With the club website proclaiming the start of a new era with the new coaching setup my thoughts turned to what kind of improvements are needed if the club are to make the progress aspired to by AP.



On the playing side my thoughts are:



1-The new S&C coach needs to vastly improve the stength, speed and stamina of the squad generally. Too many times we have seen the players overpowered by aggressive opposition defence (Atkins in the Warrington game springs to mind) and this has left us struggling to gain any field position to mount attacks.



2-Improvements in the physical condition needs to be matched in the area of skills. I don't just mean with ball in hand here, but in the execution of the basics like tackling, preventing offloads, winning ground with defence etc. The players should already be masters of such skills but the number of times I've seen us concede due to basic 1 on 1 missed tackles shows me that they aren't.



3-The tactical kicking game needs to be vastly improved. I don't know the stats on this but I'm pretty sure that we must have the highest percentage of kicks made on 5th tackle in the whole of SL. Watch Leeds and look at how they keep the opposition guessing by kicking on the 3rd and 4th in order to gain field position and ball posession on 40-20s. When we get into the oppositions 20 we also need some variety in our attacking kicks, and most importantly these need to be executed correctly. I'd like to see us be able to apply concerted pressure in such situations like Saints did in the GF.



4-If we get the results from point 1 and our forwards can get a roll on we need to be much cleverer in attack. I'm optimistic given how creative Wests are with Benji and Rob Lui that PG will bring over some of the inside balls, cut out passes, second man plays and angled runs that have made them such an attacking force. A lot of responsibilty will fall on Seymour's shoulders here though it will be just as important that the likes of Tickle, Manu and Westerman make the right runs at the right time.



If PG and the team get these four areas right I think we could be in for a good season in 2012. I don't think it's too much to ask either.



Anyone have any other opinions?

Winning culture and mentality are the 2 big things that need to change. We need an environment where 2nd best is not good enough

SMASH the Red&White es......

Now that's what I call high priority!!

It's what I call small minded

It's called bragging rights. Once you get that right you can take on the World

Like the Dobbins have you mean

It's bragging rights in one town, lasting only to the next meeting. I'd sooner we concentrate on getting bragging rights over the entire SL that last for at least a year. On the day, yes, derbies seem like more than just one game (although the shine is starting to come off now we seem to play 6 a season), but the truth is that they are still only worth 2 points each. Simply beating Rovers is not the be all and end all.

A proper kicking game would be good!



For too long we have been content with kicking the ball straight to the opposing Full Back. Little variation, not making the ball bounce and no turning the defender.





Other teams are also good at creating a repeat set with a grubber in-goal. Finally, at least one 40-20 in 2012 would be an improvement!

Very well structured and thought out post, but i don't agree with point 1 or 2. In fairness to Agar i think our defence has been very much improved during his tenure, and is a large part of the reason we succeeded in games during last season and the season before. Don't think this is one of our weaker areas at all.

Small-minded nonsense. I'd happily lose to Rovers twice a season if we were reaching finals on a regular basis.

Kicking game.



Passing the ball to the right centre more than once a game.



Other than that with a good coach I think we have a team capable of top 5, Seymour, Heremaia and Lynch will seriously improve us.