Now then, now then.

Wright that's hit I ham puttin you hall in Detention this evening.....

D- is still a pass

Jesus wept.....

I'm still undecided on the whole Tony Smith situation.

On one hand he took us from perennial underachievers to genuine grand final contenders, but on the other hand he did that with the backbone of a team assembled by Paul Cullen, at least in the earlier years (2009 / 10 / 11). He simply got the best from an already good bunch of players. There were always big named signings under Cullen in the form of Gleeson, Johns, Fa'afili, Rauhihi, Anderson x 2, Morley, Carvell, Higham, Monaghan etc etc. Every one of them having experience of winning trophies or haven proved they they can do a job and often did. If Smith had these guys to work with I'm 100% sure we'd have won Superleague at least once.

Since TS arrived, a lot of the focus has been on bringing through the kids (which is right in a way) but there hasn't been the pre-season hype and talk of a Warrington team being the best team in the league....on paper. The correct management of 'the best team on paper' will result in trophies without doubt (which is why Cullen never achieved any silverware).

The problem now is that we simply don't have the best team on paper or on the field...and that is down to TS. There is never any pre-season hype as to who the next big name signing will be, no-one is unveiled these days. I'm not saying TS hasn't signed any big names but the ones he has signed have been awful or yet to earn their wages. Asotasi has been ok during the very minimal time he is actually on the pitch, Clark seems to be going backwards (I'd say that he wouldn't even be here is Castleford were better off at the time he signed), Russel is good when not injured and, other than Currie, none of the 'promising youngsters' are actually doing it on the pitch. TS can only get the best from the players he has available but the 'best' is no-where near enough to win trophies. The players he has available is down to him and Simon Moran so is at fault for the position we are currently in?

Yes he's brought us success with someone elses team, but can he get a bunch of players to perform well on a consistent basis who have less than half of the ability of players they have replaced.......clearly not.

Has anyone thought they have tried to sign the top players and they wouldn't come. Some sides have been lucky and signed average Aussie players that have been good this year (Ben Roberts, Albert Kelly) these players weren't wanted down under so came over here. I believe the club don't want to sign mediocre players they want top quality and they won't come. If this carries on we will sign average Aussies and everyone will still moan.
Do we all really think that the club have not tried to sign a top quality half during the last 18 months ?? course we have and they wont come regardless of the money. I know that Tomkins turned down a 50% increase on what Wigan have offered him, and the likes of Cronk, Thurston, Mitchell, don't want to play in a poor league just for money?

There might also be seeing potential in a player who you think will fit into your team. It cannot just be luck as you suggest. Kelly, Blair, Mantellato, Sio, Campese amongst others joined us this year. All have played better than their equivalents in your side this season. Kelly, Sio and Montellato are in the top 10 try scorers. Montellato is the top points scorer. Only Campese of those I mentioned is in the twilight of his career. Montellato and McCarthy, who I presume you know well, were not even NRL players. Maybe you should be looking for players who can perform well in Super League and not for "a top quality half". You are not a top quality team and in the pool you seem to feel you should be fishing in neither is any other Super League club.

I for one was disappointed when we didn't offer Tyke a deal. Wish he was still here. Always 100% even if he was a good average. Give me that over a <5% over the hill Ozzy any day.

I agree with a lot of that. But you only have to remember that we signed a world elite, 29 year old, Adrian Morley (that'd be like someone signing Sam Burgess when he's done with Union); Matt King who was the current Aus and NSW winger (the equivalent of someone signing Michael Jennings now); Michael Monaghan who was a NRL GF starting half back when we signed him (the equivalent of someone signing Josh Reynolds now)...Andrew Johns (although a brief stint, would be like someone signing Greg Inglis for three weeks now)...Alfie Langer was chosen to play for QLD when he was at Wire (that's like someone having Cameron Smith in their side now in SL and him being selected for QLD for Origin)...

We have a history of catching fish from that pool...maybe now though we have started to cast the line and aren't getting bites and as you say we should be aiming a little lower and even aiming lower would still being over players who would have a huge impact in this league.

And I agree with that. However that was quite a while ago. The financial situation is somewhat different now. The only Aussies that are likely to come now are young ones wanting to make a name for themselves or ageing ones wanting a last payday or hurrah. Not top performers as the contributor I was responding to was stating he thought you were looking for. Adrian M was slightly different as British players may well want to come home whilst still at or near their peak. The Wigan famous full back would also fall into this category.

We supposedly did

Cheers, I was sure we released him.

Smith said there waa a contract for him, he wanted to go try get first team in Australia or something

Tony Smith as created this mess with his recruitment so i think its up to him to sort it out if he can't then and only then is it time for a change

Why is Tony Smith untouchable exactly??

I read regularly about people slating Richard Agar, how useless he is and how he should never be at the club - Who appointed him?

Similarly, I read about poor recruitment in recent years - Who is signing these players, putting them in the team?

Personally, I think he should be fired if we lose against Leigh - If it happens, then it will be fair to say that he has done the full circle and got us back to the exact position we were in when he took over.

We have to be realistic here and admit we have been going backwards since 2011... We have made Grand Finals and failed miserably both times, the first time when we were overwhelming favourites.

Of course, Smith should always be thanked for the Wembley successes, but it would show a lack of ambition if we believe those 3 wins should automatically guarantee Smith an easy ride and not have his position questioned at times like the last season and a half.