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.

Same for Lineham yesterday.

Radford's analysis of the game, team selection rationale and tactics do actually sound quite detailed and evidence-based when interviewed. But the players look like they've no structure or plan in attack, no urgency to PTB quickly and no runners, just lateral and pedestrian passing. Salford game was straight out of the Agar 2009 playbook. We have some real quality available, but it's not being harnessed or optimised.

Absolutely spot on there are loads of better wingmen in sl who can go 80 yards or can finish in a tight corner but going from dummy half or helping his forwards out he is very good at it, a lot of the time he doesn't get put down which allows either a quick play the ball or a penalty

I agree , I said that Talanoa was probably our MOM against Wire. That said Radford's comments are generally those of a fan rather than a coach or a manager. He wants to do well no doubt about it and he's probably doing his best , the question is will that ever be good enough? What makes it worse is the spin that comes out of the club through Clarky. It's cloyingly and unremittingly positive and that really irritates me and lots of others when it's as plain as the nose on your face that things are bad. The standard of skill and talent in this year's squad is poor , past it or still being refined. Maybe next year will be better but I'm sick of the spin. Having said that what does AP and his mouthpieces say? We're crap but we might get a bit better next year? Radders isn't the answer but there's no one else so back him? We can't persuade the really top players to come here because of what's gone before so we'll have to make do and mend for it bit longer? A bit of reality and honesty would work for me and probably lots of "experts" on here but it'd be quite a departure for any PR department. It's a mess and I wouldn't want to be AP trying to figure out what to do and how to sell 8,000 passes for next season , one of the most important in the club's history.

Barnet's comments about lineham, Crooks and Green have ben covered before in other posts. All three have had prolongued injuries. Crooks appears to be struggling to find any confident form. Lineham is stil on his comeback and we've got props already fit and playing. His comments about Talanoa have taken the Radford interview out of context.

Strange post considering your avatar