www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/20327729 interview for radio merseyside

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/20327729 interview for radio merseyside

That was a response to a direct question about whether he'd be bringing the same style of Rugby that he got Huddersfield playing....



Hope he doesn't mean the short term!

We have a style going that works for us? Does he mean unimaginative play by numbers with no creativity? Or does he mean the historical 'Saints way' of throwing the ball about and playing with flair?



I'd like to know if we're going to be singing 'It's just like watching Brazil', or sat messing about on our phones during games again?

Hopefully the latter!



He also called Paul Sculthorpe: Sean Sculthorpe...

A few obvious questions missed out of the interview, like "are Saints going to make any further signings before the start of next season?"

The other obvious ones:



"Does the club even want to win trophies?"

"WTF is Wellens doing at fullback?"

"Surely you are going to move Wellens from fullback?"

"Shouldn't Wellens have retired by now?"

"Why didn't he retire when Donald embarassed him at Old Trafford?"

"Could Wellens beat Margaret Thatcher in a 100m race?"

"If you put Paul Wellens in the Large Hadron Collider, would it make him go any faster?"

"Has Paul Wellens been forgetting to eat his Weetabix?"

Saddened let it go, it's getting worse than Rouges for derailing threads.







With any interview the opinion is bound to be biased. He's not speaking as an independant observer.

To say we have a sound base is an understatement. We have a base on which you can win titles. I mean, he's in a far better situation than either Tony Smith or Maguire when they arrived at their teams.

Exactly, and Maguire got an averagely performing wigan side to the title in one season

Do we really?



Fullback - No quality. Plenty of players who could be fullbacks, Makinson and Hohaia could be good SL fullbacks

Wings - Makinson is a decent player, but doesn't get involved enough, doesn't appear to be anything in the academy either

Centres - Josh Jones has the potential to be a solid, unspectacular, Talau-esque crashball centre. But other than him we look weak

Half backs - J-Lo is a decent player but I'm not convinced he'll ever find a position. He's no half back, neither is Hohaia. Gaskell appears to be out of favour and although easily our best half, he's not a standout even in SL.

Prop - TP is a quality player, but playing his last season next year. LMS is a quality impact prop. Perry is terrible and Clough a typical 'solid but unspectacular' player. Laffranchi isn't a prop in a million years and gets bullied by all the good packs.

Hooker - The one position in which we do have a standout international player

Backrow - Soliola is developing into a quality player and was less of a liability defensively last season. Manu should bring some fire to the pack and with Robes, TP, Sia and Manu in the 13 we should have a decent pack.

Youth - Our academy teams don't seem to be winning the competitions anymore. I can't name an exciting prospect at the moment, and the players on the verge of the squad like Ashe, Swift, Greenwood etc don't seem to have much about them.



The way I'd describe Saints at the moment is 'solid'. Leeds and Warrington have better teams and better youth prospects than us at the moment. Given how utterly rubbish SL is outside the top 4 or 5 we appear to be close to winning trophies, but I can't see us winning any over the next few years unless our recruitment improves.

Really? So why do we keep not winning any titles then?



He's just saying what every coach will say when they come to a new job, or indeed at any other time if they wish to keep their job. He may well think he's got a lousy bunch of players for all we know.

Yes. We finished fourth last year and second a million season in a row before that. Now if that isn't a base to win titles on then what is? If we get a 10% improvement on last year we'll win the competition.