I said this on another post and got slater......good team normally have coaches that are good man managers......for me people like gentle!

As has been mentioned before, it was the HDM headline that said he was the best winger in SuperLeague, not Radford.

The problem with this forum is that the anti "just about anything I can think of" brigade repeat the same old comments ad nauseam, and eventually after a week, or a month or a year or two, they become fact.

A bit like some of BarnetFC's post.

Remind me Baldy about the time your club spent trying to get that "Over Rated Petulant Thug" a visa so he could move to Hull!
Sounds like "If we can't have him he must be Crap".

It was always his ambition to play for Salford, money was never on his mind......

Ok well I object to the insinuation that I'm anti just about everything. I'm desperate for Hull FC to do well. It's a fcking long way back to Barnet on a Friday night after the dross we're getting now. I like Pearson and I like his investing in local idea. But I don't see how it tallies with Lineham, Crooks and Green this season and the way Radford is treating them.


Here are our "coach's" comments on Talanoa.

"I don't think there's a better winger in the competition who's better at finding you a ruck win when he's returning the ball. He's been outstanding for us and been a real asset and great to have around the place. We just hope his form, as it has done all year consistently for us, continues. He's the type of bloke you want to get your sets rolling and he's a winger that your forwards appreciate.

"He's been a real find for us this year. I think it epitomises sport and media that all we're talking about is Callum Lancaster, and not Fetuli who had a stand-out performance. He played on the left last week, then we switched him to the right and Callum gets three tries. It's sod's law I suppose. What I saw of him, I knew the kid could play and doing the background checks with opinions that I held in high regards, he was always going to be a player.

"He's turned out great for us."

Has he? Has he really?
Under the Pearson policy our wingers next season should be Lancaster and Lineham surely? I've seen very little from Talanoa to back this sort of enthusiasm from our coach. It's absolutely nothing to do with sod's law that Lancaster got three tries, it's that Lancaster is a talented try scorer and Talanoa is a steady journey-man winger who, incidentally, stands 15-20 yards infield off his wing when the ball is on the other side of the pitch.

To be fair the only negativity on here is regarding Radford and rightly so.
Yes some people moan for moanings sake but if it wasn't for the fact we are so bad we wouldn't be having this discussion right now at all.
It would be refreshing to actually discuss how well we are doing for a change but alas if Radford remains we will never have that opportunity.

Tbf he's never wanted Hull to sign him and it's not like Chase has exactly set the league alight this season.

Fair enough - that's not what I was suggesting.

My point was that repeated posts on here tend to become "fact" after a period of time, and your comment about Radford, for example, "I thought he was a lousy, ill-disciplined player for us second time around", was not how I saw him.

Who ever thinks that what Radders said in the HDM that Talanoa is the best in the league is an idiot. To me it reads as he's the best at a certain trait. Which is returning the ball well and winning the ruck. Nothing else nothing me. Personally I like him, he's got great commitment, enthusiasm, aggression with a really good step too. His biggest down fall is his positional play defensively and offensively.
He's been a decent addiction to the squad.

Great post and some valid questions that needs answering but wont get answered

I have no problem at all with Radford bigging up a player. Makes a welcome change from putting them on the naughty step.

Talanoa lacks the speed to ever be a top class winger, but Radford is right in what he says about his work when carrying the ball. There's not many wingers kicking around who are as good in the collision. He might not be able to shrug off tackles as easily as Briscoe did, but he always finds his knees and elbows and gets the ball played quickly. That is something that most fans will overlook, but it's very important. We use him terribly though. He's shown glimpses of his finishing prowess when he's had chances, but he is lucky if he gets 3 passes a game.