Season review

Quote: Durham Giant "Could not find the other thread fortunate to save some peoples blushes.
Now is the tim eto look at the season and Anderson as coach.

Losing three games or winning five on the bounce means absolutely nothing. Reviewing it when it is all over is the time.

Firstly.

| Have said a lot about us needing a new half. The main reason for this is that i have been led to believe from a reliable source is that Danny Brough's ankle is shot and that all season he has been playing with a pain killing injection before and after EVERY game.

That is one of the reasons he has at times not taken on all the kicking duties.

If True that is a real concern firstly that we could not rest him and secondly that we had no one else who could come into the team to replace him. We are effectively a one man team at the minute. We need somneone else to partner him or to provide quality backing up if he needs a rest.

Brough needs to learn now to play a different game ala Briers in his last two years. He needs to Marshall the troops and run the plays. To do that he needs a good running half to work with him.
The club will decide who but i rate Brierley and Hampshire.

The Club should also tell him to retire from playing from Scotland at the end of this year. We pay his wages and he needs to be playing for us. He needs a rest and understand to lengthen his career.

The forwards.

Too often in big games our forwards get bullied and lose out to other teams.
Against the top sides Wigan and Leeds our forwards often come off second best. We lack aggression and regularly see our players turned on their backs whilst opponeets often are on their front and get quicker play the balls. We rarely see our props fighting to get up for a Quick PTB.

I do not know if that is a quality of player, lack of aggression or coaching but it is a regular feature of the big games. What this does is put our players on the back foot and they constatntly have to scramble and work hard to keep in the game. This leads to fatigue and means that our players cannot concentrate and keep up an 80 minute performance.
Hopefully Rapira will help with this but we need more of a culture change in the pack to bring out a nastier streak.

We have a good selection of forwards with different skills the knack is to make sure they work together on the pitch.

For me the biggest area for development is Lawrence. I think he is a great player. Brilliant tackler. Good effort and decent go forward BUT if he is to develop he needs to change his game. ( this may be a coaching issue). If he is to play at second row he needs to develop some of the centre skills he used to have,. He needs to play wider and fill that role that Ferres used to to create the extra man get the offload and get his centre / winger away. IMHO he is wasted as a tackler battering ram in the middle.

If we need the two SR's playing left and right that allows us to play either a third prop ( taai) or a playmaker at LF ( Gale? ). But we have to have two SR who can play wider with qualities above and beyond running and tackling.

We will miss hughes IMHO.

Hooker at least we have one for next year !!!. Other than that Leeming is a project as well probably another year needed for him. Robbo is shot. Wood injured. We really have struggled in this area.

The Backs

Wardle has to move to SR. Cant pass wont pass ( last week against Leeds and yesterday when he could have got Murph away in the third minute). Strong defensively but needs to move to the pack. Could be a great move for him.

Who then plays at Centre ?

Connor has potential but seems lazy on defence / Laterally very slow. He needs to up his game or the coaches need to work on him. Ballet classes would be a good start ( Seriously).

Full Back

Grix is solid but does not have the ability to take us forward in the longer term. Simpson is a project at least 18 months of development needed. Hampshire would be a great signing full back and half back abilities.

Wings Jerry and Murph are a good first choice but who comes in after them.

The other thing is that the backs and even the halves have a lack of pace. Broughton had the pace but IMHO appeared criminally underused. We need an injection of pace into the team somewhere. The obvious place would be in the halves / FB

Halves,
We have one great one Brough who is playing lame. Then we have Robbo Wood Ellis. None are much better than the other. They should be back up players, or reserve hooker. Would like to see Ellis at LF (possibly starting with a prop type at loose Taai) then Ellis coming on as a playmaker.
This though would not work unless our props starting winning the go forward in big games.

The tactics

Not convinced we have this right. Five kicks and a bit of Brough magic needs something to give some variety. Keep Brough quiet or play him behind a beaten pack and we are knackered.

No doubt everyone will come on here and talk about our great tries against Wakey or wide to west play vs Wire in the 8s.

Those games mean nothing. Big games are what counts. In the big games we get beat. I dont buy the theory it is psychological it is Skill and personnel ( maybe coaching).

The Captain
Anyone but Brough. Needs to concentrate on playing. Hinchcliffe

The coach.

I still think the jury is out and i dont have enough inside knowledge. I am not sure he is getting the best out of players or whether he has to work with what he has. Does he have the support to bring in players. Arte SC negotiations and contract talks right or is he stuck with what he has. But i do feel that the players lack very basic skills. Particularly passing and winning the wrestle. These are coaching things that can be addressed as can the matter of hooker.

I also think we have had a lot of players go backwards since coming to the Giants pr previously
Cudjoe, Huby Patrick. I dont know why but it is a concern.
If you compare how Gale has improved under Powell compared to Ellis under Anderson there is a good parallel. How many on here laughed at Cas getting a Bulls reject in Gale when we took Ellis. Yet who would you prefer now ?

I feel that he has to make some changes for next season otherwise i feel he has gone as far as he can.

The squad.
We do need some changes and there should be some wriggle room.
Patrick wont come back IMHO and should go to Wakey or Bulls ( whoever wins the MPG).
Robbo could go into coaching. These two should create some SC space for a new player.
I cannot see us winning anything or getting any better if our pivots and key players ( 1, 6, 7, 9 and 13) are based on combinations of Grix, Robbo wood and Ellis.

The club.
i am still not convinced we get things right off the field but that is another issue. We have no choiuce in my opinion but to move to evening KOs and give up on Sundays. Pretending to be a sunday team and then having everything changed to other nights is more damaging than making a decision and starting afresh with a new strategy.

The sad fact is that despite the cheerleaders on here. The above issues need to be addressed or we will stay competitive but not move forward.'"

What an absolute load of sense. Unfortunately it will fall mostly on deaf ears, Huddersfield and It's supporters are so starved of success that they will grasp at any kind of inclusion in the top end of any comp as something to be celebrated, the fact that we get hammered and humiliated is written off as " we are punching above our weight" or" We have done well to get so far".

Seasons over and already we are getting the same familiar things coming out . Hinchcliffe and Panapa, They are going to be the one's who take us to the next level, we just need to sit back and wait for them to do their stuff, We are OK with Ellis and Robbo,Wood and Good old Grixy, We can't afford a new halfback and anyway there aren't any.

Mr Anderson! who Knows, I v'e made no secret that he doesn't impress me, I know he has signed an extension to his contract so he is coach whatever I think, but D Powel looks a lot more impressive with what he has achieved at Cas with a lot less quality to start off with.

If we are to make any real impression on the G Final next season , besides Hinchcliffe and Panapa, A halfback and a fullback are essential, We have Simpson coming through but he needs a couple of years yet. Anyone who thinks Ellis is the future for us , I say, do you think he would get in any of the top teams, He has done as well as anyone else there this season, Probably better, But like DG I feel his future will be at L Forward. Did anyone notice the speed Williams can think and move,
If we are going to challenge the best we have to get the right quality players in the key positions. Where Hinchcliffe and Panapa might do their stuff for us, is teaching our Forwards, It's not in the rules that they have to get a mauling.