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Thread: Justin Holbrook

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    Default Justin Holbrook

    Justin Holbrook has potentially 2 games left 3 if things donÂ’t go to plan . He may have only two games left and leave with nothing .

    Whatever the outcome , I believe Holbrook has done a fantastic job in his 2 1/2 year tenure . Irrespective of if he leaves empty handed . He and the club have achieved plenty.

    Holbrooks legercy will be forgoton if he don’t win the grand final , he may be remembered as a negatative ?however ,what he has done, in my view ,is turned a team , club, fans around .

    We quickly forget the torture of the Cunningham era, friends and work colleagues struggled talking about rugby , the town lost in interest, the club appeared seperate from it fans . Holbrook has brought a successful unit with exciting promise and belief . Twice league leaders and record points clearance set by Wigan over 30 years ago, CC finalistbuand who knows how it will end ? Before it does, irrespective of outcome , I believe Holbrook deserves a good send off and personally feel for his contribution to the club and the town should be recognised jinn as one of our own .

    I would like to wish him and his family all the very best of luck and a big thanks for being ‘ our’ coach . Whatever happens ,he has done a great job !

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    He's been brilliant.
    KC was an awesome player and will always be a club legend on the field. As a coach he was dire.
    We were awful to watch under him and many, many dyed in the wool Saints fans were seriously questioning whether they could continue to watch us.
    Put simply Justin Holbrook has made everyone fall in love with the game again and proved the game does not have to be robotic and all about 'the grind".
    Furthermore, he seemed to be behind re engaging the team with the community.
    I sincerely hope we win the Grand Final, obviously as a fan but I think it will be due reward for what JH has done from the minute he arrived at the club.
    If he leaves empty handed it will be a great shame but irrespective he's put the pride back in the club and hopefully set us on the right path for years to come.
    Last edited by Div; 21st September 2019 at 22:58.

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    It’s been great watching Saints over the last two and a half years under JH. If we don’t reach or win the GF it’ll be a big disappointment but Holbrook has brought back entertaining Rugby League to the club, and has made going to a Saints match enjoyable again.

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    Great coach even greater man

    Not often does an Aussie come to the UK and integrate himself into the fabric of the club so seamlessly. He understands Saints as well as a born and bred Sintelliner who’s held a season ticket for 50 years

    I can’t stand Gold Coast Titans but I actually hope they do OK next year

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    No matter the end result this season, always grateful to Justin for bringing back my enjoyment in watching saints. He brought back the entertainment in the game, the players want to play for him and are enjoying their games. A great coach and a really nice man. I wish him success in his future career, he deserves it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Div View Post
    He's been brilliant.
    KC was an awesome player and will always be a club legend on the field. As a coach he was dire.
    We were awful to watch under him and many, many dyed in the wool Saints fans were seriously questioning whether they could continue to watch us.
    Put simply Justin Holbrook has made everyone fall in love with the game again and proved the game does not have to be robotic and all about 'the grind".
    Furthermore, he seemed to be behind re engaging the team with the community.
    I sincerely hope we win the Grand Final, obviously as a fan but I think it will be due reward for what JH has done from the minute he arrived at the club.
    If he leaves empty handed it will be a great shame but irrespective he's put the pride back in the club and hopefully set us on the right path for years to come.
    Well said. I just hope that Woolfe can continue. I don't think you can overestimate the feel good feeling JH has brought to the community and fans.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Belgian Saint View Post
    Well said. I just hope that Woolfe can continue. I don't think you can overestimate the feel good feeling JH has brought to the community and fans.
    Woolfe has got a hard act to follow.
    The team was low when Holbrook took over with very mixed results.

    Woolfe will be taking over a side who are at worst back to back LLS winners and hopefully Champions.

