Watershed time - AC selected that team and played poor position ally, probably beacause of the team he selected ( leaving out probably the best positional kicker in this league did not help )
next - dewsbury ? Not easy either, they will have a big pack so over to AC to sort it or walk
There won't be any prop signings simply because if he brings some in it's an acceptance on his part that he's got it wrong having so much faith in playing 2nd rows at prop ....didn't work last season hence why ironically we brought Bibby in ...won't work this season either ...
@scouseviking55 The lunacy is not losing but not selecting the strongest team that is available & not playing the strongest in that position. You need 2 props on the bench in games like today not a load of second row & back rowers. If your best game player is fit you do not drop him for a far inferior player.
@geoffw I agree, but to say we will lose fans for the rest of the season because we lost one game against a strong team, who will win more of their home games than they will lose and are now currently 2nd with 5 win from 6 is also lunacy.
Mcwhirter throwing an interception at 16-12 when we had a full set on their line, is that AC’s fault? Could have flipped the game if we score on that set and go 18-16 up, but that’s professional sport. People lose there minds after a loss and forget that we’ve just come off a 5 game winning streak but no one cares and it’s all doom and gloom because we lost in a competitive league.
heads gone by so many
@cumbria-viking I agree his ego won't allow that but we've needed props for years and we get almost some semblance of it and we let one go and will not pick houghton and had 3 back rows on the bench seems crazy hall is a good solid worker but if your spelling your loose forward (don't understand it) and put jj there surely you don't need hall
everybody knew Donny had huge pack except Coleman it seems
@scouseviking55 It is the same every season. Five years ago we had 3,500 average gate. That is now 2, 200. I definitely think the club expected bigger gates this season with the extra pre & post match experiences. Consequently we cannot match what other sides can offer. Possibly why Hughes & Bibby allowed to leave. Every year Coleman signs 4 or 5 players then lets them go without giving them a chance. In the case of Hughes I think he is a far better prospect than Lyons. Connell was lucky he got his chance due to injury otherwise he would probably never have got his chance either.
Professional sport is tough. In the past good players like Dutton & Burke both Lance Todd trophy winners were eventually shown the door. I do not believe Coleman has it in him. I am not saying he should be sacked as few good coaches at this level. However if we had not signed say Houghton & Hughes would it not make sense to offer a bit more to the likes of Bibby a steady performer for us in a position hard to fill for many seasons & retain him?
Just back from the game, first of the season for me.
From my perspective, defensively we stood up well against a big mobile side. However, we were on their line four times in the first half and came away with nothing, not even a repeat set. Butt going off did disrupt us, but we did look disorganised throughout. Doncaster looked good, confident and well drilled. In my opinion had we had two big props on the bench and Abdull at half back would it have made a difference, not really.
Not many will beat Doncaster at their ground.
Doncaster were the best team we’ve faced this season, including London. Very big and very quick.
Not sure I agree with dropping Abdull, but I can understand why he did it. Coleman said before the game he wanted more running threat and the only try we did score that wasn’t gifted to us, came from a half running. Abdull’s defence has been exposed by North Wales, Google & Hunslet- Doncaster could have had a field day down his side. Whether that risk outweighs what he offers in attack is down to the coach.
We’ve still got too many passengers- Hall & Gregson aren’t good enough for a team that wants to finish the top end of the table.
Hughes and Bibby weren’t the answers, either. There’s a reason they’re both at Salford now
Well this team is now a totally AC team - he has brought them in and selection and squad rotation is down to him
also game management, but we do not seem able to change the way we play when playing decent teams - we have no plan c ,never mind b
i await comments
The doom merchants on this forum are unaware of what goes on from 5pm on a Sunday, to 3pm the following Sunday. It's not all about the 80 mins that affects AC's team selection, for what reasons players are released & for what is happening in a players psychological make up.
RL team loses 2 games in 7, and people's heads fall off. Crack on with your opinions (everybody has one), as I'm sure AC will use his to select the team for our next fixture.
Paulie xx
It’s not doom merchants paulie - you yourself have said many times play your strongest team !
and today we did not
simples !
@scouseviking55 agree with most of that but I think it isn't the defeat..it's the nature of it ..to rest your best half in-between two weekends that have no fixture is beyond negligible..to then top that off with effectively doing the same with Roberts just adds to the madness....very much so self inflicted...and what happened to every player has to earn that shirt ..if your out you have to work your way back in when you get gregson walking straight back in ...there's no guarantee even if abdull played we'd have won but one thing that would have been is our end of set kicks would have been far far more dangerous...the times we got pinned in he'd have kicked us 60m down the other end ...things that our up to now success has been built on ...but today the gaffer thought " no I don't think we'll do that and chose a half whose practically got zero kicking game ....