2005/06 End Of Season Poll - Part 2

By Mark H
July 4 2006

Welcome to part two of the 2005/06 end of season poll, answering such questions as "was Grant Anderson really the signing of the season?"

Biggest Pleasant Surprise (and why)

 

Matt Burke re-signing for two more years 53.85%

Owen Finegan's release 11.54%

The weather, Beating Saints, Jonny Wilkinson's return, Jamie Noon becoming an England fixture 7.69%

Jonny Williams in the First XV 3.85%

 

We all hoped he would, but there's no doubt that we were all very surprised when Matt Burke signed for two more years.  And delighted.

 

Matthew Burke re-signing for two more years:

…Burke re-signing, he's huge for our short term prospects

…Burkey signing for another two years. Why? You need to ask?!

…Matt Burke signing for another 2 seasons.  There is a God after all!!

…God staying put and Jonny Williams being in the first team as he'd been coaching my class - top lad!

…Burkey re-signing AND Melon getting the boot so we don’t have to endure that dross for another year.

…God signing for another two years.  Need I say more.

 

…There's been a lot of cracking weather this year, one of the warmest years for Rugby at KP I'd say.

…probably beating Northampton, especially after the Bristol home performance.

 

...Jonny's return - and the fact that he made it past one or two matches when he came back

 

…Noon being retained in the England squad. I was convinced that the management would (ridiculously) try and hold him accountable for England's lack of cutting edge in midfield - when in fact he is their cutting edge in midfield. We missed him at KP, but he at last got the recognition he has deserved for the last 2 or 3 years.

…Releasing Owen Finegan

 

 

Biggest Disappointment (and why)

 

Owen Finegan 26.92%

Ian Peel's retirement 15.38%

ECC Semi, Dave Walder's sacking 11.54%

Not being in the ECC final, How we played 7.69%

30p on a pint of Guinness for the Tigers game 3.85%

 

Surprisingly not a runaway winner - was it because we had all wiped him from our memory by the end of the season?  Or because we thought that he wasn't worth the bother?

 

London Irish (ECC):

…threw a winnable game and a chance for Heineken Cup rugby down the toilet

 

…The retirement of Ian Peel.

…Either Dave being released or the ECC semi.

...How we played for most of the season.  I expected more.

…not qualifying for Europe, it has set us back yet again.

…not qualifying for Europe

…Not getting to the final of the ECC and possible Heineken Cup rugby next season.

…Davey not having contract renewed, i think next season this will come back to haunt Rob

 

Owen Finegan:

…Melon, obviously, but off the field, Guinness going up 30p a pint for the Cheatahs game…and staying up.

…Lemon.

...Melon. Again, no further comment required.

 

 

Best Signing (and why)

 

Anthony Elliott 92.31%

Andy Perry 7.69%

 

Elliott is just pipped as the most runaway winner of any award by Matt Burke (see Player of the Year)

 

Anthony Elliott:

…Between last year and this year, it’s got to Elliott. A great addition on the wing; fast with great awareness. Could have achieved more if he hadn’t been out through injury for so long.

…a great prospect, the other signings were complete pants

…he's the one signing who could possibly stay in our starting XV for many years to come.

…only decent signing this year.

…Elliott. No competition.

…Elliott for his pace and cutting runs, and excellent finishing

…Thought he had an excellent game at full back against Leeds, will never replace God, but makes a pretty good disciple.

…Elliott, easily

…Anthony Elliott played well when he was fit.

 

Andy Perry:

…has made a big difference to the forwards with some good performances and has shown he will not be intimidated by anyone.

 

Worst Signing (and why)

 

Owen Finegan 80.77%

Tino Paoletti 13.46%

Grant Anderson 5.77%

 

Most telling statistic from this category?  None of the three players will be at the club next season.  Waste of money or waste of time?

 

Finegan/Paoletti/Anderson, complete waste of time and money

Finegan just because so much was expected of him.  Tino and Anderson were also a waste of money, but presumably a lot less money.

Anderson, Tino - take your pick - absolute pants

 

Owen Finegan:

…in terms of expense versus performance. In terms of expectation versus performance, the worst ever.

…Melon.  For actually turning out to be a lemon

…Melon. Needs no explanation.

…Lemon was hoping he'd have the same impact as Burke, unfortunately I think my Mum would have done a better job!

…Melon. He’s offered very little compared to the pre-season hype and has proved to be a waste of money.

…a shadow of his former self.

