No he isn't, and the sooner people stop claiming things they have no idea about, the better

A.P was clueless (by his own admission) about R.L when he took over, but credit where its due, from day one
he emphasised the need for a strong youth policy, to be implemented as a priority.
The groundwork isn't being done now - it was done a couple of years ago.
Now these youngsters are beginning to filter through we obviously need to try to avoid losing talented youngsters
to more successful clubs. & that won't happen unless we become one.
Worryingly for me A.P seems to have lowered his ambitions & seems to be citing the top eight as the seasons goal
Eighth - the bottom half of the table!

it may be a case of "under promise, over deliver" we will have to wait and see.

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For the love of any god can we keep this on topic and pack in with the childishness? For one day?

When I posted the original missive yesterday I assumed it would be a decent topic for discussion, particularly as we are one of the clubs who (potentially) could shake up the long established order.

I should have known better really, shouldn't I

Why, nobody has derailed the thread, opinions have been expressed about how we break the cartel. In any sport, you change the pecking order by winning, we just need to figure out how we do that.

Firstly I think the 'closest/best SL ever' spiel from SKY is a load of horse muck! yes the league is closer, but I feel a large part of that is that standards have declined, and the big teams now rest players mid-season knowing that dropping a few games isn't a disaster. Aside from a superb Wigan-Wire game on Friday this playoff series has been the worst I can remember, with several walkover scores and a dreadful refereeing display in the Saints-Catalan game.

On the positive side more young British players are getting a game, and I think the England side in the World Cup and the squad announced today shows that there is a much stronger strength in depth of English players than there was say 10 years ago.

I have also warmed to the new structure, and think it will reduce the amount of 'dead rubber' games, as teams will be desperate to make the 8, and then once in the 8 get to the top 4, and once in the top 4 they'll want a home game in their 'do or die' playoff. Much better than this current farce of 'cruise to the top6, lose a game but get a 2nd chance anyway'

As for Hull, I think we are on the right path focusing on youth, and following the model Wigan have. However doubts still remain about Radford (topic has been done to death so i'll leave it there) and even with a squad of young, local players we will still need to recruit quality overseas additions, particularly in positions the city of Hull has traditionally struggled with such as Half-Backs or areas such as Impact Props where South-Sea Islanders have a genetic advantage in terms of size and power. With the big overseas names no longer coming to Super League, clubs have got to get smarter at spotting the young overseas talent, and HullFC's record at this is patchy to say the least!

that said once you get a winning formula and go on a winning run success isn't as far away as some might think. Our own club went from 7th in 2003, to 3rd in 2004 (Injuries hampering our playoff attempt) to a cup win in 2005 and 2nd and a Grand Final in 2006. We went from average to good in the space of 4 seasons on the back of some great recruitment and some good young players coming through.

If we can return to the top 8 next season and continue to develop our young talent then it will be a massive shot in the arm to the club and the fans, and there's no reason we can't build from there. But unfortunately the competition for the top8 will be fierce, and getting off to a good start is vital. If we start well the crowd will get behind the team and they'll play with confidence, make a bad start and the 'not again' feeling will kick in and we'll stutter through the season again.

What other Players have we paid a "fee" for.....we paid a fee for Sneyd who was the top 7 in the comp at the time and yes his form has gone but so did Cas's as well....as for Pryce,his stats was very good before he got left out and was talking to a relative in Wigan last night who has all his coaching badges,sat on BARLA commitees and has forgotten more than you know and he said Pryyce won't go through a gap but will lead the team rd and organise us.