Wane never had a team this bad

Building up to Easter we had 13 first team squad out injured (including some of the fringe players). We got a couple back for Cas which was played in torrential rain and on a very heavy pitch. Last night was our 4th game in 13 days and it’s perfectly understandable to have a flat performance.
We now have most players back (barring Faz, Sammut, Manfredi and Davies) and 10 days rest / prep before we play Warrington so let’s see how that goes. I’ve said it before, even somebody like Craig Bellamy would have struggled in the situation Lam found himself in.

The issue I have is Lam has used returning players as a life raft but realistically there’s only Faz who’ll be back this season who would make a major difference. He said last night Clubb is back for the Wire game but I’m not sure we should risk him. He looked totally unfit and sluggish before his knee injury, so it’s tough to see how he’ll cope with the pace of a CC tie against Wire.

Could the clique that is rumoured to be at the club be players Waney brought through from a young age?, Talks of certain players being shunned, If so the offenders need ousting

Spill the beans.

Yes, 100%. Under Wane we played like last night all season and then won the last 3 games and won the Grand Final which papered over the cracks.

I hope you're right, and I admire your optimism when discussing Lam, you make some fair points re-injuries etc (though the Craig Bellamy comment is a little much, I feel he would have had the players playing with ton more vigour than Lam does)

But in return this season has shown a massive fall from grace. The squad isn't massively different from the GF winning team who went on an unbeaten run in the playoffs, this can't be overlooked. The desire, the defence, the effort at times is nowhere near what it was. So far this season we've had one 80min performance, just one. All teams suffer injuries and have hectic fixtures in and around Easter, yet our style of play in attack and defence has been a far cry from what it once was.

Lam didn't take over a failing squad which needed time to develop, he took over a champion team; literally.

If anything this spell emphasises how good Wane was. He had bad moments, but consistently had us winning and appearing in finals.

Obviously I hope he turns its around, but all we can do is comment and review what's happened.

How is winning the GF papering over cracks? that's exactly what you're meant to do! Win.

I can see why most fans are frustrated and yes, we did go on a winning run to the GF last year. Before that, after it was announced that Wane was leaving we couldn’t buy a good performance and many were screaming for him to go immediately and not see the season out. The squad hasn’t changed much but it did lose 2 of its most influential players in Tomkins and Bateman.
The season before we had a horrendous run of of injuries and finished outside the top 4. That was also under Waney.
I’ve said a few times, I’m just a bit more relaxed about things. With better luck we could be further up the ladder and we could we’ll go on another winning run.

The coaches, players, owners, media etc all say its only winning that matters, to them it does and to the fans it does but they also want to be entertained as this is the entertainment industry and people want to be entertained. Under Wane they weren’t.

We just tread water all season playing crap rugby just hovering around the top 6 then play well for a few matches and win the Grand Final. Doing this will ultimately kill the game, that’s why they’ve changed it this season. The 20 odd league games don’t count for anything and we’re meaningless, the fans were treated with contempt.

Under Wane it was akin to a father who works away a lot and never sees the wife and kids but comes home 1 week a year, showers then with gifts and says ‘What do you mean I’m a bad father and husband, I’ve just bought you all that stuff, other wife’s and kids would be grateful of it, you ungrateful lot’.

So for 90% of the time we were poor to watch, then ground out a couple of wins at the end of the season to keep Wane in a job when in reality a GF loss would have seen him sacked in 2016.

It’s alright bringing so many kids through but the vast majority have come through our Shaun Wane Wrestling Academy and are not athletic rugby league players . This is where a big part of the problem lies. Look at Saints youngsters coming through , strong athletic and skilful.

I like the look of Morgan Knowles and Matty Lees. I think that’s where the problem lies with us, Lam is allowing the players a free reign but they’re incapable of doing so because they only know how to wrestle.

Hope so, and yes it could happen. Just looking at current performances we seem to be a million miles off the end of 2018. On what we know from performances this season, would you honestly give Lam a long term job?

last season we finished 2nd in both the regular season and playoffs, then won the GF off the back of an unbeaten run. I really don't agree with your relation to father who works away, bit insensitive and unnecessary.
Last season, despite pitfalls and injuries it was another successful season under SW.

I think there’s two sides to this.

Firstly to answer your question, yes I’d like Lam to be given the job long term. At least 2 more years. We’ve seen some scintillating attack in glimpses (1st half against Cas for example) and we’ve seen that we can defend, keeping two teams tryless for example. What we need to see is both elements put together consistently. To do that, we’ll need some consistency in the 17. I’m not using the injuries as an excuse but I do consider it a mitigating factor.

Secondly and I think just as importantly, is would I want the job if I was Adrian Lam? The negativity towards him is huge and he must surely see and feel it. Furthermore, I’d be asking the chairman what resources were available to me and what caliber of player could I bring to the club?

Without resources I’d say any coach coming in is on a hiding to nothing.