Quote: mystic eddie "
So far we have been better than some of the sides mentioned, and I know that I will get my usual stick for this but are people seriously suggesting that the likes of Hull KR and the Catalans are anywhere near as good as they were last year? Because they clearly are not.'"
Are you suggesting we're really no better than in 2009 and it's other teams that have deteriorated rather than us improving? If so then you're on very shaky ground IMO.
Quote: mystic eddie " Bullseye also does not really answer the post of mine that he subsequently posted too. I said that we were beating the lesser sides but our record against the stronger ones was dreadful and whilst this continues the thought of finishing fifth is a pipe dream.'"
Beating the lesser sides is an improvment on last year, do you agree?
Our record against the stronger sides is what you'd expect when you compare playing squads on paper. I've said before the season started that a finish of 5th would be very good considering the squad we have so by that reckoning our curent position of 6th isn't bad at all. By your reckoning you must think that we're doing well too all things considered? We can speculate as to what may happen in the coming months but our position so far is a big improvement on last year yes?
Quote: mystic eddie " A lot has been said about our lack of strength in depth which beggars the question why we chose to spend a large proportion of our cap on one player when it was clear that we needed more depth. This money could have been spent better on improving the squad.'"
We went for depth in 2008 and 2009 and signed a lot of average players rather than quality. It didn't work and I argued against it at the time. I don't recall your opinion but you can't argue that the side isn't playing better rugby this season and some of the standout performers have been those players who cost a bit more like Orford and Kearney. Would you rather we spread the money out and kept such stunning performers as Ben Jeffries, and Simon Finnigan. If you want top quality instantly you have to pay for it.
Quote: mystic eddie " Also, what of McNamara's world class youth policy? He has been in the job long enough to have more in the squad than we are seeing. '"
What do you know about player development to make that kind of criticism? As experienced a coach as John Monie said in his biography that even the best academy system there is with access to all the best young talent can only be expected to produce one top player per year. Occasionally you may get a glut of players through but that is the exception. Under McNamara's watch we've seen one world class player come through and a small few are just starting out like Whitehead and Donaldson. Not a bad showing considering we weren't like Wigan under Monie in 2006 and are never likely to be.
