Thu 5 Sept : SL : Castleford Tigers v Hull FC KO 7:45 pm Sky TV

[Old Frightful]

1 hour ago, Kenilworth Tiger said:

I feel I need to make an apology

In the past i have said that all Sneyd can do is kick, well it's obvious after tonight that he cant even do that

 

Sssnnnnneeeeyyyydddddd

Two successive Lance Todd Trophies and the only bloke this season to kick two golden point drop goals.

But apart from that, you're right mate.

[corvusxiii]

Just so you know the Ale Shed had the immense Elland 1872 Porter 6.5% which meant that after waiting all winter for the season to start I may not fully realise that the last home game has..... er.... what ...awe ....ψψξ      See you all next Feb.

 

[Denton Rovers RLFC]

30 minutes ago, Gooleboy said:

Some good points, but as a Hull fan do you honestly think the Owner even knows what the ball is blown up with?

Yes, the guy is a businessman who has hired and fired soccer managers in the past, so has been involved in sports 'franchises' for a while. He's in it for the money, this is a business matter not like Ken Davey and he's talked plenty about the goings on at the club, coaches, players, investment in buying up land and developing the facilities. He even responded in one of the clubs programmes after I sent the club a few words via an online petition I set up as my own protest about how things were going It was something I needed to say and get off my chest and it seemed an easy way to ensure that the club received what I had to say. tell him what I thought, in part we/he did ring through the changes personnel wise but winning a 4 match competition whilst buying in players from outside the club and letting the academy talent fall through the net year after year (under Radford) has proven my point that the coach is useless, got lucky with an over the cap squad that was relatively injury free, particularly in 2016.

[JohnM]

Isn't it supposed to be a team sport? Certainly that's how Cas played it. Less sure about Hull.

Cas had an attacking structure that was more or less held for the whole game, whilst to me Hull seemed to be a loose collection of 13 players who hadn't played or training together for ages. Connor at his worst,  too.

[Old Frightful]

We were discussing Radford and Pearson last night and were fairly certain the latter had made noises about a new contract.

Here are Pearson's exact words from early July :

“We’re taking it a bit nonchalantly, but he’ll be renewed very shortly. As long as I’m chairman here I can’t foresee ever making a change in my coach. I trust him implicitly and he’s done a great job for me.”

Deary me, I'd either forgotten how much doom there is for my club in those few words.

Looks like we need a new owner as well.

[Old Frightful]

2 minutes ago, JohnM said:

Isn't it supposed to be a team sport? Certainly that's how Cas played it. Less sure about Hull.

Cas had an attacking structure that was more or less held for the whole game, whilst to me Hull seemed to be a loose collection of 13 players who hadn't played or training together for ages. Connor at his worst,  too.

Exactly right John, but Adam Pearson insists Radford is doing a fine job in getting a bunch of very good players to act like they've never met each other before they set foot on the park.

[Harry Stottle]

9 hours ago, Dunedan said:

Good showing by Cas. Must win game and they did a tidy job. Wasteful at times mind, but in cruise control for most of the game.

Hull were abject. You wouldn't know they've been a top 5 side most of the season. For a second year in a row they seem to have quit on the season with a handful of games left.

There is a lot to be said in that statement that points at player's attitudes when they receive a contract that pays them the same whatever the result of the game they play in, or even if they do not play at all.

I am old enough to remember the mentality displayed in the days of different rewards for win, lose or draw and the chairman visiting the dressing room at half time if his team is losing and of him dangling the carrot of a "little extra" if they can turn the game around and get the result.

Other aspects of the game also came into play, like the 'hard men' protecting their teams playmakers and try scorers if they became a target of the opposition.

Now I know we will never go back to that system, but just think when watching your team and consider if they are just seemingly going through the motions - as Hull FC appear to be doing - would they perform differently if it was hitting them in the pocket.

Pay contracts by all means, but make a portion of it performance related I am not talking about end of season bonuses but weekly, monthly effected pay, I do think we would see more emphasis on winning from the player's than as you say quitting.

[Gooleboy]

7 hours ago, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

Yes, the guy is a businessman who has hired and fired soccer managers in the past, so has been involved in sports 'franchises' for a while. He's in it for the money, this is a business matter not like Ken Davey and he's talked plenty about the goings on at the club, coaches, players, investment in buying up land and developing the facilities. He even responded in one of the clubs programmes after I sent the club a few words via an online petition I set up as my own protest about how things were going It was something I needed to say and get off my chest and it seemed an easy way to ensure that the club received what I had to say. tell him what I thought, in part we/he did ring through the changes personnel wise but winning a 4 match competition whilst buying in players from outside the club and letting the academy talent fall through the net year after year (under Radford) has proven my point that the coach is useless, got lucky with an over the cap squad that was relatively injury free, particularly in 2016.

