Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:36 pm  

And yet we played no worse overall without him in 2017 and minus 2 quality players when many were bricking it. The 'making the other players believe they could achieve something' is cobblers. Again stating he "galvanised" the players is a nonsense, you simply have no evidence of that, that's what the coach does, he came across as a likeable young man who got on with the other players, he was never seen on the pitch to be directing players or getting them to pull their socks up, he was quiet as a mouse on the pitch.

Sorry but that's the reality, a nit part player outperformed on the pitch by someone like Thompson, who was on a wedge far in excess of his value but taken only because an NRL club were paying the majority of his wages.

Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:58 pm  

The hype surrounding Pritchard got to fans of all clubs and players - when his name was on the team sheet opposition teams changed their tack to cope with him leaving the rest of the team to capitalise, opposition fans also thought they had less of a chance of winning - I believe it made the rest of the team bel13ve that little bit more that they could go that extra 1% that seperates the top teams from the also rans.

The reality was he wasnt that good but that didnt matter - his presence was what mattered

Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:13 am  

Sebasteeno wrote:

The hype surrounding Pritchard got to fans of all clubs and players - when his name was on the team sheet opposition teams changed their tack to cope with him leaving the rest of the team to capitalise, opposition fans also thought they had less of a chance of winning - I believe it made the rest of the team bel13ve that little bit more that they could go that extra 1% that seperates the top teams from the also rans.

The reality was he wasnt that good but that didnt matter - his presence was what mattered

I don't think he was ever fit, probably way off being fit to be honest, which resulted in him playing relatively low minutes. We also used him mostly through the middle, instead of in the 2nd row running through the channels, which is what we were used to seeing from him in the NRL. Both of these factors mean we were all a bit underwhelmed compared to what we were expecting from him.

However, when he was on he made a clear impact. Despite low minutes he was the 4th highest forward for carries, tackle busts & yards, with an average gain only behind Scott Taylor. The opposition had to think differently when he came on as he sucked 3/4 men into each tackle. I think we lacked that impact off the bench in 2017, which is (I believe) why we've brought back Micky Paea.

He clearly had a big impact off the pitch too. Don't forget he was a huge name when we signed him, it signalled our intent as a club, and a long with the signings of Taylor, Fonua & Manu (plus others), we saw one of the biggest shifts in fortune we've ever seen at the club. He was a big part of that.

Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Thu Jan 11, 2018 2:11 pm  

Whatever people think he did or didn't do on the pitch, He increased my kids enthusiasm for all things FC, he was they favorite player and cemented them as life long Hull fans

Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:57 pm  

Tinkerman23 wrote:

Whatever people think he did or didn't do on the pitch, He increased my kids enthusiasm for all things FC, he was they favorite player and cemented them as life long Hull fans

Never mind your kids enthusiasm, it increased mine!!! Its a long time since such a high profile name was signed by any SL club, let along Hull FC.

Did he leave a trail of destruction behind him on the pitch, no not really. Did the opposition have to think twice when he was on the pitch, absolutely. The opposition had to change their game plan and hence gave us an advantage.

unfortunately many see things in only black and white (no pun intended) they either see a player play outstandingly well otherwise they are labelled rubbish / waste of money.

Pritchard did a decent job for us, will never be remembered as an all time great, but as someone who put bums on seats, did his fair share of off field commercial stuff and is one of just 17 people in the world who can say "I help break the hoodoo". For that alone I am thankful to him.

Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Fri Jan 12, 2018 4:45 pm  

how many bums on seats exactly?
Sorry but other clubs had to do nothing to adjust to such a plodder, this is complete nonsense, a handful of times he did something, he wasn't a threat other clubs had to make plans for because he was barely on the pitch anyway.

He didn't add any prestige or profile to the club, he wasn't a 'big name' just on an over-inflated player on an overly inflated wage, he certainly didn't excite me nor encourage me to want to go to more games. I don't see what he brought apart from a few laughs with the squad and a handful of half decent performances mostly at the back end of a half.
I do't get the love in.

Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:20 pm  

knockersbumpMKII wrote:

how many bums on seats exactly?
Sorry but other clubs had to do nothing to adjust to such a plodder, this is complete nonsense, a handful of times he did something, he wasn't a threat other clubs had to make plans for because he was barely on the pitch anyway.

He didn't add any prestige or profile to the club, he wasn't a 'big name' just on an over-inflated player on an overly inflated wage, he certainly didn't excite me nor encourage me to want to go to more games. I don't see what he brought apart from a few laughs with the squad and a handful of half decent performances mostly at the back end of a half.
I do't get the love in.

There's no love in at all just an appreciation for a good player and top bloke.

He may not have hit the heights he once did in his career but he was still a high profile player that did attract extra attention when on the field and I'm sure attracted spectators to just come see him.
I was disillusioned under Radford and not going to renew my season pass but then we signed Pritchard and my admiration for him as a player alone persuaded me to renew. I also knew of 3 other pass holders who had the same outlook as me.

Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:41 pm  

DGM wrote:

I don't think he was ever fit, probably way off being fit to be honest, which resulted in him playing relatively low minutes. We also used him mostly through the middle, instead of in the 2nd row running through the channels, which is what we were used to seeing from him in the NRL. Both of these factors mean we were all a bit underwhelmed compared to what we were expecting from him.

However, when he was on he made a clear impact. Despite low minutes he was the 4th highest forward for carries, tackle busts & yards, with an average gain only behind Scott Taylor. The opposition had to think differently when he came on as he sucked 3/4 men into each tackle. I think we lacked that impact off the bench in 2017, which is (I believe) why we've brought back Micky Paea.

He clearly had a big impact off the pitch too. Don't forget he was a huge name when we signed him, it signalled our intent as a club, and a long with the signings of Taylor, Fonua & Manu (plus others), we saw one of the biggest shifts in fortune we've ever seen at the club. He was a big part of that.

Cannot argue with that post

Re: Looks like former player Frank the Tank has retired : Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:45 pm  

knockersbumpMKII wrote:

how many bums on seats exactly?
Sorry but other clubs had to do nothing to adjust to such a plodder, this is complete nonsense, a handful of times he did something, he wasn't a threat other clubs had to make plans for because he was barely on the pitch anyway.

He didn't add any prestige or profile to the club, he wasn't a 'big name' just on an over-inflated player on an overly inflated wage, he certainly didn't excite me nor encourage me to want to go to more games. I don't see what he brought apart from a few laughs with the squad and a handful of half decent performances mostly at the back end of a half.
I do't get the love in.

I think this post is overly negative. On the field, I agree not amazing at all, did a job, but didn't play as much as we would have liked. Over paid, yes probably on what he delivered. Off the field though, before and since we have had nothing like him. He clearly added profile and prestige to the club IMO and the opposition definitely had to plan to deal with him, bun more the pack as a whole of which when playing, he was integral