Obviously we want Roby fully fit but to an extent I think it’s helped us improve as a team. In years gone by, we’d get a quick play the ball and nine times out of ten, Roby would run from dummy half. The fact that he’s not been fully fit has probably meant he’s had to lay the ball off to someone else more often that he would normally and I think our halves benefited from that.
Steve Prescott MBE (1973-2013)
V
According to Mike Rush in the papers Woolf is being given “carte blanche” to move players on and shape the squad. I suspect there’s a few twists and turns in our squad between now and the start of the new year
Any particular reason he used a French phrase, I wonder???
Very interesting that. Woolfe has never been a head coach of a professional club side has he? Why would we give him any freedom to move players on? I really can't see there being any more departures, unless there are replacements signed. Paulo is the only obvious one from that as he fell out of favour and was replaced in the pecking order by Smith, Bentley and Ashworth. Amor would be another potential one, but I think that would be madness unless he was replaced with proven quality as he's so dependable.
Having said that a couple of signings might be interesting. I did think we'd see Saints stocking up on young players who would form the reserve team, but it seems we're just going to go with all academy players plus the one or two from the senior squad who aren't playing, plus players returning from injuries.
I think Paulo was signed to perform a function that Holbrook identified as something that would improve the side.
For whatever reason, Paulo's presence on the pitch never seemed to noticeably make us better. Whether that was because Paulo wasn't able to fulfil that function, or whether that function wasn't actually needed, we don't know.
It remains to be seen if Woolf will have need of him going forwards, or perhaps whether he will have him doing another function in the team (no, not carrying the water)
Can't see any wholesale changes we've already lost Richardson + Swift with only partial cover in those positions. Amor, LMS, Tai, Peyroux are coming to the twilight of their careers with Paulo yet to show impact in the team. I would imagine the 2021 season is going to be the watershed period because we might be seeing Thompson going elsewhere and Lomax coming into twilight career as well.
It looks as though we will have 3 players featuring more in Welsby, Simms and Todd but they are backs and as yet we don't have any stand out forwards coming through from the academy.
I think Woolf won't be daft enough to change too much early doors.
Learned comment from The Don
Amor was very emotional after the final, moreso than alot of others within the squad. I'm not sure if that was just due to the fact that was he out of the team at the start of the year and ended up a GF winner or whether there's more to it than that and he may be on his way?
Whilst I don't anticipate there will be wholesale changes at Saints this off season - we'd be crazy to do so after such a successful season - a new face coming in wouldn't harm us at all if he was the right fit. There's always a danger that you will stagnate if you dont sign new players especially as every other side in SL will be improving their squads.
If you go through our squad - Thompson, Taia, Peyroux and LMS will all be OOC at the end of next year, Amor has not yet signed a new deal for next season and if he did you'd imagine it would only be for a season given his age (there may be others who are OOC but can't think of any off hand). Apart from Thompson all of those will be in their 30's when their deal ends at the end of 2020. Taia you would imagine will hang up his boots, LMS will be 34, so may decide to do the same. Thompson is constantly being linked with the NRL so there could be 3 key players from the pack leaving in 12 months time, which will be difficult to replace. It may now be a good time to replace Amor who is OOC with a young, hungry prop who can help continue the succession planning and make life easier in 12 months time.
Originally Posted by Despondent Dave
I think we will go with a line up like this:
Fullback
Right wing
Right centre
Left centre
Left wing
Stand off
Scrum half
Prop
Hooker
Prop
Left second row
Right second row
Loose forward
Interchange x 4
I don't disagree with any of that. But who? We're not linked with anyone and the Tongan dude who never plays certainly doesn't match any of those criteria and we'd be better keeping Kyle. Seems to me that if we were going to do any business we'd have done it by now, given most players will now be under contract for next season. It's a big risk handing the reigns to Woolf though.
On Saints website there is a final interview with Holbrook. Really good watch
He states that every player who played in Grand Final is here next year
That puts doubt over Paulo but as Amor played I assume that he is staying
I said to my mates half way through the year that I believe Amor has earned a 1 year contract He is solid and dependable Doesn’t make many mistakes and is obviously really passionate about St Helens
A 1 year deal makes sense to me
In a salary capped sport you need good solid players like Amor in your squad as long as he continues his 2019 form
Having run away with the LLS and won the GF, it makes sense to not want any of the players to rest on their laurels and assume it's going to be nice and comfy again next year. We don't want to see Amor, LMS, Peyroux et al drift back to their pre-Holbrook days. Putting full faith in Woolf to do with the team as he sees fit does that a little bit. That trust will work both ways though and at the same time it puts a little bit of pressure on Woolf
Can't see there being any real changes other than tweaks in approach, training or tactics. It's still the same backroom team as well. The team as it is will be fine going into next season. The 2021 season is where it'll get more interesting from a recruitment point of view
The way we play has helped Amor, he no longer is receiving the ball standing still and getting mauled. He is also turning himself in the tackle to give him the option of an offload. Having some variation in our props is making the opposition think a bit more when defending.
When is McMeeken signing for us?