Thanks for the reply, I agree he is probably a shrewd Business Man, I was more questioning his knowledge of Rugby League.

[Chris22]

Hull FC have had a hideous decline towards the end of the season. It was only a couple of months ago that some were tipping them to reach the Grand Final. Things can and have changed so much in a month.

I said before the game that this felt like the start of the play offs for both teams. Castleford played like that, but Hull FC did not. That has to be a huge concern for Hull, arguably their season was on the line and they performed woefully.

Castleford seem to be growing though, their defence has really upped its game in the last few weeks and their attack clicked too last night. If, as expected, they play Salford in week 1 of the play offs, then the winner of that game may fancy an upset in week 2.

From a neutral viewpoint, it's good that we definitely have something to play for going into the final round. Let's hope that Sky kick the games off at the same time, unlike in 2017 when they wrongly staggered them over the weekend.

[sentoffagain2]

  Cas forwards struggle against teams with a dominant pack.However last night they were well on top the Hull F.C. forwards rolled over like pussy cats.

[Denton Rovers RLFC]

6 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

Thanks for the reply, I agree he is probably a shrewd Business Man, I was more questioning his knowledge of Rugby League.

In reality I don't know how in depth his understanding is, but in fact it's utterly irrelevant, you don't need to understand RL to appreciate that a coach isn't doing their job properly, you don't need to understand it to see that we need changes to how we do things on the pitch and within the group of players/staff as a whole. We need a coach who can understand basic human psychology, how young men tick, how to train people to be able to do the tasks you need them to do even when under duress. Bringing in sports psychologist should be the first thing on the tick box and telling the coach that if they aren't prepared to work with them then they aren't suitable for the job.

It's not the players skills in themselves that are massively different, even the fitness levels are barely any different, it's how players are coached/trained, how players react to certain scenarios, how the coach prepares them for that (so they don't fold/panic), how players can set themselves targets to meet, how they can figure out how they can achieve that in the best way possible and your positioning on the field.

So for instance as a forward who is more of a stopper than an attacker*  you want to make at least two first in tackles per defending set and to make those clean hits that stop  the opposition and then no errors/no penalty.

Drumming stuff into players on the training pitch with high intensity training and friendlies early season so that they they are less likely to revert to 'dumb' school level carp when under pressure is what sorts out the better plaers/teams from the also rans. Again if you read the NRL coaching manuals from a few years back this is made very clear as to why players perform better/at a higher level and for longer even when under the pump because they are mentally strong. That can be a combination of all sorts of factors but importantly it needs to come from the coaching team to bolster or enhance the individual players own fortitude and ability to act out what they've learnt. Again, that's something you don't need to know abut RL and the owner should see this if he's bothered about his assets.

For far too long we've had a team with too many weak minded types, too easy to fold/flap, too easy to tos it off and do what they like when they like and the coach hasn't got an effing clue how to control them, how to get them performing to a standard every single game. Yes of course injuries play a part, players are often carrying them, but this again comes back to how you develop your youngsters, getting them ready mentally to step in. I'd rather have a well prepared youngster in than playing a senior player carrying an injury that is more likely to hinder their performance not just for that one game but over a whole season, we see it all too often, player being told they have to play and get jabbed up, yet under perform and another kid is left to stagnate/doesn't get developed and then the senior player carrying an injury breaks down completely and the youngster isn't ready at all.

Also I reckon a lot of coaches don't grasp that stuff going on at home can have a significant influence on how a player plays/their ability to absorb what they need to learn/do for a given match and their mental prep for a game.  And yet again that's something a senior manager/someone who is a CEO or runs their own business should be able to grasp/see and not have any RL knowledge whatsoever, because it's actually how you run any company, it's how you run a successfulorganisation and have workers who will bust a gut for you, are prepared and have the skillset and mental ability to deal with their jobs and do so when under pressure and actually come away feeling brilliant about the job they do. Sure the vast majority of people don't have that direct physical combative aspect but some jobs are more sapping in other ways, have more on the line aside from bradding a ball over a white line/up one end of pitch, some are as physical and in some cases far more dangerous.

Players like Connor whilst very talented, IMO he's got more problems than he probably realises or admits to people, he needs to sort his shizzle out or he's going to have problems later on and I don't mean on the field. Though we see that frequently, when he or the team aren't on top he disappears, he's one of the weakest minded players in the team as far as I'm concerned. A coach who is worth their salt will deal with that, a team owner who is worth their salt should be able to see what is going on and take steps to either rectify the problem or let the driftwood go, and in Hull's case Pearson needs to let Radford go and find an actual coach, not someone who back-stabbed their way into the job.