Saints have had a total lack of direction and are playing one up football.

We can drive for yards and have shown at times we can defend well, but we're not coming up with any plays, however simple, to test the defences of the opposition. We don't drop much ball, we don't drop off the tackle to easily, but when it comes to [iplaying footy[/i we've got zero.

Remember the semi against you last year? When we had all that possesion but couldn't score in the first half? Well that is every minute of every week at the moment.

You can talk about us not having Cunningham and Sculthorpe, that may be why we're not taking home trophies, but that squad is easily good enough to be [icompeting[/i with the best clubs.
If a couple of players are below par, then you can critcise them. When a whole squad is failing to perform, I'm afraid you have to look at the coaching.

Lomax has come in for some flack. "Obviously not a scrum half" is the common one. I'm not sure if it his best position, but he won YPOTY from that position last year and I remember thinking he'd have made a better fist of it for England when I was watching Chase do it last year. You don't become a bad player over night.

Mike Rush is the highly rated coach, after impressing in various role with the club which included coaching the juniors. Cunnigham will help add clout and take some pressure off. They need to bring some half decent plays and re inject a little belief and we'll be twice the team.

I think Lomax would make a superb FB, playing the same role that Sam does for us.

He would. We think that was the plan for him before last year's somewhat unprecidented success and 1/2.

Ah the monkey man speaks sense. This should be the full stop to all Royce threads.

I suspect a lot of that money may have been misplaced (though I could be wrong). Rumours afoot that Justin Morgan may be a dark horse.......

Not exactly an inspiring prospect,but he performed wel for HKR for a few years before things went stale.

I've never really understood the respect that Justin Morgan seems to command. He's clearly a top bloke, but his coaching record in the UK is nothing special, and it's not like he didn't have quite a few good players while he was at Rovers.

Developing young talent and coaching at Superleague level are entirely different beasts.

According to George Riley's blog, Rush has already sought the advice of Daniel Anderson on what to do. I think that is very comforting. Not!


How will he do that exactly? He hasn't even gotten his coaching badges yet. Sometimes great players don't actually make great coaches and Keiron is totally unproven in this area. He may well inspire them or, because he played with so many of them, it may be very difficult for him to make the transition.

These guys have been put in charge because McManus knows they won't say no. As Rush said in his interview, he's done lots of different things to help out the club. Except, apparently, act as chef and accountant. Last week he was washing kit although God knows why he needs to be doing that at Saints. Doesn't Langtree Park/Cowley School have washing machines?

You're right - we're doomed. DOOMED!

This is royce simmons' fault and he's paid the price. He spent loads on a full back (Lance Hohaia) even tho his shirt position is 6 he is best at full back and they already have a experianced player there and that isnt where they needed the money to be spent. they needed a good prop or experianced half-back to replace sean long and James graham, who brought the team to success in recent years

Who says it was Royces idea to bring in Hohia? It could be the chairmans.

The Hohaia singing, whoevers idea it was will prove a costly mistake IMO. I hear he was on the wane before he arrived and that was in his familiar position of fullback (a position he couldn't get a game in for NZ Warriors last year) whereas at Saints they're asking him to play halfback which is a position he's not played fulltime for years.

With an already experienced fullback at the club, young halfs and a world class hooker Saints needed an out and out halfback to boss the team about. They instead signed a utility when they have guys like that in Wheeler and even Lomax. If the right player wasn't available they should have sat on the cash.

It's the sort of signing we'd have made around 2005 which says it all really.

So saints will be bottom of the table next season all year. Then they will bring in Brian Noble as coach, sign Dobson from Hull KR and Fielden from us and they will stay up and win the super league in 2017.