As someone who is close to the club, I can tell you that it is very disappointing for us in the office to come in the day after a loss, and, remain positive and try to "Sell Halifax RLFC." It's even more disappointing to read some of the posts on this web site. Knocking the players helps nobody.
Rumours about why we are losing, for example Martin Hall hasn't left the club, he's actually taking advantage of school holidays to go on holiday with his family in Mexico.
The players are very upset, just like the rest of us, and, yes I get very upset.
It's a difficult time, but to read some of the things posted doesn't help.
Infering that this is the worst season ever is just stupid. I think this is one of the best seasons I've attended.
Lose by a single point to a Super League Castleford,and, being applauded by the Cas fans has got to be good.

If you think after losing four games that sacking the coach and the board is the way to go, we'll never achieve anything.
We should all be doing everything we can to help our players. See you all at Batley.
Malcolm P

Well said. Hopefully the players will realise that the majority are still behind them. Hence the decent amount we took to Sheffield last night and that those on here making the seriously nasty comments are in the minority not the majority.

Well said Malcolm

Agreed Mal, kick those peeps asses!

I understand some of the sentiments in your post Mal, however effort and pride in my opinion have been lacklustre to say the least and for me it isn't about defeat, its how we lose or go about losing. The Whitehaven game was an utter shambles and the last 15 minutes of the game meerly in my opinion papered over the cracks and one of the worst and lazy performances of recent years.

It may only be four games on the bounce we have lost but is still 6 out of the last 8 games. But the manner of our defeat in these games or should I say the manner in which we have rolled over is my biggest issue. I have witnessed first hand players apparent disregard for their fans. I agree in the heat of the moment we all say and do rash things, we can all be guilty of that. The club makes great strides forward but failsm to deliver when it matters (so far). The fans are crying out for success, Hull KR fans had been in the doldrums for 12 years and more but when the club got on a more professional footing, by god did they deliver with aplumb. We sort of lit the fuse paper and have fizzled out as we are now.

Our coach though has failed in 99% of the games this year to get his side to play basic, error free and disciplined rugby league. He has failed to get the team to perform back to back performances. His squad selection at times leaves me baffled. However he has delivered a brand of exciting rugby. Would I swap this for professional performances when it matters . . . . . . . Hell Yes. We should have been at the NRC final, we should be clear at the top of the league, we should be looking foward to a Grand Final appearance based on our league form. Yes it is a competitive league I agree but are we really that poor to lose to some of the teams in the manner we have?

I can turn around and say the players are gutted, the players are upset etc, etc. The couple I spoke to after Whitehaven didn't appear too gutted and to be honest seemed put out at the fact that fans were speaking to them when they clearly only came to watch the Hudds V Saints semi on the screen in the South Stand Lounge. That to me is totally unacceptable.

I personally feel on reflection having thought about the last few weeks that Calland has come unstuck and due to him learning his trade has perhaps taken it the team as far as he can. Now I'm not saying that he has got to be sacked but I do think he needs an "old head" to take some of the reins from him, support him and install some fresh impetus into the training and psychological aspects of the game. You don't shut the door once the horse has bolted and this could be the case for this season unfortunately if we wait for things to repair themselves. We could be at the start of next season, no further forward, no boxes ticked and fans again disillushioned.

We hear rumours and fables of teams "off field" shananigans and I have been told personally by people within the club about some incidents. I always say there is no smoke without fire, especially when we have a coach who has been convicted previously for wrong doings. Does/Did he deserve a 2nd chance? . . . . . . Yes I think everyone does.

However what is happening is compromising performance, relationships or motivation then the club need to do something about it and quickly. I'm not always one for airing your dirty laundry but sometimes a club needs to be bold and say there are issues and we are sorting them. I think the club should release a statement apologising for recent performances and offer somehting in return such as discounted addmission for the last game or a bondng session with the players and coaching staff (end of season BBQ or something). I dont think i've ever felt so alienated from a Halifax team as we are now. The coach very rarely speaks to the fans in any capacity, players seem reluctant to speak in the South Stand Lounge and we sell ourselves as a "community" club, when we can't even talk to one another.

