To me, the Dr should give The rugby genius the job if he wanted it. he seems to me to be getting the team playing together and the want to win back. what are your thoughts?

Not wanting to take anything away from the recent performances under Alan Hunte but you wonder if the players are performing better because:-

1. They are energised by the prospect of playing for a coach like Noble or Smith?

2. They are playing for their futures after some stern words from the doctor. (Especially with so many coming out of contract this year)

My concern is if Alan Hunte was given the job permanently would the team fall back into their old ways after a few weeks? Maybe they wouldn't but that's for someone else to decide.

Also, we were 6ish weeks behind in preparation compared to the rest of SL. We are now catching up.

No,no,no.
Taking nothing away from him,this is the way we did it in the past.
We gave it to someone who was handy,ie already there.
If we aspire to be a top team we need a top coach not,with all due respect , a promising trainee.

I agree with most of your posts Bonita but not this one. I would like to see Noble or Smith at the club in tandem (General Football Manager ?) maybe with the younger Hunte/Long axis which is developing.

Look at the top teams - McDermott at Leeds - early 40`s, so too Nathan Brown, Shaun Wane, Tony Smith, Francis Cummings, Denis Betts, etc whereas the oldest coach I think is Ian Millward @ 52 & Cas are propping up the League.

Give them their head for me as long as we have an old wise head about too.

I don't have a problem with AH staying,just not as Head Coach.
I'm dead against having the 2 Brians here together,although you're not suggesting it.
The good Doctor knows,because he runs management courses,that there can only be one boss . Also,to appoint 2 is indecisive,that is to say you can't decide which was is the right choice so throw money at it.
Wrong.

I`m not saying that there are to be 2 bosses but I am saying that Hunte (defence) & Long (attack) is the way ON the field. I just feel one of the Brians should be overseer but H & L will do the work on the paddock.

Would think it's better to have Smith or/and Noble with Hunte as assistant to be groomed to take over at a later date

Had a chat with Alan after the game, he made a very telling comment "same players, different attitude" guess that says it all.

Having Noble and Smith could only be a benefit. Nobody is suggesting that they both be given the same title of Head Coach, but having two experienced operators like Smith and Noble on the same team could only be beneficial. It may never happen of course, but to say you're dead set against having both here doesn't make any sense to me. Bringing in two experienced heads in whatever capacity doesn't strike me as indecisive, it strikes me as ambitious. He's already brought in extra people behind the scenes where none existed before. Nobody said that was indecisive. There was a post floating around here somewhere showing the correlation between numbers of non-playing staff and successful teams on the field. The Clubs that brought in more skilled and experienced people saw better results.

Fwiw I feel that we will appoint one or the other, but would love to see both come in and do a job in whatever capacity that may be.

By appointing Noble or Smith as Head Coach we would gain the best of both worlds, because Alan Hunte could then continue the with the outstanding job he's been doing with the younger players.

Regarding Head Coach, I'm still not over enthused about the prospect of Noble. To me it has too much of a feel of the appointment of McRae. Someone with a great reputation, but who's past their 'sell buy' date and also a lover of the 'up the jumper' approach to Rugby.

I hope we're just not appointing someone who's available now, rather than waiting for a better prospect at the end of the season. Then again, I get the impression that if the 'new coach' doesn't work out by then, The Good Doctor would probably just sack him anyway and go for someone else.

The difference is McRae did it at Saints with money and quality players, he just couldn't do it at Salford with limited resources. Noble on the other hand did very well with similar resourses at the Bulls but also at a club like the Crusaders by getting them into the playoffs, against all odds.

By saying this i'm not necessarily pro Noble for the job, I just hope whoever it is turns out to be the right choice of coach for SCR.

That's right,it's always a risk,but the record of Noble is different to McRae.
I'm not sure that Noble will take us to the heights that the Doctor requires but he has the knowledge and skill set to rebuild the squad,with so many out of contract,and his knowledge of British players should be better than Smith's.
He will also coach them well,and make us very competitive.

Yes we are 6 weeks behind in some preparation,but that should in my opinion not include fitness,you surely must
agree,you no as well as me Alan will not get the job,and should not.He is doing a good job with the youngsters.

On the recent poll , Alan Hunte got just 1 vote
Brian Smith got 52
Tim Sheens 34
Brian Noble 22
the Hunte , Long & Highton have done a good caretaker job getting us through March , but we need a Coach.. and give Alan a big pat on the back and get him back to the job of securing our long term future prospects.

Tim Sheens is being touted for either the Warriors or the St George Dragons Jobs rlSheens on the radar for Warriors and the Dragonsrl
and Brian Smith was a no-show at yesterdays game. rlAndy Wilson
both are too much in demand in their home territories to be tempted across ? According to Andy Wilson Koukash flew to Sydney for a meeting with Brian Smith .
Everything points to the appointment of Noble and/or Smith ?

Quote: "On Thursday both the Salford chief executive, Ed Farish, and the Warrington coach, Tony Smith – Brian's younger brother – denied knowing, neither very plausibly, whether the Australian contender is even in the country. An announcement is thought unlikely until after Salford's second game of the Easter programme at Bradford on Monday. But the fact that the club went through with a swap deal on Thursday, releasing their hooker Stuart Howarth to join St Helens in exchange for the tall young stand-off Lee Gaskell, suggests that the new man has already been appointed, and is making decisions.'"

This is Koukash , commonplace is not on the agenda