we'll see how he goes under powell next year

...the fact we are lauding Michaels.....

Can't think of too many 22yr old `world beaters' tbh.
Crooks could have spent this season on the `Naughty step' sat in the stands with Shaul, but chose to spend a season living in one of the worlds most iconic cities, -
improving his game, (no matter who the coaches were) & landing a 3 year deal under arguably the best coach in super league.
Looks like he's done alright to me - given the alternative of stagnating under Radford.

Kenny Penny is an interesting one because he will divide you depending on how you like to see the game played, I see him as a match winner, an althlete and an entertaining player. Radford would see a player like Penny as his worst nightmare. If I'm honest I'd much prefer to see him on the wing over Micheals, like I say the lads a smart player, solid but just lacks an 'X factor' for me. As a bit of counter though ball in hand he's certainly looked more dangerous in recent weeks so maybe more to come from him, and his try ratio has improved a lot. If we had a team full of mavericks and backs like Penny he'd add a lot of balance, but my gripe is that Radofrd would prefer the whole backline like this.

As for the centre debate as long as he knows the score I can't see anything wrong with having Tuimavave as our starting centre, maybe a gamble but seems to have the talent and pedigree, that's certainly not a stick to beat Radford with and personally am excited to see how he goes. My concern is that because he's played there so little he's bound to have a few poor defensive reads and positioning issues at first, and is also a naturally creative player so may also turn over a fair bit of ball and let's not forget only 22, so will he get long enough in the side before he's placed on the naughty step and his attitude brought into question? Going on what we've seen, I'm not sure Radford has the patience or know how to get the best out of such a player, not to mention the temptation to play Yeaman there too.

I still hope that Micheals us back up next year, he is a solid player, but doesn't have the pace or the X factor that Naughton and Lancaster have (or at least the potential).

Biggest cop-out response used on these forums.

Any fool can demand 'something needs to be done' and then vanish when asked to define what exactly.

Oh give over. Powell is a decent coach and quite probably better than Radford but this is just ridiculous.

Michaels over penny all day for me. Penny struggled to get in a poor wire team all year.
Michaels defence is 1of the best in all outside backs in the league not just our club. Before it gets jumped on that its not a need for a winger id point u to lineham and anther loss the other night through poor defence. All micheals metres are always good. Runs much beyond his weight and plays with urgency. X factor is good. But how often does even the fastest of wingers score full lengthers? But how often do they need to carry,tackle,descision make. In fairness to michaels,some of his finishes in recent weeks have been tremendous
people talk of this naughty step. Players that have been on it have earned it.

I can't believe that you really believe this.
Name a worse coach in superleague, ( I have to admit Betts & Harris are probably as bad)

Radford had a convo with crooks. Said he thought he was 2yrs away. He didnt like that so buggered off. If he comes good next year thats 2yrs.
radford gave him every chance in the last year. Only thing he couldnt do was make the tackles for him,or carry the ball stronger,or make less errors.
Gentle created a system to protect him and utilise his attacking skill. Tied up 2 other players though who played purely to provide and protect him.
Radford didnt believe that was realistic. So when back to conventional methods crooks was exposed.

They are not in Super League at it stands.

Radford is, of course. Just lucky.

You can't believe that I believe that Powell is probably a better coach than Radford? Maybe your comprehension skills need a brush up.

I use the phrase 'quite probably' because matches between the two sides this season have been shared 50/50 and the loss on Friday was down to errors by some individual players rather than one side being coached better than the other. I don't think Powell is as good as some seem to think TBH. And just being a bit better than Radford does not make him 'one of the best coaches in SL'. It's a low bar.

Yay, another Radford thread.

I like Michaels. His improved form has felt like we've made a mid-season signing. I'm happy to have him for another year.

And I think he's quick.

His improved form may be due to having a proper centre inside him. And yes he is quick and he's a good defender too.