate and engage his team and listen to the rest of the coaching staff we will end up with the same result next year.

other forums taking about players signing for next season as they are same as us. no interest in shield. win one game and we are in final. so hard to get everyone interested. fax have signings for next season but not telling so as to try get this year finished first.

The win for Dewsbury almost guarantees them safety from relegation and puts them in a very good spot for the playoffs. I'm sure that Workington and Whitehaven aren't taking any games lightly, and Oldham and Swinton will know that a losing run through to the end of the season could drag them into the relegation fight.

It's us and Bradford that really have little to play for at the moment. When it comes to the playoffs it's likely that we'll be playing Sheffield or Dewsbury at home in the semi.

It's still a comp to be won, with a bit of funding attached to it, but unless RM can somehow get the players up for it again then I can't see us making the final.

I'm sure some people have blinkers on. Granted its Richards job to get the team up for games but as many are saying - it's a Mickey Mouse competition that no one wants to be in, some players already know they are leaving which won't help motivation and we're only two wins away from the semi-finals with arguably the weaker teams left to play.

Does having one bad season make you a bad coach? No.
Does having one good season make you a good coach? No.

Richard needs time. He worked under Tony Smith at Warrington and was very successful. If he wasn't he would have been given the boot.

He's in his second season in charge of his own team/club. You are simply foolish to think he won't make mistakes. Give him time and let him work things out. If we are in the same position this time next year, yes a discussion whether or not he's the right man may be warranted.

We hired a young, ambitious coach with the desire to succeed. What runs parallel with this is mistakes and learning curves.

From my point of view some of the players who had very good seasons last year haven't performed at the same level e.g. Calahane looks half the player he did last year, Murrell looks to have lost that bit of pace which has had a huge impact on his effectiveness. Also such as Manning has missed around 6 weeks with an injury, missing a major signing for the majority of the season like Grix hasn't helped, Tyrer now injured, Sarsfield leaving us in the lurch and Ben Kaye being missing for a number of weeks. Lastly I don't think we ever replaced Divorty really who was a solid player for us who left us early on in the year.

All these are excuses but you cannot deny these aren't contributing factors. Lets get behind the lads and Marshall until the end of the season and if it doesn't work out, we'll moan for a few weeks, then forget about it and get excited for next season !

I was happy enough on the announcement mainly because if it wasn't RM it would have meant starting all over again with someone else likely chosen from the same applicants after KH moved on minus a couple of the higher profile coaches who are now fixed up. I remember the board saying that RM came across head and shoulders above the rest so they must still think they have the right man from who's available. Only time will tell and hindsight is always after the event.