    He'll have his own ideas and his own style so we need to be patient with him for a while.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Benchar View Post
    No matter the end result this season, always grateful to Justin for bringing back my enjoyment in watching saints. He brought back the entertainment in the game, the players want to play for him and are enjoying their games. A great coach and a really nice man. I wish him success in his future career, he deserves it.
    Couldn't agree more, two league leaders trophies in two years, four semi finals, one final. That's not leaving with nothing in my book, Getting to the finals is the coachs job, the final itself is down to the mindset of the players on the day itself, and for that matter the mindset of the referee into not making mistakes. I would certainly have not renewed my season ticket if we had continued with the dross that preceded him The new coach has a big act to follow, but the way Tonga played against England gives me optimism.You could see they were also given the instruction to enjoy the game and embrace the backing of the crowd which always happens at our ground
    Last edited by Woolyback; 22nd September 2019 at 09:14.

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    When you consider he had no experience as a head coach and bought into bringing "the entertainers" mojo back to the surface , in his own repetitive words "MOST DEFINITELY".

    Just get the feeling the players will respect and respond by sending him home with that super league title, he deserves so much better than the 2 LLS's, lets hope Holbrook goes up a notch to provide us with that mental strength to finish our season off in the right way.

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    Agree with everything that is said here 2018 was one of the most enjoyable seasons I can remember for our style of play, yes we bombed out in two semi finals but I don't spend hundreds each year on the club to not enjoy the week in week out, and Holbrook has provided that..

    Even if we bombed at Old Trafford (or worse twice at home!) Disappointed yes, but it wouldn't take away the entertainment from Holbrook's tenure

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    I think his legacy will be putting the love of the game back in the mindset of all Saints supporters whilst the RFL are seemingly trying their best to drive fans away with constant meddling. JH has seamlessly endeared himself to the club and Town, his coaching has vastly improved the spectacle and the young players that he has introduced are going to serve Saints for many years hopefully. I am of the mindset that the players will bust a gut to win him the big one and atone for their capitulation at Wembley, although it could be said that JH did bring back too many players not up to speed after injury but I am sure he is allowed one hiccup. All in all he has done a fantastic job and he should go back with our thanks for bringing back the Saints of old.
    On the Back foot looking for the front one.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Greengrass View Post
    I think his legacy will be putting the love of the game back in the mindset of all Saints supporters whilst the RFL are seemingly trying their best to drive fans away with constant meddling. JH has seamlessly endeared himself to the club and Town, his coaching has vastly improved the spectacle and the young players that he has introduced are going to serve Saints for many years hopefully. I am of the mindset that the players will bust a gut to win him the big one and atone for their capitulation at Wembley, although it could be said that JH did bring back too many players not up to speed after injury but I am sure he is allowed one hiccup. All in all he has done a fantastic job and he should go back with our thanks for bringing back the Saints of old.

    What meddling? The change to structure that many fans asked for? The recent change the SL made not the RFL?
    I can guarantee 100% the RFL are not trying to drive away fans, quite the opposite they want more fans

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    Quote Originally Posted by STIDDY View Post
    When you consider he had no experience as a head coach and bought into bringing "the entertainers" mojo back to the surface , in his own repetitive words "MOST DEFINITELY".

    Just get the feeling the players will respect and respond by sending him home with that super league title, he deserves so much better than the 2 LLS's, lets hope Holbrook goes up a notch to provide us with that mental strength to finish our season off in the right way.
    He has been brilliant and I hope he get the grand final win he and the players deserve

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    I have enjoyed his tenure so much. Regan Grace and his emergence with still a lot to learn but we played Jack Owens prior to JH. I dont think he has been a lucky coach example Cas Away in the play-off final. But good free flowing football coached by an articulate guy. I hope we win the GF for him.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pramtown View Post
    It’s been great watching Saints over the last two and a half years under JH. If we don’t reach or win the GF it’ll be a big disappointment but Holbrook has brought back entertaining Rugby League to the club, and has made going to a Saints match enjoyable again.
    Nice thread and deserved. It's been the most enjoyable period watching saints for a while - and Holbrook has been a big factor in this.

    I do hope we go onto win the GF. We have to remember, this is Holbrook's first proper head coach role - and what he's done is remarkable really. I think he needs an extra bit of experience to generate the steel, nous, game plan and win at all costs mentality for the major finals stages - and I'm hoping the next few weeks are the starting point of this for him and us. I reckon he'll find it tough in the NRL to get Gold Coast into finals - so this may be his best chance for a while - maybe even how whole career. Enjoy it Justin - and get the job done.

