Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 12:21 pm  

W/O

Always the voice of reason.

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 12:46 pm  

To be fair it was a lot easier to bring in decent quality imports back then with the exchange rate plus the NRL salary cap being lower at the time.

I'd also disagree that Mathers wasn't an important signing. He was exactly what we needed at the time and did a great job for us before we moved up a level with Hodgson.

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 1:08 pm  

garyhulsefan wrote:

To be fair it was a lot easier to bring in decent quality imports back then with the exchange rate plus the NRL salary cap being lower at the time.
I'd also disagree that Mathers wasn't an important signing. He was exactly what we needed at the time and did a great job for us before we moved up a level with Hodgson.

Pretty much what I was going to write.

The standard in SL as a whole has dropped since 2009, so its probably fairer to judge how our quality has fallen in comparison to everyone elses. We probably have fallen more than most, due to the fact we relied on recruiting from overseas more than the other top clubs, and the glaringly obvious effect that the loss of Briers has had on us.

Our youth system is now starting to bare fruit, with several new young players making their debuts from the academy every year. Leeds, Saints & Wigan are probably 20 years ahead of us in those stakes, which is why they are (just) sitting ahead of us at present.

I think his record of signing UK based players has been fairly good. Solomona, Hill, Hodgson, Ratchford, Clark etc etc. has kept pace with Leeds, Saints & Wigan.

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 1:19 pm  

Winslade's Offload wrote:

I think you can draw your own conclusions from that list; TS has been excellent at getting the best from a talented and experienced group of players, but he didn't assemble that team himself, he largely inherited it. So Ducky is correct on that one.

Smith DID inherit the decent players that were the core of his side... Briers, Morley, Monaghan etc... The signings like Monaghan, Hicks, King weren't down to the brilliance of Cullen spotting a hidden gem though were they? They were down to the strong GBP against the aussie dollar. You can make a case for Moanghan and King being some of the last players to come over at the top of their game. Smith hasnt had the luxury of being able to look to the NRL for players of that caliber now... I think Moran and the likes were much more responsible for our player recruitment that Cullen was.

For me, Smiths recruitment hasn't been that great..... Solomona, Hill and Hodgson i have liked.. the rest havent really set the world on fire to be honest... But with the state of the wage structure in the NRL, coupled with the change in the aussie dollar against the GBP, we cant go over and sign real quality.

One thing is for sure, Smith coached those players ALOT better than cullen ever did.

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 1:32 pm  

morleys_deckchair wrote:

For me, Smiths recruitment hasn't been that great..... Solomona, Hill and Hodgson i have liked.. the rest havent really set the world on fire to be honest...

Joel Monaghan.

And Darryl Clark will be a fantastic signing in due course.

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 1:35 pm  

No denying your last sentence md and the history holds up.

My point was never cull v smith but about the team cull built (with Moran) and a series of circumstances that happened, but pressure and time paid the price on him.

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 1:38 pm  

The All New Chester Wire wrote:

Joel Monaghan.

And Darryl Clark will be a fantastic signing in due course.

Yes, forgot about Monaghan... kind of fell into his lap that one

and Clark should go on to be a good signing

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 1:40 pm  

rubber duckie wrote:

No denying your last sentence md and the history holds up.

My point was never cull v smith but about the team cull built (with Moran) and a series of circumstances that happened, but pressure and time paid the price on him.

That was cullens biggest problem i suppose.... he couldn't build a team. He assembled a good squad of players, but it took Smith to make them into a team.

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 4:33 pm  

morleys_deckchair wrote:

Yes, forgot about Monaghan... kind of fell into his lap that one

and Clark should go on to be a good signing

Ratchford?

Re: Quality of the Squad 2009-15 : Thu May 21, 2015 9:09 pm  

garyhulsefan wrote:

Ratchford?

a good player.... not a great one really... maybe if he plays a regular position and establishes himself in it, then yes.

he shows brilliance at times.. But he is a victim of his versatility.... also im not convinced with him at FB... so yes, a good player and a good signing.... He isnt being used properly though.

im not sure what his best position is either.