The problem is that if we start the season with McNamara and start badly, he effectively becomes a dead duck coach. We're then faced with the choice of waiting until his contract expires and writing off the season, or sacking him early in the season when good replacements are hard to find.

I'm not sure the club would survive another season like this.

Surely he became that this season!

Thank god - I was crestfallen when I saw the post before. Thought I'd lost a hero, it was like when Fairbank retired!

Oi! Is there not a better phrase to use??



I think FA said a while ago that he had an air of a dead man walking, but he's survived. And if he's survived to this point I really think he'l survive untill next season.

I agree with what you say though, and its not what I would do, I'm just saying with what I have heard/seen/read I just reckon thats what the club are thinking so i've not bothered to come up with a replacement coach name thats not required.

For me its making me more loyal if that makes sense. because of dwindling numbers I find myself making more effort to get to games I also spent a little bit at the shop. Every time I think its the one where everything clicks but unfortunately the team is hamstrung by the Deacon/Newton combination.

Saw some good things - a much improved Langley, Scruton maintaining recent form, the Nero/Taduala partnership looked very good. Whitehead and Donaldson kicked on well with the former impressing with his chase back for Howells 2nd try (unfortunately not enough). Both will be good assets for us.

Not sure who was responsible for the Howell try when he cut back in. Someone should have put a shoulder in but it was an excellent angle

But like you its blind at the moment

having watched the "game" yesterday, i noticed a few things.

Fans are expecting a poor performance with no heart and this is reflected in the lack of vocal support.

When we did go into the lead most people around me expected us to loose it fairly swiftly (which we did)

When the Quins player borke the line and went full length of the field, no one expected the team to try and actually catch him (bar Halley) Once we were behind with 5 minutes to go the team woke up a bit (wtf is that all about) we showed some agression and heart for about a minute before letting Quins score again.

Terry needs leaving out of the team now, granted he set up a try but for the rest of his time on the pitch we wer dis jointed and out of ideas, Wagga seems to have a better influence on the team.

Amazingly it seems Macca has pre ordained time to bring the gash players on regardless of whats going on on the pitch, taking orrison off and putting worrincey on left me gasping for air..

Surely a ccoach under pressure with a team underperforming should be pitchside forthe ENITRE game. not sendign messages down, Macca had the air f "couldnt be d" on the way back up to his crows nest with the joyful and crappy assitant Basil close behind...

What next for this season? mroe rappy performances backed up Maccas pointles positive chats which despite everything said every week never has the desired response, how many times can we work hard and take positives fro ma game in which their were few. the lack of supporters is a worry but why should people be expected to turn up an watch 17 player nopt give a for 80 minutes...grrr

Exactly. Although the crowd were willing them to do something, anything to encourage a rise in the crowd noise and noticeably this happened usually when someone would make a good hit up and make yards in teh tackle. Equally, for those spells where we were defending very well in our own quarter, there was generous support and applause. But maybe the long spells where there is little or no crowd noise reflect the spells where there is little or no discernible effort on the field? Like ineffectual one man walking plunges?


Exactly. It's a point I've made many times, you don't know [ihow[/i we'll blow it (and the methods are many, varied and ingenious) - but you just know we [iwill[/i blow it.


Exactly - deja vu.


Very true. That is not the first time either, which is why . . .



I did indeed, and he still does.

I'd go with much of that.
There are some good signs [size=59(you just have to look really really hard for them)[/size

Really, really hard. When we sign Brough and Inglis it will start to be easy to spot these good signs though.

The thought of another season like this is very depressing. Unfortunately I can't see any evidence of improvement or any suggestion that it'll be any different under the present regime. If anything the second half of the season has been worse than the first half - despite assurances from the coach that it would be better.

There's been plenty of fine words come out of the club this season but importantly none of it has been backed up by fine actions. If we look at performances and results this year then things have been pretty abject. The first team has been on a steady decline for 3 years and shows no sign of improvement.

Another season like this next year would put the club in real danger IMO. If we do finish 12th, and that looks very likely, then that represents a complete failure by the players and coaching staff. To simply carry on as if nothing's happened is to accept second best and will just reinforce the weak, losing mentality on the field.

I'm with him...

Me too

The most annoying thing for me is that we wee having the same discussions this time last season and despite all the assurances nothings changed well at least for the better.

Makes you wonder how long things can carry on like this.

It does. Something needs to happen to lift the gloom that's hanging around Odsal.

I really can't see any quick fixes but I can see we're only getting worse by sticking to the current plan.

How much worse must it get? Can the club survive if cashflow is hit further by dwindling gates that will inevitably follow crap performanaces? It's ok building for the long term but if the short term isn't looked after there won't be a long term.

Exactly the point I've been making all season.

Indeed. And its not just dwindling gates...what about the effect on sponsors, prospective players, those responsible for the OSV, what little clout we retain at the RFL...

Leaving aside those who are so worryingly-obsessed with it all being the coaching staff's fault that they are blind to anything else, I think what we saw on Sunday summed it up - the team (for whatever reason) just does not seem to be good enough. It looks tired and stale and lacking confidence. How is it that the whole seems to be LESS than the sum of the parts, rather than MORE like it should be? And who or what is responsible? It can't all be the coach, despite what some people would like to have you believe, but neither can he be blameless. I'm sure he would wish the resources were there for a much stronger team of assistants. It can't all be money, because we have seen clubs with smaller playing staff budgets (it is to be assumed, anyway) doing rather better than us. So what is it?

I think that if the (thoroughly demoralised -and let's not beat about the bush here) supporters had confidence now that the club KNEW what the cause was, and was actively taking steps to address it, and that those steps likely WOULD address it, we'd all feel a bit less demotivated and generally cynical about the situation. I HOPE that this is the case, and that much of such actions cannot yet be put in the public domain.

Time to practice what I preach and ask the question again, I think.

All you'll get is a rehashing of the forum's answers.

In which case, the question won't have been answered.

A bit like the forum then. Going back to the forum I do wish that I had been probing but like most people I got suckered with the building for the future spin that was been pedaled.

I don't think we were suckered, I think that part's true.

But we have had (the first example of it I can remember anywhere) this year players actually going public and more than one saying specifically or else strongly implying that some of their team mates were not putting it all in on the field.

I know in many games in many sports it can look that way but you like to think that appearances are being deceptive and in fact they're doing their best. But on so many occasions - and again on Sunday - we saw what looked suspiciously like a lack of appplication, effort, dog, call it what you want. That, taken with the admissions made publicly, convinces me that in the Bulls case, what you see is in fact what you're getting. And that is: not all the players putting it all in all the time.

I really don't think that building for the future line will work again. The board have played their joker with that one and I doubt that IF they have another forum that there'll be alot more angry fans next time and no rousing speach will save them from the hard questions

Sorry but you weren't ther.

Not at the last one, no. But I reckon the stuff about the time and effort rebuilding and improving the youth setup is on the money. I'm not saying it mitigates the woeful stuff some first team players have turned out much of the time, it hasn't been the youth players serving this up.