My line of thinking was more that if he takes a partner/wife to Aus, she might get homesick, or they have kids and want to move back to be near their respective parents.
I'm grabbing more straws here than a masturbating scarecrow!
It’s disappointing but obviously not unexpected. If a player wants to go then there’s not really anything we can do.
I guess the consolation for us is his position, we aren’t losing a pivot or an outside back who’s scoring 30 tries a year. He plays in a position that is easier for us to replace than other positions. If we lost Tommy Makinson for example, I’d be very concerned because there isn’t anyone who can even do close to what he does. But we’ve got another world-class prop already here in Walmsley, Lees is showing promise, LMS is still looking good, we need to get a bit more out of Ashworth but Saints aren’t a one man pack. We always seem to produce decent props in this country so there will be players available as well as in the NRL.
Last edited by Tez the Saint; 6th February 2020 at 12:01.
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I wonder if we will see him in the Redvee again in 2020? Won't be much of a season left if RL can start again.
Going over old ground I know must be this self isolation and lack of live games but I cant help feeling that He’s probably the biggest loss to us since James Graham I realise that we have others in the squad who can do his job and I know we have to loose him and good luck to him but it still hacks me off that have to keep loosing good young talent to Aus who usually just send us there scraps with the odd exception it just Erks me that RFL is the poor relation to the NRL and its probably never going to change.
Tbf to the club, Saints has in the past done very well to keep hold of players when there were talks of them going to the NRL, Walsmley, Makinson, Roby and Percival have all been tempted yet Saints managed to convince them to stay. Compare that to Wigan who will sell any player to the NRL, but not to worry there is a first refusal stipulation in place
An improvement in Matty Lees and add some more bulk to him we can offset some of that loss of Thompson. Looking back at all those past games of the 90's we always had a couple a props with offloading games we are not particularly good in that department maybe Woolf can bring something to the table instead of relying on the hard yards style of Thompson, but this means improving our attacking style which Woolf hasn't got us up to "Saints Way" standard to date.
Fair and interesting comments SaintJon & Stiddy we have done well at player retention and not after the fast buck like wigan will be alright i’m sure with Walmsley Matty Leese etc didn’t Know about a First refusal stipulation but hey Lets utilise him while we've got him if we get the chance this season.
Same with the Wilkin/Flanagan podcast a week before the WCC. They asked Makinson how it was under Woolf and he mentioned that he's looking at new techniques like they do in UFC. When you compare that to what they use to say about life under Holbrook it was always how he's got them enjoying their rugby again.
Woolf is trying to coach us like he coaches Tonga. Except that we haven't got the size & physicality to do it.
If he wants to go down the road he is currently heading, I suggest he asks McManus for the chequebook for some big units.
If losing & this turgid style continues when the comp restarts, the fans will turn pretty quickly. The last 2 games before the shut down were total rubbish
I hate to say it but you're right. We're not stupid but we're not particularly tolerant either and if he turns a Champion team into a bunch of robots then he'll soon be gone. I just hope he's used this time wisely and figured out we don't play that way. I'm not holding my breath on that though.
What a novel idea wrestling your way up the field and scoring with a submission. There was very very little wrong with last season except giving London a few points you would expect the coach to let the team carry on as they were not completely knock the flair out of them. I don't think Holbrook will be seen coaching over here again unless it is coaching the Aussie Champs in the WCC or coaching Australia. The money that has already been lost this season will be even more if the team goes back to the Cunningham years.
On the Back foot looking for the front one.
Hadn’t heard that quote from Makinson until you mentioned it, but it baffles me that he even feels the need to say it.
Does he think that the average Saints fan is going to think ‘oh great, our team are being taught techniques similar to submission cage fighters’? If so, he isn’t paying attention. He’s been here through both the KC and Holbrook years and must know which method was supported by the fan base.
These lads are fit and in great shape anyway these days. From full back to loose forward they are all built like pro wrestlers or cage fighters somewhere between 13 and 16 stone, so I hate it when they start trying to emphasise that they’re being taught things that will make them fit. It’s a given that they’re fit and are training hard and looking after themselves. I want them to be brilliant RL players, not clones of Seth Rollins or Conor McGregor who can also play a bit.
Hadn't thought of it like that but you know what, you make an interesting point.
I was in the 'no panic' camp before Cas. I'm still like that now but I'm that's because if that dross continues, then he won't be our coach for that long anyway.
He simply does not have the out and out physicality & player mentality able to carry out 'the wrestling' that he seems to be trying to implement. Saints do not play like that. It's about speed & efficiency. Not messing about at the ruck, slowing it all down.
Our attack has gone to pot as well although Percival being injured doesnt help but the right edge looks redundant again.
I was in the concerned camp after 6 games that's why I put the thread on here on how Woolf is going so far, even allowing for the absence of Coote and Roby the "Mojo" isn't there and the speed and mobility has suffered especially with Makinson and Grace who are not getting that extra second to find space.
Don't think Thompson is playing as good as last season either, we only have one player playing similar to last season and that's Walmsley, one of our worse players is Naiqama and that's effecting Makinson.
Agree fully.
Any drop in standard or inferior way of playing was going to be picked out quickly due to how well we played last season for the vast majority.
There is a nagging sense that something just isn't right.
On paper, we are better than Leeds, Wigan and Cas, with Wire our nearest challengers, well capable of beating us as we know.
Wire dusted us, Cas dusted us & Leeds and Wigan look much improved.
I think a real think from the coach is needed because he will not succeed with the current way he is going about things.
It is all well & good saying 'he needs time' etc. Sorry but you cannot come in & decide to turn a winning formula on its head. Boring plus losing equals bad & the majority of Saints fans will not put up with it for long. What light that puts the supporters in I don't know. But I don't really care. He will have to sort it & quick.
Last edited by Ralph Fridge; 16th April 2020 at 09:04. Reason: SPG
It puts us in the light that we know our strengths, our traditions, what we want and what works with the players we have. I certainly don't apologise for that. I hope Woolfe does sort it out, and I feel this break has basically given him a reprieve and wipe the stale clean situation but if he goes back to that rubbish when the weather is good and we should have a full squad to pick from then he'll have nowhere to hide when the knives come out, and they'll be out a quicker than they were for Cunningham too.