Staffs FC wrote:The point is that in order for the team to win as they have done in the last 4 games then the players who are out there playing need to play well. If they don't play so well then the team lose and the criticism will be evident - and justified in my opinion. If players are playing poorly then they will receive criticism - it's their job to put it right.
What I like about us this year is that we have better players - particularly in the pack - and we have fight and respect for the shirt. Except for the Widnes debacle we have been very competitive and the players deserve credit as a team for that. So do the coaching staff who, far more than the players, cop the majority of the wrath spouted by some when often in the past it's the players that have let everyone down. Other than Widnes this year we haven't been let down - one of the main reasons being that our players are better.
I think we needed that Widnes defeat in order for the team to re-focus and get things back in order. Aside from that game, our two other league defeats against Castleford and Wigan were by 7 and 1 points respectively. And our now 6 wins have been by margins of 22, 28, 18, 2, 2 and 1 points. Proves that we can blow teams away and yet also grind out results when needed. And aside from that off day against Widnes, we've been very close to Wigan (top 2 side) and Cas (off the back of a very good 2015. Even a narrow defeat to Widnes, given their start, would have been reluctantly accepted.
Regarding Yeaman, it would have been the easy option for him to play out his contract with Hull being on loan to a third tier side in Doncaster, going through the motions. Fair play to him for taking his chance when being put back in the first team, and scoring in consecutive games. Radford did the right thing at the end of last season and into this season by playing others at centre by merit. Yeaman now deserves his place by merit, rather than by reputation and the career he has had with the club.