I think Woolf has been around too Cunningham’s too get the keys for the wrestle hall.
Not having this bullsh*t about Woolf being Cunningham Mk2. His Tongan team don't play that way. Bad result and suffering from disruption due to injury/trying to overplay ourselves out of trouble a la Wembley yet again.
Not in the remotest bit bothered about the Sydney game either. TBH, would rather we didn't play it and run risk of losing even more players to injury. Glorified friendly. Not important in the scheme of the season.
Me either. It's been a while since we had Saints fans knee jerking due to our success in recent times.
It'll be impossible to fully judge Woolf until we're about half way through the season and that will depend on injuries etc. So far we've played well and played poorly and that's it.
Originally Posted by Despondent Dave
Only an absolute cock would come up with a KC comparison. We have our share of ‘pee the pants’ merchants if we lose a game. Personally Im not overly anxious if lost our next 2, its been a pretty tough start to the year.
It wont stop the usual empty heads populating this board if we do.
1st defeat since Wembley and it's all gloom and doom. Some people need to get a grip.
We had the spine of the team missing plus a couple more internationals. That with a bad day at the office.
I don't buy that the squad is too thin either. We were 16pts clear last season and the only departures are players that didn't figure much.
Take a chill.
These days 1, 9 and 13 are a major part of the spine. Its a killer blow to miss them, especially when all those players are internationals. The days of a ‘midfield general’ which equated to a tubby little scrum half shouting like a five year old are well gone.
We will be fine. Some people live fuss, many fall for click bait. I can see some bull shit about a crisis at somepoint. It will evaporate with bodies back though i would like us to be smart recruitment wise in the short to medium term.
Regardless of results (win, lose, draw) we have to give Woolf time.
We were very fortunate to have Justin Holbrook come in and get the team playing well from the off... and the majority believed him to be a good coach over the time he was at Saints. I'm not sure as many people would have been saying the same if we lost the Grand Final last year though.
A season under Woolf will be a better indicator of how he's going - I think we gave Holbrook a season and a half. You could say that Woolf has come in at a better time - but that also brings its own and different pressures, whereas expectations for Holbrook would have been very different.
A repeat of last season would be very difficult to achieve - plus other teams have got better. To be competing for trophies this year is what I'll be looking for us to do - and I would hope to pick up at least one. Other teams will be hoping for the same. I enjoy the competition - and I'm sure our new coach does too.
There’s been a noticeable difference in our two performances so far. It’s not nice to see if I’m being honest. I’m all for slowing the play down but I’ve always hated teams who go overboard and simply try and spoil the flow of the game and I would hate for us to go down that route.
Just had a quick look and I know it’s only 2 games but we’ve gone from giving away an average of 6 penalties a game last year to 9 this season. So a 50% increase. Gone from 10th worst to 5th. As I say it’s only 2 games but there’s definitely a difference.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
I've noticed a difference in both games on our attacking options we've reduced our switch plays and second phase and gone a bit more lateral and the ball out wider is slower. Just get the feeling Woolfe is way off getting the players to stick to the game plan more so in the Wire game were our completion rate went down to 50% for most of the first half but most of that was Wire applying pressure which was guaranteed but not handled very well.
Wire played a patched up team and beat a patched up team. The worry is they bullied us and that takes me back to our lightweight forwards when idiots like Hock and Bailey terrified us.
Im not sure I agree. Its easy for opposition forwards to get stuck in when the ball from dummy half is so slow and the backs moves are breaking down so often. That just encourages the opposition to move up quicker because they know there is less risk of getting caught out and/or the pack is getting slow ball. It was a combination of factors - silly penalties and dropped ball. The likes of Thomson, Lees, Peyroux and Taia arent going to be ‘bullied,’ thats far too stronger statement IMO.
Woolf needs some time but will ultimately be judged on his approach or "modifications".
Far too early to panic or bag him.
That said areas of scrutiny and concern for me over the coming weeks are.
(i) Wrestle - Don't like it and don't think its part of Saints DNA. Will Saints keep or ditch this approach?
Reminds me of Daniel Andersons desire to change Saints approach. Senior pros at the time
ultimately talked him out of it or at least tone it down.
(ii) Penalties - Number given away. The first 10 games will give a better reflection.
Links to the wrestle
(iii) Offloads - Have we dropped this as tactic? Seems to be something only other clubs do.
(iv) Kicking Game - Are we looking to do anything differently/better/new this season ?
Our halves aren't known for their kicking game. Generally propped up by Coote.
Unless the wire performance becomes the norm, then post Easter pre Magic, will be a good time to reflect.
Regarding the wrestle, surely when we interviewed coaches, we would have looked at their capability to coach within the 'Saints way'? I realise every coach will always want to make some modifications to align with their general style of coaching, but I am sure Woolf has been made aware of the general style of play expected from the team by the fans. Hopefully as he gets settled with the team, things will start to level out and merge together.
I remember an interview with Holbrook where he was talking about this first few months at the club, and how he didn't change anything about the team, tactically - he went in and solely focused on getting them to relax and approach the games in a positive way. That, for me, is why it is hard to compare Woolf's start with Holbrook's. I think the better comparison can be made against Holbrook's first full season in charge, where we did very well for two thirds and faltered when we needed to step up. I am not worried about Woolf, as the opposite could happen - we could stumble a little at the start, especially when considering he is not having the luck with injuries Holbrook received - to come stronger after a few months of the season.
Are we not slightly overreacting here a tad?
We’ve played 2 games, one of which we put nearly 50 points on last years Grand Finalist.
The second one we lost to a good team away from home with a host of injuries.
We don’t need to look at Woolf in any form, it’s ridiculously early and he’s already been dealt a bad hand in terms of injuries.
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