KPP does indeed look a good prospect,and I think Shorrocks has improved, and has been been good in the last couple of games, although at fault for one of Wire's tries tonight.. But let's be right, in a sane world, he'd only be a squad player anyway. Marshall is clearly still some way off, but better than last week. Maybe harsh, but I think Smith looks less and less the answer.

The present situation at the club both on and off the field is similar to what it was at the end of the seventies when it was also in a similar financial and playing situation.

Declining crowds to around 2/3 thousand, cheap buys and transfers from other lower clubs, relegation into what is now the Championship. A situation which led to a take over of the club by the "gang of four" under the chairmanship of Maurice Lindsay and a revival and success.

Perhaps the time has now come for the club to be taken over by a new owner or owners with more financial clout than that of the present owner whose personal fortune is now nothing like it was at the time he bought the club from Whelan.

I fear for the future of the club under the present leadership!

I'm not one for moaning but I don't understand some of the clubs direction.
The team selections are crazy at times and the use of players is looking detrimental to their development. Examples last night, we could have played Hanley at fullback, young inexperienced yes but for me playing Jako
at one was already a failed experiment. What it did was leave us without any strike in our halves or from out the back and forced Smith in to making plays that cost us. Jako like always for me gives100% but he should be first pick at 6 or 7 especially when Smith is the other. Tommy and Powell you can get away with at 7 and 9 if you have a pack that gives you something to play behind and a genius at 1 like French. Our lack of any impact from behind the ruck is obvious it's an easy way to change the game it was always a position we should have covered better squad wise, in addition to giving us something different in games, we don't have any strike or ideas to change things up mid game that was an easy fix.
The way Bullocks season has gone? From being a starting prop in GF all trust in him seems to have been lost, I don't know what goes on in training but 10 minute cameos don't do us or him any favours. If he's attitude is wrong then drop him the way he looks to have been managed has heaped pressure on him and the other young forwards, I just don't get it. That sub situation carried on last night no problem with a young 9 on the bench but last night I did forget he was there. We lost Smithies early yet brought him on with less than 10 mins to go with the game gone Why? We had Clarke who could have shared some of the workload and given more experience to a young pack. On that subject I would also have got Isa back in the middle moved Smithies to a wider second row spot and played KP Paul to centre the young lad shows huge potential but 80 at second row in his third game? Hanley would have been full back, your coach showing faith in you can have a more positive effect at times than the negative of him not. He's played all his games out of position upto now(I don't count Saints away last year) for me that would have given the team more balance.
Our youth set up has been great but the want of what should have been the core of the team to go to the NRL has massively hurt us. Both in contracts to keep them and how to replace them. I'm not saying it's an easy fix and I know winning us not a given especially in such times but a little bit of hope and good news is needed. My lad last night who the likes of which fan wise are the future of the club said "we are just boring dad I don't see any rugby in us at times" The feeling of this being a real low point in all my years watching us is very sad.

Hanley wasn’t available last night for personal reasons.

Im not convinced by Smith AT ALL

Smith needs taking out the firing line for a while IMO. He’s playing on the back of probably the worst pack in the league and that’s not helping. His confidence looks shot to bits and until we do get him a proper pack to play off the back of, it’ll be tough for him to build it back up. His defence is the biggest worry for me and that’s the area he absolutely needs to work at if he’s to nail a regular spot. He won’t get in the team next season if Wane is back with that defence but good coaches improve players and we don’t have one.

Cleary would look awful behind Wigans pack. I always think its unfair to single out a halfback when his pack are completely and utterly dominated.

The fact that we have had no goal kicker and a second row playing centre all season and a goal kicking centre sat out on loan at London is baffling.

Who is telling Smith, Hastings, Leuluai to aimlessly pump out soft kicks down the throats of fullbacks week after week after week. May as well just hand them the ball back.

I've also noticed that we are frequently running back into the line after a tackle with backs turned away from the attack, that's just schoolboy stuff (primary).

A lot of people are pointing the finger for the state we're in at Lam and I understand why. He's a clown that needs to pack his red nose and drive his clown car back to Aus. But, the people only blaming Lam are missing the bigger picture, our recruitment had been so poor for 8 years now, the blame lies with the ginger clown - Radlinski. He's brought Lam into his jobs for the boy's club along with lackluster backroom appointments like Paul Johnson.

Get rid of both of them and rebuild. Does Pollard have the stomach for that?

Your 100% right

Bringing Hankinson back to kick goals will definitely solve all of our problems

I’d be shocked if he got rid of Lam never mind Radlinski. Every now and again there comes a time when the owner of a pro sports club has just got to bite the bullet and recognise it’s time to sack the coach. I doubt IL will do it and if he doesn’t he’s harming the clubs prospects not only for this season but next and beyond as fans walk away, young players have their confidence shot and potential recruits won’t like what they see.

It’s hard to say what lies behind it. A misplaced sense of loyalty? Not willing to pay a severance package? No idea who to replace him with or inability to get a new coach interested? Combination of all three? Who knows but the longer he leaves it if things carry on like this the worse it will get and the harder it is to fix.

I'm not sure if that's a sarcastic response or not?

Hankinson won't change the side on his own, but if bringing in a big solid lad, who's also a decent goal kicker and that in turn let's us move one of our defensive champions back into the pack - why wouldn't we do it?

By the sounds of previous posts of yours, I don't think we're a million miles away from eachother in regards to the style of rugby we both like. Isa (who I still think he has his limitations) plays a huge role in what we are good at - hard, spiteful, pack mentality defence.

That's what we need to get back too and the quickest way to do it, is to have the key players playing in their right positions.

Sort the defence and build from there imo.

No it wouldn’t but it would solve the goal kicking problem. Against HKR we’d have been level at one point with the kicks going over and that can change the momentum of a game. It would also allow 2nd row forwards who have been playing centre to go back into the pack which given Bateman is out injured might be a good idea.

I don’t get the opposition to Hankinson being recalled from loan. The club is struggling to find 17 fit players and while he’s not Gene Miles he’s a better centre option than second rowers in my view.

Even minus the goal kicking Hankinson should be brought back and it’s baffling why he hasn’t been. No Smithies now I guess, No Bateman and No Hardaker or French, so we need as many backs as possible to allow Isa to move in to the pack.

Instead we’ll keep finding a few more 19 year olds we can grind in to the dirt.