On Saturday night after the first day of the Magic weekend, I managed to grab a few minutes with our coach... initially to complain about how disappointed I was to see the Salford players laughing and joking around following our defeat to Harlequins. Initially Shaun made a couple of valid points about how at the end of the day, this is a job to many players, and at what point should the cut off be from them feeling down about losing. He said that the time I saw them was 2 hours after the game, and had he seen them in this frame of mind straight after the game... he would be disappointed himself... I decided this was a valid point, although still somewhat rattled by it.

Shaun then asked me if I thought the effort was there ... I had to agree that I though it was... but pointed out that I was very disappointed about our approach to the game and the tactics deployed. I told him that I didn't like this five drives and a kick mentality which seems to be the norm these days. His answer disturbed me somewhat. He asked me why I feel we play like that. I responded by telling him that I'm not the coach and perhaps he could tell me.... his answer.... we aren't good enough to play any other way. We just don't have the talent. He said the only chance we have of winning games was to 'hang in there' and hope we get something. This I feel is very negative, and I had to disagree with much of what he said. I felt that having Ratchford and Myler in there and using those tactics was a waste of their talent. He agreed that these 2 players should be the future of the club... but I said that things need to change tactically in order to satisfy the hunger of these 2 young stars.

Anyway... it seems that we are stuck with this brand of rugby for the long run... which leaves me not looking forward to a lot of the games we have ahead. I'd much rather see us 'go for it' and play some rugby as I have to say that I disagree with the reasons for playing like this. We are playing negative rugby and still losing... how about we try something else ?

At the end of the day, the coach has to assess strengths and weaknesses. If he thinks that technically the boys are not quite there yet (And there is no money to bring in better players) and if we are honest, we are not generally as gifted with talent as some other teams. The few exceptions granted in Myler, Ratchford et al.

If we played expansive rugby at all times we would pull off a couple of victories, but we would also see the error count go through the roof, and in todays game the team with the higher error count will lose. Fair enough if you you want to be excited at every tackle we get, personally speaking I would rather see the team perform to a game plan, build and bond through the familiarity to build a strong basis to push-on and increase the skill level. Expansive Rugby comes from doing the very basics, not just right, but well.

We are not at that point yet.

There is obviously some merit in the tactics he employs, after all victories away to Hull and Leeds shows that when the team does tick we can be very good. It's all about repetition and consistency, something that has let us down at the moment. I think we are already exceeding expectations so far this season and I'm sure we will continue to do so. It can be very frustrating to see us just get pipped as in the last two games that were there for the taking, but once we build-up that consistency, morale improves, team spirit rises and the passes stick.

This is a three year marathon not a single season sprint. This year for me is about competing and getting up to the level of SL. After a shaky start we are now doing that.

his answer.... we aren't good enough to play any other way. We just don't have the talent. He said the only chance we have of winning games was to 'hang in there' and hope we get something

so why did we sign players from Oz who he already knew weren't good enough for Super League?

Seems a waste of money to me, money which could have been spent on british talent.

Don't expect to receive a frank answer,in the future, from our coach if he knows you are going to tell the world !

Next time he will just give you bland 'coach speak' and I don't blame him.

Go watch any of the Celtic games for this...

McRae airs too much on the cautious side for me but you can't knock his overall thinking. We didn't complain too much when Harrison did the same and it got us to the play-offs.

Ask Steve Simms!

we played better in the second half when we moved the ball and look a far better team when we keep it alive i cant understand the coment that one out football is the only way we can play. we were a far better team in second half so if mcrae said that dont no what game he is watching we played very good rugby when we move the ball round the field. So it deont sound as though the rugby is not worth watchin. I thought mcrae said this was a good enough side to reach playoffs saying what he said to you if true he should be made to eat is words.

Why? He doesn't decide what players we buy.

Whilst I don't wholly disagree with you, the scoreboard didn't seem to reflect that?

RL is a results-driven business, and McRae will coach his team to do whatever he thinks will bring us the best results. At present, he feels that is a safer, percentage game.

I have to say I tend to agree - I'd love to see us throw it about like Saints but we're simply not good enough at present. We've recruited the best players that our budget and status will allow, and if these players start throwing it around we'll end up like Celtic are at present.