Quote: KineticRR "I honestly cannot understand where all of this negativity is coming from with our team.
Let's start with Daryl Powell... Has he ever been considered a bad coach? No... Does one poor season at a new club make him a bad coach? No.
He talks a lot about accountability and self reflection, and lets face it, he's a smart man/coach. We believed that because we could offer more than Castleford, it would be an easy step up for Powell to start challenging for trophies straight away. I definitely expected a good season, but we always knew that a potential rebuild was taking place based on comments DP made about contracts and culture. In time, he will settle in like he did with Castleford, but he will have better players at his disposal.
Onto the forwards. I don't know why some people are still treating it as some sort of gimmick. Like that's all we're going to be good for. We have Dudson, Kasiano, Harrison, Vaughan, Mikaele and Bullock who will all be effective. This is what we wanted. We said the pack was too small last season and we were right. Now it has not only been corrected, but we have quite possibly the biggest pack in Super League.
With the backs, and starting with the spine which would be Dufty, Williams, Drinkwater (Ratchford/Dean/Hayes) and Clark, we'd have at worst a Top 5 spine in SL but I think it's at least Top 3 behind Wigan and then you can make an argument for Saints, Leeds, Huddersfield and Salford just on the spine. We know Drinkwater is a reliable player, we know Williams and Clark can light up SL, and we have Dufty at FB who looked dangerous even with an injury + fatigue from lack of game time in the NRL. He's also the fastest player in SL. With our centres, as much as I'm in agreement that it may be lacking, they're not so stupid that they don't know what lines to run and when to pass it off. Ratchford does sometimes slow the play down, as does Mata'utia, but Minikin is no slouch at full fitness and Wrench has the ability to be one of the best in SL when he's fully fit and more experienced. Players like Currie and Nicholson can thrive behind this forward pack as well.
We have a "Top 2, not 2" forward pack, and a minimum Top 5 spine, with a good coach that prides himself on being self-critical. And of course I admit, it could all fall apart again, which is even the case with Saints if Wellens is so poor, but on paper we are actually in a great position and there's a lot to be excited about.'"
There's a lot to like in this post. There is also Josh Maguire to add into the forwards (or have i missed something). A couple of things DP has to deal with and build within the squad is unity and belief.