…'Five minute' Finnegan for that very reason!!

… Lemon, not more needs to be said

 

Tino Paoletti:

…At least we did occasionally get a bit of rugby out of Melon.

 

Player Most Missed (and why)

 

Jonny Wilkinson 69.23%

Ian Peel 15.38%

Marius Hurter, Phil Dowson 7.69%

 

As some of the comments below state, you can see Falcons become a better side when Jonny plays.  Here's just hoping that we can see more of him next season.

 

Marius Hurter:

…Marius Hurter (still) – we need his presence in the front row.

 

Jonny Wilkinson:

..has to be JW, which team in the world wouldn't miss him at his best?

…Wilko obviously. Our backs look much more dangerous when he's on the field calling the plays.

…Jonny because he has such an influence on those around him and a galvanising effect on the team.  He is still the best fly half in the world and any team would miss him not just us - like England!!  We always look dangerous when he plays and we are a danger to ourselves when he doesn't.

…I’d forgotten how much space he puts the others into.

…Wilko. When you see the difference he makes when he’s on.

…The last few games of the season just show what a difference he makes to the team when he is on the field.

…You can see the difference when he's on the pitch

…he turns games just with his presence. We have been struggling to score tries all season but when Wilkinson returned we score 20 tries in four games

 

Phil Dowson:

…Just to be different to everyone saying Jonny I say Dowse, as he was on form last season and until he got injured, his impact on the game goes un-noticed.

 

Ian Peel:

…we should have been able to cover Jonny with Flood and Walder, but numerically I think we missed Peely a lot once Anderson and Tino were (rightly) frozen out.

 

 

Best Away Trip (and why)

 

Northampton 23.08%

Leeds, Leicester 15.38%

London Irish, Llanelli, N/A, Borders, Bath, Brive 7.69%

 

The win at Saints again takes top billing, helped greatly by the players being ultra-approachable after the game.

 

Northampton:

…pure Walder genius and a great win.

…as mentioned above it was great to meet the players after the match and was good to see both players and supporters with huge grins on their faces.  It was a great day out.

…Lovely day, best GP ground, great fans and a long over-due win there.

 

Brive:

…Great place, great crowd, great Falcons performance. Great part of France to visit even without a Falcons match to go to.

 

Bath:

…even though we lost, and the play was awful in the first half, it turned into a cracking match.  On a personal level, I finally got to meet the players, and had a cracking time beforehand stuck amongst the Bath fans.

 

Leeds:

…as it was my only time on the bus.

…always really enjoyed the trip to Headingley; hospitable crowd, good banter and the right result!

 

Borders:

…made a change from the Prem grounds.

 

London Irish:

…normally the Oirish, for the craic

 

Llanelli:

…Away at the Scarlets, again just a personal thing.

 

Didn't go to any away matches.

 

Leicester:

…just for fact their supporters could not believe they had drawn with us, and fact I loved the short train journey back home and being able to gloat.

 

 

Marks out of 10 for the Players (and why)

 

4.98 overall, highest 6, lowest 4.  With the scoring being such a tight range, I think it proves that we all had pretty much the same opinion; ok, but not great, and a lot of room for improvement.

 

…6 collectively

…Marks out of 10 for the players vary widely, some have been great, some terrible, overall a 6 because of the good run at Christmas.

…a collective 6. A collective 7 would have made Heineken Cup.

…As a whole, 5 out of 10. Some individuals achieve 7 or 8, certain individuals score 2 or 3. Too much inconsistency and lack of belief/passion when things go wrong to score higher than 5.

…5  Have to go 50/50, just like our season.

…4, a very disapointing season, they've not stood up to the mark

…4, it's been a big step backwards from them.

…Overall I'd say 5/10.  We have shown this season that we can mix it with the best teams in the Premiership and at times played some great flowing attacking rugby.  We have some great talent emerging but we have to be more consistent if we are to have any success and cut out the errors which so often is our downfall.

…4 overall but it's down to a handful who have grafted every match. Piss poor season on the whole.

 

Marks out of 10 for the Players (and why)

Burkey, Wilko   10

Woods, Parling, Tait, Noon   9

Shaw, Macca, Elliott   8

Ward, Mayerhofler, Long, Harris, Charvis   6-7

Grimes, Charlton, Grindal, May, Perry, Morris, Walder    5

Thompson   3

Paoletti (for trying his best)   2

Anderson (utterly useless)   1

Melon   -10

 

Final part up by the weekend!