    Regardless of the result - a huge thanks to JH for what he's done for the club and wish him success into the future.

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    Quote Originally Posted by St. Christopher View Post
    Nice thread and deserved. It's been the most enjoyable period watching saints for a while - and Holbrook has been a big factor in this.

    I do hope we go onto win the GF. We have to remember, this is Holbrook's first proper head coach role - and what he's done is remarkable really. I think he needs an extra bit of experience to generate the steel, nous, game plan and win at all costs mentality for the major finals stages - and I'm hoping the next few weeks are the starting point of this for him and us. I reckon he'll find it tough in the NRL to get Gold Coast into finals - so this may be his best chance for a while - maybe even how whole career. Enjoy it Justin - and get the job done.

    Regardless of the result - a huge thanks to JH for what he's done for the club and wish him success into the future.
    I heartily second this post - thanks for a great 2 and half seasons JH

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    Quote Originally Posted by Upside View Post
    What meddling? The change to structure that many fans asked for? The recent change the SL made not the RFL?
    I can guarantee 100% the RFL are not trying to drive away fans, quite the opposite they want more fans
    They might want more fans but they do very little to actually attract more fans and do plenty to alienate current fans with constant rule changes, inconsistent referee's/disiplinary, Thursday night games, weak leadership, poor sponsorship deals etc.

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    Quote Originally Posted by St. Christopher View Post
    Nice thread and deserved. It's been the most enjoyable period watching saints for a while - and Holbrook has been a big factor in this.

    I do hope we go onto win the GF. We have to remember, this is Holbrook's first proper head coach role - and what he's done is remarkable really. I think he needs an extra bit of experience to generate the steel, nous, game plan and win at all costs mentality for the major finals stages - and I'm hoping the next few weeks are the starting point of this for him and us. I reckon he'll find it tough in the NRL to get Gold Coast into finals - so this may be his best chance for a while - maybe even how whole career. Enjoy it Justin - and get the job done.

    Regardless of the result - a huge thanks to JH for what he's done for the club and wish him success into the future.

    I agree with all that and I can understand why JH has had to take the opportunity when it occurred.

    At the same time it's a bit disappointing from a Saints' point of view, bearing in mind the quality of the young players we have and how well they have done under Holbrook we could have been building a team that could have had an extended period of success for a few seasons to come.

    I know very little about the new coach so you never know he may make us even better .

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    Quote Originally Posted by Div View Post
    He's been brilliant.
    KC was an awesome player and will always be a club legend on the field. As a coach he was dire.
    We were awful to watch under him and many, many dyed in the wool Saints fans were seriously questioning whether they could continue to watch us.
    Put simply Justin Holbrook has made everyone fall in love with the game again and proved the game does not have to be robotic and all about 'the grind".
    Furthermore, he seemed to be behind re engaging the team with the community.
    I sincerely hope we win the Grand Final, obviously as a fan but I think it will be due reward for what JH has done from the minute he arrived at the club.
    If he leaves empty handed it will be a great shame but irrespective he's put the pride back in the club and hopefully set us on the right path for years to come.
    Bang on. If Cunningham had have been at Saints much longer, we'd have been playing in front of crowds similar to that at Warrington last Thursday.
    "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom." Danny Blanchflower.
    Might have been written by a footballer about football - but never a truer word............

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    Do little to attract fans? If I run a club I don't demand the governing body generate fans for me, it's my responsibility, but a convienient scapegoat to dismiss any accountability and deflect blame

    Constant rule changes?fans have been happy at recent rule changes, the passing into a tackler, shot clock etc. for example

    Inconsistent refs, yes I guess they inform the refs to be inconsistent, I surely hope people don't think ref errors are because the RFL have asked for them

    Thursday night games, yes the RFl insist on them, Sky sports probably want them on Sundays but the RFL demand Thursday so they can upset fans, I'm being sarcastic BTW

    Poor sponsorship, yes again rugby league has such a global reach with many blue chip companies queuing up to invest large amounts of money only for the RFL to ignore them and take the lesser deal!!

