The sad thing is, even at 14-0 I knew we were not going to be comfortable, and after them making it 14 -12 I knew it was only going one way, even after we made it 22-12, I knew.

It’s not really a stupid comparison is it though. Other than the fact that Smith inherited an awful club with a terrible squad, it’s actually quite accurate. If you weren’t too busy throwing toys out of your pram, you would have noticed the similarities.

Smith has brought in 34 new players in his time, only retaining 3 (Dagger, Crooks, Keinhorst). Kept them up in his first half season, then an awful 2020, only to make the playoffs and set them on track to do the same in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

2019 is almost akin to Powell’s 7month head start on pre-season belt being appointed early and controlling the recruitment since that point.

The difference being, Smith had to shop at the bargain retailers, where as Powell has an open cheque book and a starting position of 3rd in the competition. The parallels are there, quite overtly, so you can leave out the ‘stupid’ stuff in future, you’ll only embarrass yourself.

Does make me think, do we need to turn to Union tactics if we get a 14 point lead again? Get close DG, get close DG. It'll be boring, it'll be negative, but Powell is constantly saying that we can't manage the game out, we're bottlers in the last quarter. Maybe we just need to keep chipping away at the scoreboard once we get 2 tries+ ahead.

God, i can't believe I've got to this stage.

This a good point and fair play, but many are comparing Powell's win stats with managers who've had much longer periods at the helm with no-where near the same upheaval.

Also, a major point you've missed, is that Hull KR are generally a more unsettled club with more flirtations with the championship so they're 'culture' by way of nature is more unsettled. Smith wasn't going in to change the culture.

We've had a deep rot at our club for years, reflected by our numerous bottle jobs despite being the biggest spenders.

Powell is tasked with a much larger challenge, given that's he's not only swapping the whole squad, but attemlting to de-rot the entrenchment of complacently.

P

TOO MUCH DRIFT LOCKED