Murphy it the nail on the head every time he said boring

Having read Paul Vautin's memories of Alex Murphy as a coach I'm not sure I'd be that interested on his views on Cunningham (I know Vautin was poor in the CC Final but I suspect his views of Murphy are probably close to the mark).

I,ve spoken to Alex Murphy on 2 occasions, the latter occasion was at the Lincoln RL World Cup Series at Bolton, he said to me quote " Sean Long will never make it as a good scrum half". Murphy is probably the exact opposite of KC, very verbal and threatening and would probably be OK if the opposition scores 50 points as long as we score 51 points. But that didn,t work in our 27-0 thrashing at Wembley. I,m glad Murphy has given his opinion though on the current situation.

There's a slight irony in Murphy being critical isn't there despite my agreeing with his view? He, along with KC, is another shining example of 'great player makes poor coach'.

Was Alex record as a coach that bad he left Leigh in 1973 to become player-coach at Warrington. Starting with a 20-match unbeaten run in the league helpinb Warrington win the League Leader's Trophy. The 1973–74 season was the most successful at Warrington, with the club winning the Challenge Cup, Captain Morgan trophy, John Player trophy and Club Merit trophy. The highlight was when Murphy captained them to a 24-9 win in the Challenge Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers at Wembley, Warrington returned to Wembley in 1975 but Murphy missed the match through injury and Widnes won the Challenge Cup. Murphy retired as a player shortly after but remained on as coach of the club until 1978

Murp built upon the experience he had acquired as a player-coach by taking up the reins as a full-time coach. He was co-coach of England with Bill Oxley during the 1975 World Series.

After Warrington, Akex was appointed to high-profile roles at Salford (May 1978 to November 1980), before taking the role of coach of Wigan in 1982. There, he led them to victory in the John Player Trophy in 1983, and took them to the Challenge Cup Final in 1984, where they lost to Widnes,

When Alex took over Saints in 1986, he took them to Wembley in 1987, against Halifax, and again in 1989 where they played Wigan.

Many ex players would settle for that type of record.

Quote jaybs="jaybs"Was Alex record as a coach that bad he left Leigh in 1973 to become player-coach at Warrington. Starting with a 20-match unbeaten run in the league helpinb Warrington win the League Leader's Trophy. The 1973–74 season was the most successful at Warrington, with the club winning the Challenge Cup, Captain Morgan trophy, John Player trophy and Club Merit trophy. The highlight was when Murphy captained them to a 24-9 win in the Challenge Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers at Wembley, Warrington returned to Wembley in 1975 but Murphy missed the match through injury and Widnes won the Challenge Cup. Murphy retired as a player shortly after but remained on as coach of the club until 1978 Murp built upon the experience he had acquired as a player-coach by taking up the reins as a full-time coach. He was co-coach of England with Bill Oxley during the 1975 World Series. After Warrington, Akex was appointed to high-profile roles at Salford (May 1978 to November 1980), before taking the role of coach of Wigan in 1982. There, he led them to victory in the John Player Trophy in 1983, and took them to the Challenge Cup Final in 1984, where they lost to Widnes, When Alex took over Saints in 1986, he took them to Wembley in 1987, against Halifax, and again in 1989 where they played Wigan. Many ex players would settle for that type of record.'" I love this on YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxpwZX5X6kI I started watching Saints a couple of years after Alex took over. I was just a little kid but I still remember the rugby being entertaining and full of character. I also remember that if we played poorly in the first half they'd come out in the 2nd half like a house on fire. Just because Graham Taylor's reign as England manager wasn't fruitful, does that mean we should disregard his opinions on the current crop of England players? As quoted above, Alex has got a decent record anyway. I'm glad he's spoken out. He's a voice for the fans. I doubt KC has a look at what's been said on here.

Quote jaybs="jaybs"Was Alex record as a coach that bad he left Leigh in 1973 to become player-coach at Warrington. Starting with a 20-match unbeaten run in the league helpinb Warrington win the League Leader's Trophy. The 1973–74 season was the most successful at Warrington, with the club winning the Challenge Cup, Captain Morgan trophy, John Player trophy and Club Merit trophy. The highlight was when Murphy captained them to a 24-9 win in the Challenge Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers at Wembley, Warrington returned to Wembley in 1975 but Murphy missed the match through injury and Widnes won the Challenge Cup. Murphy retired as a player shortly after but remained on as coach of the club until 1978 Murp built upon the experience he had acquired as a player-coach by taking up the reins as a full-time coach. He was co-coach of England with Bill Oxley during the 1975 World Series. After Warrington, Akex was appointed to high-profile roles at Salford (May 1978 to November 1980), before taking the role of coach of Wigan in 1982. There, he led them to victory in the John Player Trophy in 1983, and took them to the Challenge Cup Final in 1984, where they lost to Widnes, When Alex took over Saints in 1986, he took them to Wembley in 1987, against Halifax, and again in 1989 where they played Wigan. Many ex players would settle for that type of record.'" I love this on YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxpwZX5X6kI I started watching Saints a couple of years after Alex took over. I was just a little kid but I still remember the rugby being entertaining and full of character. I also remember that if we played poorly in the first half they'd come out in the 2nd half like a house on fire. Just because Graham Taylor's reign as England manager wasn't fruitful, does that mean we should disregard his opinions on the current crop of England players? As quoted above, Alex has got a decent record anyway. I'm glad he's spoken out. He's a voice for the fans. I doubt KC has a look at what's been said on here.

I don't have an issue with past players or coaches criticising, but it is especially important to remember that RL is quite simply a different sport to what it was even 20 years ago. When I started watching in 81 most coaches were of the "shout when we're losing ilk". I'm not sure any British coaches back then had a clue about fitness or how to coach skills or tactics. Mind you, the "physio" at Leeds then literally was an old bloke with a bucket of water, a sponge and for severe cases smelling salts.

Very true, Alex would,t have a clue about conditioning, player structures, game plans etc. All we can do is value his opinion and observations, KC does need some form of consultation though so he doesn't get bogged down in the best way forward.

Alex Murphy, the Kyle Eastmond of his time!

Whilst RL in Murphy's day was undoubtedly a different game - it's completely silly to think one of the finest scrum-halves and tacticians the sport has ever produced can't critically evaluate today's game.

But whilst Murphy is critical of Saints. It should be pointed out that he's equally scathing about the competition.

The truth of the matter is that Rugby League goes through phases when playing the percentages assumes greater importance than taking risks. A classic example would be the Australian game during the eighties when wingers were relegated to little more than an accessory.

I view the current situation as a failing of the game rather than any particular coach. All the new coaches in the world couldn't have addressed the lack of entertainment we saw in the eighties. Which is why the game itself was forced to intervene and switch to ten meters.

But given the far stronger position of the NRL these days (which for some reason remains pretty entertaining) I really can't see something as drastic taking place.

it's a little early to be saying Cunningham is a poor coach, it's his first year, he's an inexperienced coach. If he learns from his mistakes he'll be a good coach, if he doesn't then he'll be a poor one.

Powell was arguably worse than Cunningham at Leeds in the same position, now with more experience he's regarded like a second coming.