    It's lazy to blame everything at the RFLs door, it means people don't have to accept reality or accountability

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    Quote Originally Posted by Upside View Post
    Do little to attract fans? If I run a club I don't demand the governing body generate fans for me, it's my responsibility, but a convienient scapegoat to dismiss any accountability and deflect blame

    Constant rule changes?fans have been happy at recent rule changes, the passing into a tackler, shot clock etc. for example

    Inconsistent refs, yes I guess they inform the refs to be inconsistent, I surely hope people don't think ref errors are because the RFL have asked for them

    Thursday night games, yes the RFl insist on them, Sky sports probably want them on Sundays but the RFL demand Thursday so they can upset fans, I'm being sarcastic BTW

    Poor sponsorship, yes again rugby league has such a global reach with many blue chip companies queuing up to invest large amounts of money only for the RFL to ignore them and take the lesser deal!!

    It's lazy to blame everything at the RFLs door, it means people don't have to accept reality or accountability
    This

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    Quote Originally Posted by Upside View Post
    Do little to attract fans? If I run a club I don't demand the governing body generate fans for me, it's my responsibility, but a convienient scapegoat to dismiss any accountability and deflect blame

    Constant rule changes?fans have been happy at recent rule changes, the passing into a tackler, shot clock etc. for example

    Inconsistent refs, yes I guess they inform the refs to be inconsistent, I surely hope people don't think ref errors are because the RFL have asked for them

    Thursday night games, yes the RFl insist on them, Sky sports probably want them on Sundays but the RFL demand Thursday so they can upset fans, I'm being sarcastic BTW

    Poor sponsorship, yes again rugby league has such a global reach with many blue chip companies queuing up to invest large amounts of money only for the RFL to ignore them and take the lesser deal!!

    It's lazy to blame everything at the RFLs door, it means people don't have to accept reality or accountability
    There’s balance to this argument though.

    Inconsistency isn’t asked for by the RFL, but underfunding, and approaches in making refs accountable do contribute to this which is within the RFLs control.

    Not sure I get your argument about blue chip sponsors, it’s the RFLs job to line up sponsors and convince them to spend. There’s plenty that could be done even with profile C/D market audiences. If the RFL are only taking he approach of agreeing sponsorship with people seeking them out (which it appears) then yes lack of sponsorship opportunities is on the RFL.

    In the same breath I totally agree clubs see the RFL as the handout organisation whose responsible for doing everything they’re too lazy too

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    Quote Originally Posted by Upside View Post
    Do little to attract fans? If I run a club I don't demand the governing body generate fans for me, it's my responsibility, but a convienient scapegoat to dismiss any accountability and deflect blame

    Constant rule changes?fans have been happy at recent rule changes, the passing into a tackler, shot clock etc. for example

    Inconsistent refs, yes I guess they inform the refs to be inconsistent, I surely hope people don't think ref errors are because the RFL have asked for them

    Thursday night games, yes the RFl insist on them, Sky sports probably want them on Sundays but the RFL demand Thursday so they can upset fans, I'm being sarcastic BTW

    Poor sponsorship, yes again rugby league has such a global reach with many blue chip companies queuing up to invest large amounts of money only for the RFL to ignore them and take the lesser deal!!

    It's lazy to blame everything at the RFLs door, it means people don't have to accept reality or accountability
    Why is it you struggle to accept reality and try to spin everything? It comes across as some sort of personal mission which I think is misplaced. Almost like that scene in Blackadder goes Forth... ‘A staunch refusal to look facts in the face will see us through.’ You say lazy accusations thrown at the RFL mean people don’t take accountability, but where the RFL are concerned they have’nt for years.
    Just taking a handful of your points:

    1. Commercial profile of the sport. It wasn’t so long ago Big Mac expressed one of the greatest dangers to RL is its struggles to attract business partners who can generate the revenues needed across all levels of the sport. Your point on ‘sponsorship’ (Id recommend consigning that term to the last millennium) is actually an indictment of the sports leadership because it infers that those people have failed to make the sport an attractive commercial proposition to partners we need to improve both the perception and the balance sheet.

