head hunting

Hmmm, not sure about this tbh. A few good results and all of a sudden it's money well spent. Personally, stand off aside, I actually think we have a better squad this year than last. Ratu and Cook seem to be getting a bit of stick, but Cook has played well recently after a slow start, and Ratu is still young and was probably the only Hull KR player to leave the pitch at Murrayfield with any credibility.

I still think Fozzard's contribution last year was underrated, but Clinton is a clear improvement, and Hodgson already looks a better hooker than Fitzhenry ever did.

IMO, our average to awful form this year has come from a lack of quality in pivotal positions. Murrell gives 100% every time he plays, he's versatile and an important squad member, but he's no SL hooker or half back. I'Anson played well when he came in against Cas, but since then his decision making has been poor. Even if we only used Cooke to half his ability, he did the simple things right and we've missed that.

I still think JM is the man for us, but I think his tinkering and over-confidence in certain players in certain positions has backfired this year. Had we had a decent off half and gone with Fisher and Hodgson as hookers from the start of the season, I think we'd have seen much more cohesion and more performances like last year.

I think it (the downturn in fortunes) is mainly about form, confidence and intensity rather than than a drop in quality or ability. Last year they were generally good, this year it has been very up and down.
I don't like the overachieving argument, because it has often been presented alongside implications that Rovers were unusually lucky in 2009 or that other teams have, almost by definition, failed if the finish behind Hull KR. However, I'm happy to acknowledge that 4th in the league was a good performance. Now the team is not performing so well. We're missing a stand-off, but otherwise I'm content enough with how the team looks, on paper.
Teams go through cycles, though. We always want to 'kick on' and build on improvements each year, but just as often you find the peak has already been reached. I don't think 2009 was a year of overachievement, but more that this cycle perhaps reached its peak. If this is the downswing, it hasn't been too precipitous, IMO.
We have though, very roughly, followed Catalans progress doing approximately what they did a year earlier since arriving in SL. That makes me nervous. Just because a peak has been passed, doesn't mean the bottom has been reached...
Still, these cycles are what keep sport interesting, IMO.

Good post, and I agree with most of it. However, there is a couple of fundamental flaws in our game at the moment. We have been sussed out defensively, we compress far too much, so teams now know to shift it wide quickly and they get a stroll in for a try. Our attack is far too Dobson-focused, meaning that you stop him (in particular his short kicking near the line) and you stop Rovers.

Its not just about consistency, its about adapting and evolving. We have failed to move on since the end of last season when teams started to exploit our defence. We need to work on our patterns and the speed of our sliding defence if we are to get anything out of 2010.

Which goes back to the old cliché of the best form of defence being attack. Our defending has been woeful at times, but when you're having to defend your line as much as we do in games, fatigue sets in, confidence drains and mistakes appear.