Sorry for the rant and I could go on. This is just the tip of the iceberg for what I would like to discuss or how I feel right now

Well said Mal...doesnt matter whether its today or next year, there will always be negative feedback cos thats the nature of people with sport. A slight down turn and its sack the coach etc. The fortunate situation is that most people try to remain positive. We must all stay focused and hope that the team and all concerned turn the corner ASAP. Im sure that we can still win the Grand final even if its the hard way.

i think Chris the purpose of Mal's post is probably to try and reassure us there is nothing going on that we need to know about behind the scenes, other than we have lost form and people are working on it.

I agree. The only problem is a downward spiral. Lack of confidence means a poor performance and a poor performance means a further dent in confidence.. on and on...

I hope they can snap out of it soon and get back to the players they were before the Widnes semi-final game.

i think the balls in both courts. A lot of people haven't been behind them for 4 weeks now. Shouting abuse in Matt Callands face and at a player in the south stand lounge after the game is disgusting. We all need to pull together, for them to put in decent performances we need to be respectful towards them as well. Otherwise its a chicken and egg scenario.

To be fair the incident in the South Stand I was privvy to also and came about from an off the cuff remark after said player had dropped his burger on the floor. Shall we say a sarcastic remark relating to not being able to hold onto his rugby ball either. What happened afterwards between the two should NEVER have happened but for a player to want to sort things out in the car park is pretty poor. I also understand they are paid to play rugby but they are ALL still club ambassadors. That fan contributes to the players salary. It doesn't gives us the right to abuse them though I agree. Initially it was banter that desended into abuse and in my opinion the player should have just walked away and not added more flame to the fire. All that has occurred now is player walks away thinking to$$er fans and the supporter thinks the same about the club. This for me is where we need to be a little slicker and get communication movign between the club, players and fans.

But How?

well said mal!

its a confidence game and we need that all important win, who knows we could win by a point a batley last min, same as last yr. and go unbeaten again through to end of season, who knows?!

isnt that why we all go down every wk?, to see!
we would all love fax to win every wk a clean sweep all the trophies, but that would be borring, get behind the lads and lets finish strongly, its an anybody can beat anybody league at mo, and we just need that 1 win!

nice to see goddard back on scoresheet last nite aswell

see you at batley, im not giving up just yet!!!!!

Well thats the difficult part but silly behavior needs to be stamped out. From my perspective perhaps players and fans should avoid the bar after the game if wound up. i did hear it started as a joke although it sounds as though it hit a nerve, but such things shouldn't escalate by either fans or players.

As for how to improve communication? I suppose we need to get back on track, we support the players and get behind them for 80 minutes, and they in return play for 80 minutes. We all have a common goal to achieve so lets achieve it together!

People are entitled their own opinion, and Mal has his, thats fine by me, hes a good bloke that has the best interests at heart and sounds to be personally stung.

We all want the Club to succeed, its worth noting that players, coaches, officials and others come and go, the FANS stay, so i think if we see things we dont think are right, we have a voice and forum for that. I cant tell you how much i've spent over the years, like most fans.

We want to see the club moving forward, a team that gives its all, players that are proud of the shirt they wear, anyone thats been watching recently knows if they all showed the effort and desire of James Haley, we would be fine.

The people that run the club choose to be there, they are rewarded on the whole with wages they find satisfactory, or else they would leave. If I am not peforming at work my boss halls me over the carpet, i could lose my job, it generally doesn't matter that i was great 6 months ago, A Rugby Club is successfull by its results on the pitch, its success, its position in the league, the silveware it wins, but mostly it succeeds because it has fans who pay money to watch them.

We should under no circumstances shy away from honesty, opinions, praise or critcism. Without Fans from all walks and of all opinions there is no club to run.

Thank you for reading, and come on the Fax, whoever they may be.