I've also changed my mind over having an assistant coach again after Saturday. Isn't Tony Smith available?
It will be interesting to see how Woolfe goes for the next few weeks as acting coach of the Knights whilst Brown leaves?
https://www.newcastleknights.com.au/...ses-the-media/
I quite like Wane (in a pantomime villain sense) and I agree that he’s a winner. I’m not sure, however, that a large enough percentage of our fans would accept him. I’m also not sure that he would accept us. Plenty of players and coaches have crossed the great divide between Saints and Wigan but I’m not at all sure that he would.
There’s also the question of playing style. I’ve enjoyed the weekly rounds under Jason Holbrook. He’s had us playing entertaining rugby. The danger is that if the board thinks that we just want to win the Challenge Cup and Grand Final, that may be sacrificed. We need someone (and Jason Holbrook May still have it in him) who can motivate the players and get them over the final mental hurdle in a big game but I hope that won’t be at the expense of our playing style.
I endured the pain of watching the game back on Sunday and even put myself through the whole BBC build up pre game.
The feature they did with Holbrook and Price was very interesting. It seemed JH was an extremely nice bloke but seemed a bit behind SP in terms of having a bit about him.
They talked about growing up together and Holbrook recalled Price always coming up with set moves and gameplans. He also mentioned Price doing anything to win which I thought was very telling.
However, had we won the game I may not have been looking at anything like that so my judgement could be a little clouded!
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I know this will not go down well on this board . If I was EM I would pay up JH's contract now . Sign up Sean Wane until end of season . He will motivate & give us the kick up the behind that we badly need . Wane may be made up to get back at the way he was treated at Wigin plus the pie fans would be sick as parrots if he was in charge of us if we beat them in the GF .
I think we have to back Holbrook until the end of the season.
However, I firmly believe there is a more rigid, percentage, forward orientated game required to win the Sky Razmatazz Final.
I don't know how others feel but seeing Wire parade that trophy that means so much to me is a total kick in the proverbial. I'm sick of losing these games, absolutely weary of it.
Every bit of free time I've had, it's gnawing away at me. I hope the players and coaching staff have a determination to put this tag of chokers to bed. Because it's there, whether we agree or not.
All that said, I would like to thank the players and coaching staff for playing some awesome rugby since Holbrook arrived at the club.
Before I saw your post I was thinking of starting a thread thanking Holbrook for what he’s done. From that day he appeared at St James’s Park (I know the interim coaching team was largely responsible) we have seen some brilliant performances. We’ve also had Good Friday victories, which we hadn’t enjoyed for some time.
There’s still a lot of anger from Saturday but Holbrook has done wonders at our club. He’s leaving of his own volition and there will now be change but I think he should leave with our thanks for what he’s achieved and not with a feeling that we’re all hostile to him. He’s a good bloke and he got us out of the gloom of the Cunningham era. He may or may not be able to win us a Grand Final but two League Leaders Shields and a lot of entertainment along the way shouldn’t be written off in a spiteful way.
Thank you Justin. I hope we win a final before you go. If we don’t I still think you’ve achieved a lot.
its crazy to train up another Australian coach just so he can leave for at top coaching position in the NRL, rather fail with an English coach than an Australian one.
I agree .
I can tell you exactly what 27-0 was like, Ralph. About as bad as it gets and far worse than last Saturday. I took off my replica shirt on Wembley Way and threw it in a bin and vowed I'd never watch Saints again. Of course, I was there at the next match supporting them as passionately as ever. That's what being a Saints supporter is?!
It amazes me how one game can change people's opinions. The contrast between people's view of Holbrook and Price has changed last Saturday.
I can barely recall anyone questioning Holbrook and his ability up to the final.
On the other hand, had the result gone the other way at Wembley I can't help but feel Price might have been down the job centre before long after a run in defeats and such a gulf at the top of the table.
There were definitely rumblings of discontent among the Wire fans questioning if Price could take them any further forward.
Within 80 minutes Price is now The Messiah and Holbrook is now not fit and for some shouldn't see the season out.
Unbelievable. The change this guy has brought us out of the dark days under KC with almost the same personnel has been a joy for the most part.
At the start of the season I said I would settle for the Challenge Cup OR the Championship. We are still in with a very good chance of achieving that.
I find it quite ironic being called bottlers by supporters of a club who have to ask their Great Great Great Great Grandfather what it was like to win the league!!
Warrington fans that wanted Price gone don't actually understand the structure of the game though. All those league defeats mean absolutely jack, the gap at the top means nothing
Both Brian McClennan and Brian McDermott had big 'OUT' campaigns against them because they used to manage the league effectively to allow them to win the big trophies
Price is clearly an astute coach and a decent strategist, for example getting all the extra interchanges on a boiling hot day was very good thinking
Holbrook is a brilliant coach but he's also a really nice bloke, maybe if he was a 'win at all costs' coach like Price we wouldn't like him as much. He's not only made us a force back on the pitch but he's re-invigorated the Saints community too. I really hope he wins the big one - he deserves to
Notwithstanding that doing so would create a huge moral question mark over the club to say the least, what would it achieve? It would unsettle the players and require them to get used to a new playing style in very little time. Lets not throw the baby out wit the bathwater... JH has largely been a revelation at this club. I'd be desperately disappointed if he left with little, because his legacy deserves so much more than that.
I agree wholeheartedly, he has been absolutely brilliant for Saints IMO. He should not be immune from criticism however and should naturally ask himself would he have done anything differently. The answer is probably "no" on this occasion but to improve and evolve in any endeavour you need to keep asking yourself those questions
For me even if he doesn't win the GF he's up there with the best coaches we've had in my lifetime supporting Saints. If you chucked a Sculthorpe or a Peacock in this Saints side they'd win everything for a few years, sadly players like that don't come around very often
Me too. Nice to see some more level headed responses about Justin Holbrook's tenure and the team in general. Okay the CC defeat was gutting and there are some fair questions being raised about the team's aptitude to win in big games... but have to agree about the turnaround that we've seen at the club since Holbrook arrived. I go along with these sentiments and really hope we get a Grand Final win fitting for this team and the efforts of JH since his arrival. If we don't - it will be disappointing, but won't take away any of what has been achieved in a short period of time after what was felt like the worst time for me as a supporter of the club not much more than 2 and a bit years ago.
I couldn't and wouldn't want to follow any other club and be anything other than a saints supporter! Lets see if we can support our team to get the GF win and in doing so look to build a legacy for the future. COYS!