ITS BEEN A STRANGE COUPLE OF WEEKS
It's been a strange couple of weeks for us. Firstly the club said goodbye to Steve McNamara and then quickly followed up with the news that Mick Potter will be the new man in charge for the next two years. I personally think it's a great appointment. His record as a player and a Coach is there for all to see. He has done a great job at both Catalans and Saints and from talking to people who have been coached by him he is a very high quality, strict Coach and he has already been at Bradford so he will know what the club is all about. I have no doubt he will have some fresh ideas and how he wants to implement them and that will be good for the club. We are all just glad it's been sorted out now and the club can start preparing for next season.
Of course we were all sorry to see Steve Mc go. He has been great for me personally; he brought me to Bradford so I owe him for that and I have really enjoyed playing under him. It was sad to see him go and I am sure everyone would have wanted him to stay until the end of the season and then take up his role with England but it was not to be. Everyone at the club wishes him all the very best and I am sure he will be a big success with England.
On the field we are going to have to stop giving teams a head start on us. We have been giving that many tries away that we have been chasing every game. We know we can play football and score tries but we are giving ourselves just too much to do. We are a quality side and we know that when the momentum changes we can get a roll on and score against the best of them. Against Salford we scored the same number of tries as them - albeit late in the game - but we showed what we can do and we need to get on with doing it regularly with some consistency.
It's a going to be a tough challenge this week on SKY TV but we have stuck together really well and are looking forward to the challenge. We are a tight bunch and we have kept ourselves together through what has been a difficult period for the club. I can assure you we still have a lot to play for, are confident of getting something going and are really ripping into training.
Lee is coaching us now until the end of the season and he's has not changed at all. He is a quality Coach and is still the same person as before. He's been very good and I am sure he will enjoy working with Mick Potter. It goes without saying I am delighted that both Lee and Geoff will be with us next season and we have some stability in the camp and some familiar faces.
I watched the Hull derby last week and there was certainly some passion in it!! There were some haymakers being thrown and there was a lot of passion in there. I have played in those games and I know what they are like. In that intensity you can lose it-as I have done - but there was no real harm done.
This week we are at Craven Park to play Hull KR and a key man for them is my old mate Michael Dobson. I have contacted him this week- just to wind him up - and he is in great form at the moment. Hopefully I can get to him this time. He never really comes down the middle but I hope he does in this game. He is a massive indicator for them and when he has the ball there is always something happening. He has a great left foot too and playing with him I know his strengths but I also know his weaknesses as well!!
It's getting to the business end of the season and we need to string some wins together and get the ball rolling. We need some wins on the board and there are not too many games left. We have to play with some expression and enjoy our football. One win leads to two and winning, just like losing, can quickly become a habit. We have got out of that and we need to get it back. It's been a tough period and it affects everyone when we are off the field as well. It's not nice losing every week and we want to win, both for ourselves and the supporters. We want to put some smiles back on faces.
You know when times are hard and everything is going against you; well last week I even managed to collide with the Ref and he cut me!! Stitches were required! It's the first time I have been felled by the Ref and it sums everything up I suppose!!
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