Mrs Barista wrote:What tosh. Briscoe was class at FC, and had a great link-up with Richard Horne running the middle channel. He scored 4 tries in one game at Odsal when Bradford were still near the top of their game and one of the factors in him not staying at FC was that he was very close to international selection back then and wanted to hang on for the increment you get for that in FC's salary structure. This was at a time when Wellens was at the top of his game and an automatic first choice as well. He was the SL Dream Team fullback in 2004 whilst at Hull. Of course he's been great for you, but to claim he is "far better" is nonsense.
The main problem FC fans have when comparing how their departed players have performed for Rovers is their failure to grasp the fact the Rovers play in a completely different way to FC in almost every aspect.
Cooke looked better playing for FC because he was playing in a team full of donkeys incapable of creating things for themselves hence the stat that he was involved 83% in of FC's tries whilst he was there and to expect him to have the same input for Rovers when he plays alongside the SL Dream Team scrum-half in Dobson, a genuine ball-playing loose-man in Murrell and the creative contribution of other players like Galea, then the it's not gonna happen.
FC fans again waffle on about "Briscoe running up the middle channel" but when they had Carvell, Thackray, King and Dowes at their best, FC's game plan was simply to pummel up the middle and give Cooke a free rein off the back of that. Then the league got stronger and FC's pack went from being to one of the strongest to one of the weakest. Rovers are far more expansive and utilise Briscoe in a different way, for example, like the try against Cas at home last year when Cas had the right numbers in their defensive line and Cooke weighted a perfect blind pass to Briscoe who came in to create a 2 on 1 at the last split second which we scored from.
As for Wheedlon, he is in far, far superior condition at Rovers than he ever was at FC. To add to that, a little dicky bird told me the reason Wheeldon had to wait 6/7 weeks into the season for his chance last year was because Morgan was not happy with the coaching he received at FC. FC fans will go on about the likes of Wheeldon "not being good enough" but he played more games than any other prop for us last year and we finished one point off 3rd place.
So anyway I'll have a dig at FC's pack to redress the balance:
The so called "Tongan Mafia" are so good they helped FC reach the giddy heights of 12th last year. Luaki will certainly toughen up FC's soft under-belly but like Manu and especially Moa, I expect them to be very poor in retreating the 10 and this will be their undoing.
Fitzgibbon is 6 years past his best and as a workhorse, O'Meley likes his nights out in Leeds and is a tough lad but again judging by the assassination his previous coaching staff gave him, I fully expect him to have the same problems as the "Tongan Mafia".
Long is a good signing as he's a classic scrum-half but even the Saints fans have said he's been on the decline for the past 2 years.
It's a shame is that by the time I'll be proved right, the FC trolls won't be around...