So we are about halfway through the season and the game's in hand have almost evened out.
And despite Eddie Hemmings saying a few weeks ago we were in a bit of a false position due to those games in hand, we are sitting fairly pretty.


I was looking at the NRL news today and notice Dean Pay has his team sitting second bottom and has kopped a twenty five thousand dollar fine for blasting the referees at the weekend.
Garth Brennan is fairing a little better and has the Gold Coast fourth from bottom.

Pay and Brennan were both considered hot shots while Price was given little fanfare due to his previous poor stint with St George.

So did we get the best pick from the NRL or is Price just finding it easier coaching at Super league level.

one thing for certain the bulldogs were poor under Hasler and finished 11th in his last season, but it just goes to show sacking a manager and getting a better replacement is easier said than done.

(except if your sacking Kieron Cunningham

)

Price does seem to have had a very positive impact and I am feeling a lot more positive about the future now. I was underwhelmed when we announced him, as I wanted Hasler ideally or either of those two that you said above.

It is still early days but the signs look positive, especially the attitude of the players and the team spirit. That was there even in the early part of the season when we were losing games, and the defence was more organised. We were losing because we had a very high error count and looked like we lacked ideas on how to score (which had been something we had suffered from on and off for the latter years of TS reign apart from when Sandow was here). At that point I thought there were about 5 or 6 senior players who had just gone stale and needed to be moved on. Now the error count has reduced and we look a more threatening force with the ball, the team spirit is there and we are winning.

It feels like a happy atmosphere at the club now. The divisiveness around the terraces that came at the end of the TS era has gone. It reminds me of Cullen's first year, the last year at Wilderspool, where the team surpassed expectations and we were all proud to have a team with some fight after a difficult year before.

At the start of the year I thought we would finish 6th and after the first few games I was readjusting that down to 8th. But now I feel more hopeful of the top 4.

Got to say I was disappointed when he was announced as the new coach, like others I had one of the others in mind. I’ve not been watching what the other choices are doing but right now I wouldn’t swap him.

I'll be the first to admit I was pretty scathing early doors about Price, mainly because I lived (just) through the Plange/Anderson era and had visions of a hasty return I was also sceptical about whether players who were heavily in their comfort zone and had clearly become jaded would embrace a new coach, new approach and new methods. Happily, it looks lile I was wrong.on both counts.

Several players I'd have happily shipped out (Hughes, Westwood, Lineham, Brown) have shown huge improvement. Several players have rediscovered their best form (Hill, Ratchford, Cooper) and those players guilty of underperforming consistently have finallly paid the price (Russell, Patton).

What I really like when I hear Price is he talks about "our club", not our [iteam[/i. It's a small point but it speaks volumes for his belief in unity, togetherness and a team ethic way beyond the playing roster.

Price may or may not win us a trophy, but you have to give him credit for the timescale in which he’s turned things around. I thought this would be a ‘transition’ year with us being competitive for 2019 and 2020, but the players have really bought into the philosophy. I think in part, that is due to a lot of the players being more comfortable with structured attack rather than having to create things off the cuff. Ratchford has been sensational and looks every bit the world class full back that Wayne Bennett seems to think he is. He seems full of confidence knowing his specific role. Clark has been our most influential player, but everybody gets a pat on the back for their efforts. I didn’t think we would see Hughes performing like he is, and I thought Hill and Westwood were finsished. Add to that the signing of Charnley which has been the most pleasing recruitment since I don’t know when and it’s a much happier time to be a Wire fan.

On the subject of Price’s stint at St George, he was pretty young at the time for a NRL coach and took it on the chin when he ended up as assistant for a few years, and his patience has paid off.

I hope his efforts are rewarded with a trophy. My only fear is losing one of Clark, Ratchford, Roberts or Brown to injury. Without that core we may struggle, but I guess not many teams have quality replacements for their key players.

Having a winning record has given Price authority over players on the fringes of the team. If we'd been losing, given that Roberts' form has so far not been what we hoped, there would have been huge debates on here about Patton: was he being unfairly treated, is Roberts undroppable because he's a high profile import, Wigan would have played Patton, dark warnings about him talking to other clubs and how he will come back to haunt us etc.

There are always going to be players who are frustrated at being on the fringes/out of the team - when the team is losing and the coach is being questioned they have a bandwagon of support on social media claiming unfair treatment and slagging off the coach (remember the Patton/Savelio lobby last year), when the team is winning there's nowhere for them to go other than knuckle down and making sure they perform when they get a chance.

I never look too closely at anything short term. You never know whether runs like this are just good runs of form or whether they are the cosch’s philosophy taking hold. But so far so good and let’s hope it continues.

Considering all the fannying about getting a new coach in place ,Price has had a reduced season to get his ideas into place & is working with a squad that is low on numbers, but in my eyes is doing very well . I suppose next season will give us a better picture when we see if he can get any quality signings into the side & has a pre season with the team.
On the other hand ,were the Wire so bad in 2017 or was it a case of at least some of the team wanting Tony Smith out due to behind the scenes or other matters? 2016 top & Old Trafford, 2017 dire ,2018 on the front foot again....it does make you wonder.

This is exactly it. I get the feeling that Price will play you if you are in form, and drop you if you are not. No favourites, undroppables or those whose face doesn't fit. This has not always been the case.

If anyone wants to get into the side, they have to show they offer more than the player they replace.

He also rewards good performances. Livett for example, got his opportunity with the Currie injury and has grabbed it with both hands.

As well as a coach coming to the natural end, there was definitely something "wrong" in the camp in 2017 to be so uncompetitive but I don't know what it was.

Yes, I agree.

I do think in sport though there are things that should come to a natural end. There are only a few exceptions - like Fergie.

To be honest my main frustration was over recruitment - where far too many didn’t live up to expectations.