    At one time RL had an unspectacular but solid portfolio of partners at club and ‘governingÂ’ level but far from this improving it appears to have gotten worse. Off the back of the disastrous Stobart deal, which should be an individual example of how not to manage a sport, the sport can only attract the ‘tabooÂ’ partners like alcohol, betting and tobacco or ‘bargain basementÂ’ like Dacia, Mushy Peas etc. Id doubt these sports generate significant income needed to grow the sport not create the impression of a vibrant, fashionable sport. Whether its a tough job to improve this situation matters little. Its been the responsibility of the RFL in the past to do just this and they failed so spectacularly that the SuperLeague clubs recently chose to manage their own commercial interests. Their confidence in the sports leadership was lowered to the point that they effectively said ‘enough is enough, we can do better.’ Whether Robert Elstone delivers the improvement needed remains to be seen. Its going to take time to repair the damage IMO.

    2. Rule changes. Though I accept the shot clock is a step forward its been obvious to many that its been needed for years. The simple fact theres been so many rule changes (and ones coincidentally off the field as well) indicates a sport lacking confidence in its product. To me a lot of this relentless change has alienated the sports followers, especially where play offs are concerned which continue to be a failure. Over this weekend, at the point ‘it matters,’ the fans one of those clubs were so underwhelmed they rewarded their club with its lowest crowd of the season.

    The rule changes and innovations often appear as ill conceived gimmicks; almost as if those brokering the TV deals either use them as a desperation selling point or worse, accept them when put forward by our broadcasters.

    For me its panic stations in RL at the moment and Im reluctant to pretend problems donÂ’t exist or can be swept away by spirious positivity because they cant. People calling out failure isnt negative, in fact it’s absolutely crucial to influence change in the right direction.
    Last edited by eddiewaringsflatcap; 22nd September 2019 at 18:00. Reason: Grammar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Greengrass View Post
    I think his legacy will be putting the love of the game back in the mindset of all Saints supporters whilst the RFL are seemingly trying their best to drive fans away with constant meddling. JH has seamlessly endeared himself to the club and Town, his coaching has vastly improved the spectacle and the young players that he has introduced are going to serve Saints for many years hopefully. I am of the mindset that the players will bust a gut to win him the big one and atone for their capitulation at , although it could be said that JH did bring back too many players not up to speed after injury but I am sure he is allowed one hiccup. All in all he has done a fantastic job and he should go back with our thanks for bringing back the Saints of old.
    Wembley was a lack of experience, Wembley and the Challenge Cup Final always finds out players who are not 100%, hopefully he's learned from that. It was a general lack of Wembley experience throughout the club.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Upside View Post
    Do little to attract fans? If I run a club I don't demand the governing body generate fans for me, it's my responsibility, but a convienient scapegoat to dismiss any accountability and deflect blame

    Constant rule changes?fans have been happy at recent rule changes, the passing into a tackler, shot clock etc. for example

    Inconsistent refs, yes I guess they inform the refs to be inconsistent, I surely hope people don't think ref errors are because the RFL have asked for them

    Thursday night games, yes the RFl insist on them, Sky sports probably want them on Sundays but the RFL demand Thursday so they can upset fans, I'm being sarcastic BTW

    Poor sponsorship, yes again rugby league has such a global reach with many blue chip companies queuing up to invest large amounts of money only for the RFL to ignore them and take the lesser deal!!

    It's lazy to blame everything at the RFLs door, it means people don't have to accept reality or accountability
    I agree, a lot of clubs do little to help themselves and yes some of the recent rule have improved the game. I also wasn't blaming every failing in British RL on the RFL so don't insinuate I did.
    I know you won't hear a bad word about them but that doesn't mean you're right and it doesn't mean others can't have a differing view from you. Frankly, if you think everything is rosy you're burying your head in the sand.

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