Bullock isn’t a starting prop, he’s an impact prop. Will work great coming off the bench to tired defences.

You misunderstand me Grimmy. I'm not saying it's the best team we've had. I'm saying the effort and determination, along with the application in defence is as good as anything we've had in Superleague, regardless of personnel. In attack we have shown more flair and 'heads up' rugby than we have since 2012.

If you believe this team isn't as good, particularly in the forwards, as previous ones then that reinforces what I've been saying. Unless, of course, you don't agree that our attack is more exciting to watch or that our defence is as good as previously, in which case I can only, with respect, disagree.

Some of the rugby we've played under every coach we've ever had, including Monie and Lowe, has been shocking. It's not a new phenomenon.

I don't know whether Lam is the man to take us forward or not but I do know we have made significant strides in the latter half of last season and, given the circumstances, so far this, particularly in attack. This season will tell us much more. If we get an improvement again this year we are very likely to land a trophy.

Whatever happens this season we need to make a longer term call on Lam for me at some point this year. Is he good enough? If he is then give him a minimum two year deal to just give it a more settled feel. If they don’t think he is, then find somebody they do feel they can appoint on more than a year to year deal. It may be the case that Lam himself doesn’t want to commit to more than a year at a time due to family commitments but unfortunately for me that isn’t good enough. He’s far from being a proven first team coach and there are plenty of guys with good records who would love the job.

I think (sadly) the bigger question will (again) be... can we get anyone better?

It's very different a player coming from Australia during Covid vs. a coach. Players usually don't have families, kids etc. and coaching in NRL is hugely different. They have more resources, more staff, better facilities.

That decision is huge IMHO, the biggest IL will make. There are signs his style is starting being imprinted on the side and if he were offered a 2yr deal now I’d be content with it given the back end of last season and the 2 games so far this season. I think what helps him is that the league is so poor at the moment with only Wigan and St Helens realistically in with a shout of winning trophies. Given we [ishould [/ibe winning every other game (I know we won’t) and therefore be in the top 2 of SL, it may show he’s better than what he actually is. Any lower is unacceptable.

If we wish to not just compete for trophies but go out and win them we need to recruit at least one experienced prop that makes hard yards, to help those young lads. The first two games this season, as well as a number of games last season (grand final included) shows we struggled to get out of our own territory for large periods.

Win the territory and we are better than most teams 100% of the time.

Burgess was meant to be that player, it hasn't happened, he's gone. We need to replace and quickly in my opinion. If we don't we end up nearly men again, and Lam will be no doubt on his way out.

Lammy is Cherry & White to the core & I'd be happy for him to stay on as coach until Lockers is ready to take the big step.
And I definitely wasn't saying that during his first year in charge.
Loved him as a player -- Not so much as a coach.
He has won me over though tbf.
The only issue I have, is who he picks between Zak & Bev for FB?
My thoughts are pretty clear ... But that's maybe a different discussion, for another time.

Lockers as Head Coach? Yeah it’s a nice thought but he’s been coaching less than 6months. It’s far, far too early to even think of him in that role. Look at Keiron Cunningham for what being given the top job too soon achieves. He needs to learn his trade (again) and develop as a coach before he even gets anywhere near the top job. Lockers as the next Head Coach is an absolute no.

Absolutely, we promote former players to head coach far too often in this country. I dealt he would need 2 or 3 years in the back room staff, 2 or 3 as an assistant then either a couple in charge of a championship club or a further couple as an assistant to a different head coach. He should be 10 years away from that position IMO.

I'm not saying Lockers should be the next Head Coach, but he's definitely been coaching longer than 6 months. He was involved with the academy for more than one season whilst he was still playing, not sure how many.

Being involved is different to coaching though, he may well have taken a few sessions, been to a few games but ultimately it’s not really coaching. As Trainman said he should be years away from that role. He’s a Wigan legend, a no doubt hall of famer in Wigan and RL. I would hate him to be in the top job too soon and his reputation tarnished like Cunningham’s was at Saints. As a mate of mine said “Cunningham was a quality player but a f*****g sh**e coach”. Patience is key here.

Oh for sure I agree with that and instantly thought of Cunningham when it was mentioned, just wanted to point out he has been doing stuff. I'm not keen on anyone coaching players they played alongside, I can't remember that ever going well.

I would love it if Lockers managed to get an assistant coaching job in Australia for a few years and then came back as our head coach.

He's obviously knocked back a lot of NRL offers though as a player so I guess it's unlikely.

Why should he go to Australia to cut his teeth?

I don’t understand.

I doubt he’d go the NRL to be honest. IIRC he rejected it because of family reasons, if wrong I’m sure I’ll get corrected. I can’t see that having changed since which is a shame but it isn’t at the same time. He’d learn a great deal and [ipossibly [/i develop more as a coach but on the flip side we get to keep him in British RL

I don’t think it’s just Lockers we have plans for coaching wise.

The club think very highly of our current captain in relation to coaching, it’s likely this was significant to his appointment as captain, he’s a lot smarter than I think people give him credit for.

Isa no issues, "worthy of on field penalty"

*Heads to the VT and Wakefield boards to see the meltdown

Even during his post match moan Chester said Johnstone's injury had nothing to do with the defeat.
Nothing to see!

Because hardly any British coaches actually make the promotion to head coach and look competent these days?

It's no secret that the best coaches in our game are Australian, and most 'new' ideas flow from the game over there so why not go and learn off a current NRL head coach?

Not sure about that. It's about 50/50 between British and non-British coaches in terms of SL trophies won. Wane, McDermott, Radford, Watson and Powell are all fairly successful recent British coaches, then to a lesser extent Ward and Ford have done well with limited resources too. Tony Smith is Australian but all his coaching experience has been over here and he has continued to be successful for 20 years.

Noble also.

was Noble not assistant to Elliott though so maybe helped him

I was talking about recent coaches but yes he was another successful British coach