so can we then surmise that we don't have a great coach and he doesn't get the best out of players? Hmmmmm.....

I know you like rick stone, honest, yada yada, but can you honestly say that he has improved our problem areas?
Issues last year, fitness, poor game management, lack of creativity, poor defence
Issues this year, fitness (its improved yes but still not convinced as in the last 15 minutes we seem to have still struggled), poor game management- still pushing the pass, poor decisions on last play options etc, lack of creativity- still can't score when camped on the opposition line, poor defence still have a terrible record in defence- worst in league in fact although we've played one more game than some. .

So as I keep saying what exactly other than an average prop, an average second row and an injured player yet to play has Stone brought to the table. I honestly don't see anything much has changed.

rick stone saved us from relegation last season

far too early this season to be judging, we have 5 points more than we did last season so far so thats an improvement!

but i agree its not looking too promising

he has had massive injury problems though and unsettled team to deal with, some arent fit not after injuries like mcgillvary and ferguson (rusty)

Did he really? Because we didn't really improve very much last season to me- and a drop goal missed could have made things very different. I don't think he can take the credit for that as I don't think we would have been in a different scenario had he not joined us. He didn't prevent us from finishing bottom in the regular season or avoiding the MPG by the skin of our teeth.

yes really he did..we are playing sl this year!

now his next task is to get us into the top 8. not looking good but mitigating factors at the moment, currently 1 point away from the target

Well if you want to compare Rick Stone after 8 months to Daryl Powell's 5 year tenure fair enough then no not yet but did Powell make Cas into the flair attractive side they are now after 8 months? (they finished 12th and 13th in his 1st 2 years). Rick said straight away the mess at the club would take ages to sort out, 8 months is not a long time !!

Like i've always said we have to take a fall to enable us to rise again, whether Rick is the man to help us do that i don't know but if we don't give him the time he has said he needs how will we ever know ?

Castleford gave Powell 2 1/2 years before he finally started to get it right, you can't expect 1 bloke and 3 or 4 signings to change everything in such a short space of time, let's have a bit of patience and plenty of trust in Rick, the club obviously see him as a man for the future and are hopefully letting him get on with doing what he said he would.

I like Rick personally and as a supporter of the club i will be one of those that give him time, he hasn't been given an open cheque book to go out and buy us success, any improvement that comes will be through hard work from everyone.

This club is re-building, it takes time !!

Stone has inherited a squad so will take a while to bring in and change personnel where he sees fit.
Culture again will take time to change
He has to work out best combinations ect with a squad he didn't know much about before he came.
He has identified the issues we all passed comment on. He seems honest and genuine certainly refreshing from the usual scripted comments

This has to be a wind up.............you wouldn't take Johnstone for Murphy or brendan Ormsby???............or bjb for that matter.........Fifita for Rick wakeman or Clough???...........Ashurst for Ferguson????...........I'm pretty sure the majority of your fans would take wood back.........a few would even fancy grix and Huby back.........I think you seriously overrate a lot of your players............Jools reckoned last year was a mere blip.............I can't see it..............id take iftiwhatshisface and tai from your squad............maybe Mcgilvary could come as cover for our wingers...........the rest you can keep............including Danny boy who's now 2 years past sl level............

Awww trin, you've missed me so much on SLfans you've stalked, sorry come to find me, on here instead.

Yes jools............I've avoided the much easier route of joining you and your 3 mates on that borefest site......and joined here..........just to see you. ..........

Thought Powell took over mid-end of 2013?
2014 his first full year in charge he went to Wembley and was one match away from LLS?
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm almost sure he got a five year deal in his first full year in charge

names not a strong point of yours

widnes were top of the league this time last season?

Calm down dear, i was asking the previous poster who they'd take ....

And yes i'd take Johnstone, plus i haven't seen enough of Wakey's side to judge on the others, certainly there's no-one that jumps out at me as better than what we've already got which i would exchange.

And yet, one quarter of your posts on here so far have been directed at me...

Could have been then, i thought he'd been there 5 years already, either way they struggled in his 1st season and some of his 2nd then i'm pretty sure as i remember reading how he was a ''championship coach' and wouldn't do anything.

Just thought I'd jump in here - Powell joined us halfway through 2013. 2014 was the year we got to CC Final and nearly snatched LLS. He had half a season to whip us into shape and avoid relegation and then kicked on from there.

I stand corrected then thanks for that, out of interest were Cas fans always happy with him even after 8 months and all his signings ?

I can't answer for all Cas fans, but seeing how the team were playing in towards the back end of 2013 after he'd took over most of us knew he was what we needed. His record with us speaks for itself. We were 'down and out' when he took over. He started putting his stamp on things immediately, took us to Wembley in his first full year, one win away from the LLS (If we'd have won away in Catalans we'd have took the shield). Our finishes in his 3 full years have been 4th in 2014, 5th in 2015, 5th in 2016. I can say that we were probably a lot happier with him after 8 months than most of your fans seem with Stone.

Cheers for that, maybe the expectations with your fans weren't as high as ours are.

I think the difference is we went from rock bottom, pastings every week, to challenging for trophies within a short space of time - so as long as we seemed to give any sort of effort, Cas fans were happy with that because we had watched so much dross for so long (with 2 relegations tucked in there) - the success we had in 2014 was just unprecedented for us. With you it seems to be sort of the other way around - you guys are where we were a few years ago, not really sure what you were gonna get week in week out. It breeds apathy in fans.

All most of us wanted to see was the players playing with pride in the jersey, working for each other and putting the effort in. Don't forget, we'd been watching a Millward team, so anything was better than that dross! Powell achieved all of those things within weeks. No, the results didn't come straight away, but the effort and work rate within the team did. So, a question for you Daz; Has Stone managed to achieve even that in the time he's been there? If he has, then theres the start, if not then he may not be the right person for you

I would quite possible say that the effort improved after Millward had left and before Powell came in, Danny Orr was fantastic for 3 weeks (I think that's how long it was), this really helped Powell when he did finally take over.

That being said, I think Huddersfield are going through a transition period, for me personally I think the best thing would e to let Brough go, bring in a new half back a start to build a team around them. I must say though, Rick Stone doesn't really fill me with enthusiasm unlike several other coaches in Super League.

You are bang on with that about the effort when Orr took charge temporarily mate. I forgot to mention that. So now, I think, between 3 of us Daz you virtually have the full answers to your question. Put it all together, compare it with what you have with Stone and then see if he has achieved anything in 8 months. I'm with tigersteve, Stone doesn't fill me with enthusiasm, and if I was a Huddersfield fan I'd have wanted to see more improvements by now on the field. I can't comment on 'off the field' though, only fans of your own club could comment on that I think. The other thing to add though, is that Powell doesn't do it all on his own. Ours is a very good coaching team; Powell, Orr and Sheridan all play a massive part. Our club is a sum of its parts, not individuals.

Same thing happened with Stuart Raper aswell as Daryl Powell , we went from basement dwellers that couldn't win a coin toss to the form team in the comp overnight, that's the one bit of hope I would give to any team going down hill fast when you get an outstanding coach it's like flicking on a switch.

Irispective of what's happening at Huddersfield, Powell is doing a great job, anyone who can't see that is just plain blind, or more likely envious, Seems to me he's doing the same job for Cas that N Brown did for us, I don't think R Stone is that kind of coach but it doesn't mean he won't get us there eventually, just a matter of if anyone is still bothering to go watch. The real problem is that with the level of a lot of our players we need someone like either Powel or Brown .