Yes, we could. I just found it ironic that in preseason you were bemoaning us 'missing out' on him and getting Rankin and using it as a stick to beat the club with (seemingly on the strength of Keating playing in a grand final once), yet now he's so bad you're surprised we didn't sign him.

By the way, plenty said at the time that we were right not to go for him as he was/is a good hooker but no half. The flip side of Keating playing more games in the NRL being less of a risk is that there was more evidence that he was/is not what we need.

I don't think I ever said that we should have signed keating but that on the face of it they had recruited better. I've not seen anything in rankin other than enthusiasm and a bit of pace to suggest he's really any better than keating but I hope he's a lot cheaper. I certainly didn't use it as a "stick to beat the club with" (other than in your mind seemingly). My comment on keating was tongue in cheek and a reference to our continued failure to sign a decent half back (including miller and rankin IMO) but obviously you've mislaid your sense of humour somewhere which is understandable for a Hull fan this year.

Anyway, I look forward to your response

l really like rankin as i feel he's got the skills to be a very good s.l player.i know i few people not 100% happy with pryce but really hoping rankin can learn alot from him and when he does get his chance grabs it.hoping he might turn out to be a micheal withers (bradford bulls grand final winner) type of player were not many knew alot about him when he first arrived and although he was always solid he just seemed to get better and better to the point of a massive player for them.its olso nice to see a player who enjoys playing and feeds off the fans.only a small thing but when he was waiting for a kick off in first half he gestured to fans to lift it and they responded.little things like that can some-times have a domino effect.i had total apathy for fridays derby (first time ever) but after seeing how pumped up the team was i was up and down like a jack in the box craving a win like it was a 1st v 2nd clash.i remember chico and brian blacker doing simialr things years ago and although niether were world beaters i loved them for that passion and the fact i felt they made you feel we had carried them to the next level to get the win

The problem with the constant and at times inane Radford battering is that when the team performs fairly well as it has in the last three home games it's still Radford coaching them. So we have a situation where when the team loses badly it's all his fault but when they win he gets no credit whatsoever. That isn't balanced and totally devalues any argument you have. I suspect you're a troll though so that needs factoring in as well.

look at the league table then give us all your balanced view on Radfords performance as coach

I've given my balanced view many times. How do you account for Hull's form in their last three home games bearing in mind Radford has been in charge ? How do you explain the fact that we're able to play well with Radford coaching us ? KR Troll.

Well I have not seen your balanced view so maybe you would like to inform us all again
my concern is not about the last three homes games when there was little to play for but pride,its the previous twenty two.
KR troll definitely not couldn't be further from the truth.in any case if I was surely I would appear on the KR forum? have you seen any post from me on there?

My view is that the season has been a nightmare. Early season we lost a number of games by very close margins. We lost our way mid season and the age old problems of not being able to close out games and then latterly not being able to beat teams around us resurfaced. Our ability to lose against teams that rarely finish in the top 8 has been totally evident again - the same way it has been for every coach since Sharp was in charge.

Radford has not successfully improved our attacking structure at all this season. I put that failure in part down to him directly as I believe he should have made certain changes to our style of play to cope with a lower than required consistent ability in the half back positions. We haven't supported the ball carrier enough which also should have been improved - the likes of Watts and Feka have an offload and should have been used more effectively. What Radford has done is recruit two players next year who will, without any doubt. improve us. They will provide a kicking game that has been totally absent and they will direct play on the field.

Defensively we have been reasonable each end of the season with a dip in the middle. Our superior points for/against compared to the actual league position that we're in proves that we have been competitive for the most part notwithstanding the poor results we've been edged out in. The last three home games have been good. Suggesting that it's because there was 'nothing to play for' is typically ridiculous of your posts. Every game counts and had we won even two of the close games we lost we would have at least been in the eight.

Radford has been given the job of restructuring the playing staff at the club going forward. In my opinion despite league position he's not really any worse than Gentle or Agar in terms of what he's achieved so far. Neither of those coaches won anything like Radford hasn't. He's made mistakes but he's also coached some decent performances this year - something which you refuse to give any credit for. It's that refusal which taints your opinion - as Mrs B implied when she 'outed' your posting history.

You must be disappointed with our recent home form being improved. And why would you appear on the KR forum if you were a troll ? Lots have pretended to be Hull fans in the past - your posting history and absence of positivity when Hull win suggests you are another one.

Great post.

Four times this season we have imploded in the final quarter when we were in a match-winning position. In the very first home game against Cats a last minute missed conversion saved our blushes. Then we were knocked out of the Cup by Salford and threw away two home points against Wakey. Finally a good performance at home to Cas saw us lucky to get a draw when we should have put the game to bed long before. We might have beaten both Salford and Cas had we elected to kick penalties awarded to us. I hope our new halves will help us control these sorts of games better but we cant put it all on the halves. They are going to need support players and dummy runners and in all but a few matches this season this part of our game has been poor. Its no good calling on your halves to take on the line if there is no-one for them to pass to.

Good post. My hope is that our new halves will demand more on the field and that will contribute to the necessary improvement in shape and structure.

Some good points here, I had a feeling we would go onto win on Friday night right on HT as we chose to take the 2, rather then panic & try to score a try, it's a thing we haven't had since Tickle left, it's about composure & the decision making, & it's not been with us for 95% of this season, it sometimes looks boring & as a fan you think why haven't we just tapped it & gone at the opposition as we look to have them on the ropes, but the set gets blown by dumb plays or a knock on, & it comes back to bite you later in the game, for instance Cas at home.

Totally agree. Recruitment will only improve things a little if we don't sort out our fundamental failings.

This is something that has frustrated me immensely with the club since Agar. IMO this is a core facet of how a team plays, and as such should mainly be a coaches responsibility. We seem to have handed it over to the halfbacks, which to me is asking them to do the coach's job for them. It should be sorted on the training field until it's carried out in matches automatically, we shouldn't need a halfback to tell grown men when and where to run like a teacher in a PE lesson.

Ironically though a disciplined and confident side can happily take the two whilst a side like us often end up scoring two points and then making that dumb mistake you refer to under our own posts and then letting in a soft try making it a net -4.