What was the cause of our demise ?

lots of different reasons for me some easier to solve than others

1 we are a team rather than a collection of skilled indaviduals. When a few players are missing the team does not function very well. Losing key players makes the whole machine fall apart. When we lost Brough and Brown things went downhill and we never recovered.

2 confidence. All teams need confidence but i feel that when things are against us it gets to us more than other teams. The constant blaming of the refs ( whether accurate or not ) by fans and the coach does not help.

3 Fitness and training. There is no doubt in my mind that we started the season brilliantly conditioned but by half way the p[layers looked fatigued and could not raise the game.

4 We still make the same mistake of not understanding that your maximum effort should be for the climax IE at the end of the season NOT the begining.

5 Injuries to key players. Losing Lunt meant robinson has been knackered as he has had to play for 80 mins. Robbo has been better when he has had the energy to change games going through gaps in centrefield. When that has gone we have lost one of our most potent weapons. Losing LOD ,meant we lost our enforcer and pack leader.

6 The coach. desreves some criticism. Tinkering with the backs early on in the season and turning Lawrence into a second row mid season was wrong. The players who should have been rotated were not ie GILMOUR. the old man of the squad hardly seemed to have a rest and as such was much more innefective in the second half of the season especially in attack.
Brown should not have overplayed Lunt when he had an injury. That contributed to us losing Lunt and overworking Robbo at the buisnes end of the season.

Browns insistence that the cup was our best chance of a trophy might have been truie but hardly inspired confidence when we went out. Thinking your coach has no confidence in you for the playoffs is bad.
Having a coach who does not want to be here cannot be good for morale. I do not doubt his desire to succeed as winning in the UK means he can get a good gig back in OZ but it cannot be good for stability in the club.

The team make up does not have enough players for all positions. We have been overburdened with second rows filling in at prop. Whilst some of them are Ok as props defensively going forwards they do not give us the dominant position we need. LARNE , Raleigh and Faalogo are second rows. They can tackle and make yards on the outside but they do not make the hard yards down the centre of the field that hurts other teams.

7 Leadership. Brown is a good player and has the knowledge to be a captain but he is not gobby enough. Briers, Graham, Sinfiled, O'Loughlin are captains. They are all players i hate, going on a refs, ranting at players etc BUT i would take anyone of them as a Captain.

8 The squad more quality less quantity for me BUT until we are bringing enough good kids through the academy we may have to accept that will not work.

9 The match day experience. Small things like the balloons have been great for the kids but i still feel we need to get the hardcore of singers together to develop that better atmosphere. as well as other things.

Probably more i can say but that will do for now.

Pretty much agree with most of that DG, the biggest fault was we really do not have a leader on the field, does not matter how big an army you have, you must have a strong leader, when the chips are down, has the resolve to drag his team forward and overcome the opposition.

All the others major contenders do and that's why when it gets to the nitty gritty we failed.

2011 end.

A season of two halves.
At this moment feel dissappointed and wondering about what if....
Overall, though some great experiences this season, and lots of emotional roller coasting , (in captivated in a single match last night).
A nearly season, but great fun. Roll on next year.

Our squad lacks experience, particularly in the backs. Look at Leeds 1, 6 7 and 9. Webb, Sinfield, Maguire and Buderus. They've all played in big matches for most of their careers. They've also played together a long time. Our equivalents are Grix, Brown, Brough and Robinson. Leaving aside individual ability how many grand finals have they played in? How many play off wins do they have? When we get to the big games we lack the players that can pull us through. We lack the know how to stop what happened last night. To change things when they aren't going right.

Also we don't react well to negativity. A call goes against us and some players start rushing out of the line or giving away penalties because they want to "put things right" but you don't put things right by doing things faster or harder, you do it by playing to your strengths by executing. it's something you can only learn from experience. The greatest assets you can have are a willingness to learn and a cool head. Sometimes we just lack that.

ATEOTD sport is a mental thing. It's about getting into your opponents head. Putting him in a plce he doesn't want to be in. Making him uncertain. Unfortunately too many times in the big games we do all that work for our opponents.

The match day experience is key outside of the ground there is improvements

inside is poor

the music at the start of the season was way too loud

my 6 yo daughter stopped coming due to the noise and the fact that there are no cheer leaders

(I MISS THE CHEER LEADERS ASWELL) but for different reasons

Even in the second half of the season i didnt mind but the home games seemed few and far between and i could barely afford to renew the season tickets let alone make all those away games

I missed lunt on the field in the last 2 years i dont think i have seen him not try - him and robbo have a drive and passion that i dont see in brown and brough and these four are the inspiration to the whole team

ALL IN ALL A GOOD START WASTED

Basically this is just a catalogue of excuses then?

Not really. Pointing out the failures of the club is explaining.

If i was doing it for Bradford it would be easier, "They are crap"

Superb response!

Nathan Brown;-

To simplify what i mean. It's like a bus journey where one of the passengers (Nathan brown) is sat at edge of his seat just waiting for his stop so he can get off.

He clearly doesn't want to be here but has nowt else at present, once a job comes up for him in Oz watch the smoke off his shoes!!!!

Sends wrong signs to all involved IMO

Some players we have in key positions even when all fit just aren't good enough and nowt to play for cos loads of em are on 5 year deals, we have quantity rather than quality.

Another barren season

What did you win this year?

I thought you'd do well this season. I was wrong and in reality you're not major contenders and probably never will be.

last night showed why we are frustrated and disappointed.
we started the season so well, our defence was awesome, our desire and will to win, the will to fight for each other,the will to work our butts off,the will to all muck in together no matter what the circumstances,they have all disappeared in the last few weeks.
our defence has been nothing short of disgraceful our effort has left a lot to be desired,why did we go from being a team full of confidence with the spirit of fighting tigers who would bust guts for team mates and would physically bully the opposition to a team that suddenly became as bad as it had been good?
last night we showed in brief spells what we are capable of, for 5 minutes either side of half time and the last 10 minutes, we destroyed leeds in the fashion we destroyed them at headingley, we all know they had the ability to do that all year but why has is been so badly missing for 3 months? doing it for 20 minutes in the last game is just not good enough, because we proved what we can do,but have seen nothing like it for the last part of the season.

the defining moment for me was the crusaders game, we were on fire,looking good at the top having just slaughtered leeds away,the attitude of the whole club seemed to change from that moment into an almost "we've made it" attitude and we have never been able to get back to where we were before good friday.

to sum it up for me,we had the ability to do something but for some reason it fell apart and we ended the season disappointingly, although our 4th place finish is good we all know we are/were capable of so much more.

oh and we've missed shaun lunt more than we could ever have imagined,more so than danny brough IMO.

For that to happen, we'd have to stop finishing in a play off position.

You remember them dont you ? Them extra games at the end of the season, you used to have a go at them once upon a time.

4 wins out of 14
pack looks soft
defence lack of
new signings not good enough if we want some silver next year
i think nb done a good job but time for him to go
kb not a captain or stand off but on long contract so stuck with him
could be a long year nexy year