They all went out to Nandos for the big opening night - where was the coverage about team bonding etc
When they did the preseason army training, what did they actually do ? Why not go along to training and join in with them Mr Ross and see how hard it is (as per Ian Stafford's Books (Daily Mail Journo) - which are fantastic by the way if anyone hasn't read them !)
They do actually train all week - what have they actually been doing in training ?
What does a crypical week look like for a RL professional ?
What about doing 20 questions with a few of the players - fav restaurant / music etc
I am sure that some of them might actually have interests out of the game - what are they

Its hardly controversial, its not going to get someone's back up, it only needs a bit of thought to actually do something DIFFERENT ....

This. WIth 24 hour wall to wall news things need to be made more & more extreme to grab attention, even though they don't warrant it. Which, to me, results in the ludicrous claims on here about everything being a joke & a disgrace.

So let me get this straight. You're panning the coverage Ross puts in the paper, and suggesting instead of interviewing players about how close they are to comebacks etc, you suggest he runs a story about them all going to Nandos?

Possibly [url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbulls/9560550.Bradford_Bulls__Naked_truth_reveals_Sammut___s_motto_for_life/this[/url is the type of article Staffbull would like to see, and I agree

So, he's damned if Nandoes, and damned if Nandoesn't, then. Sums it up for me.

I thought that when I read this. It's a well-written piece which brings out the personality of both player and writer. A creative way to turn more fairly run-of-the-mill quotes into an engaging story.

Problem is, you can't do pieces like this every day. The Bullpen page on a Thursday is a good home for this kind of piece but the daily news pieces need to be more straight down the line. There is scope for more like this though and features which show thought from outside the box.

I can understand what you're saying about coverage needing to be a bit different, which is why I enjoy opinion pieces, features which delve into the player's personality and features which draw on unexpected/ aspects of the club's day-to-day operations or a player's life.

The problem with a lot of what you suggested is that it's often just infeasible. I very much doubt that Mick Potter would let anyone get involved in a training session or document what goes on in any kind of detail. I seem to remember him kicking off a bit when Sky tried to film part of a session last year.

A feature about the players going to Nandos would be dull and 20 questions-style pieces are programme fodder not credible journalism. Articles looking at aspects of the player's lives outside rugby can be good but only when they appear sparingly and only if the player does anything worth reporting.

It's not as straightforward as you make out but I do think coverage should be more varied than a series of straight-up reports about how the players are disappointed/buzzing after the weekend's game. I think Ross is trying to achieve this and will have more success the more comfortable he gets in the job and the more comfortable the players/club become with him.

so,what do you propose the person writes about that you might find interesting - maybe write to him or her with ideas ?

One can always try the 'scoop' technique where info is sensationalised to whip up interest ie. tell the truth about what players are getting up to off-field - that kind of info is easy to rake up,problem is that any bond or trust between journo & club has been broken so that's why journos have to stick with the mundane training chit chat or injury updates etc until matchday finally arrives.

what do you expect exactly ?

I personally find player interviews interesting but that's just me - also I don't think papers or mags talk enough about the fans,every fan has a story (or three) to tell...

I take it that when Ross moves on from the T&A all you highly trained journalists complete with unprecedented knowledge of covering a sports team will be sending your CV's to the Argus for consideration?

This thread really is an abomination and shows a total lack of respect to Ross.

The Sammut piece was a good read anyway

He should count himself lucky. Some T and A reporters have been called 'liars' without a solitary piece of supporting evidence.