Thoughts on others perception of Saints

hen we read the papers we are predisposed to believe what they say , except when they venture into stuff whereof we have actual first hand knowledge, at which point we snort "rubbish" and consign it to that night's fish wrapping. I see we got the inconsistent tag (imho we have consistently done well against teams who didn't beat up on our forwards, but ran up against teams who were able to do just that when we got to the big games) .

The loss of John Lesley, Nick Beale and Budge Pountney was a bit of a red herring in detail but raised a few points in principle. Budge was not a factor last year, so we lost him then, we are not losing him now. Nick Beale was a fans favourite, but in many ways must have been a coach's nightmare, and goodness knows how many times he's ignored an unmarked Ben Cohen outside him in the last few years; he did always use to have a great game against Tigers, which may colour Chris's view - after all we only get to see other sides when we play them normally. John Lesley, again, did not have his best season last year (though not disastrous) and we must be hoping to actually upgrade at his position one way or another. Just how our coaches handle the midfield is, in my opinion,, going to be the key to our season.

The point of principle was that the above, together with Connors, constituted a spine of experience within the team, as well as bedrock of commitment to the club. That’s an interesting point and deserves consideration. First, will the new regime be able to pull the squad, plus the whole organisation and the supporters along with them the way Wayne did? Does Alan Solomon have the "mana" that Wayne has?

The signs are good, I think. It looks as if, had he stayed at Ulster, then the Rev (Selwyn Boome, who brings opponents to their knees) and Corne Krige would be in Belfast now. He’s known and admired by an awful lot of people who know good people when they meet them, and seems to inspire long term trust and loyalty. Ulster supporters I have talked to have enjoyed having him there in much the same way we have with Wayne , and I suspect he's quite shrewd on the publicity side , as well as being the epitome of organised.

But how much experience and identity will we be losing this year? Will we be starting anew in trying to build a new squad who will identify with and play for each other and for the shirt?

As an exercise, I have written out the squad broken into groups, with senior saintsmen only (those who had at least 2 1st team years under Wayne) in capitals. It reads not too badly;

Back 3 -REIHANA,COHEN, Clarke, Human , Rudd

Centres - HYNDMAN, TUCKER, Vilk, Starling Stcherbina

Half backs - ROBINSON, HOWARD,GRAYSON, DRAHM ( nice , eh ?)

Props - SMITH, BUDGE POUNTNEY, MORRIS, STURGESS Ross, Kempson

Hookers - THOMPSON, RICHMOND, Van Wyck

Locks - HUNTER , LORD, O'Donahue , Boome , Browne.

Backrow - BLOWERS, FOX, SODEN, SEELY, Krige, McNamee.

It looks like a fair bit of continuity to me. this is important as Tim Exeter has all the players physical stats and will be able to measure both the returning and new players against these , and larks has all the films, notes and records from previous games for the new coaches to familiarise themselves with our own players and opponents ; also we have experienced players in all the major groupings who can tell Solly how we did things under Wayne.; if you want to change things , it's important to know what you're starting with.

I’m content that we are not really seen as much better than top 5 material by outsiders. It’s always good not to be rated too high at the start of the season. Historically we are a top 3 team over the last few years , and although most people have a fairly clear and unanimous view that the big 5 clubs are some combination of us, Tigers, Bath, Gloucester and Wasps, we haven't looked like winning much since the Heineken. Actually my perception is that we have added to a strong base this year, particularly in the pack where it was needed; a Tigers supporter probably wouldn't realise our forwards needed a boost given the run of recent contests with them, so may think these guys are just squad players. As for the coaches, Solomon has two assistants now to Wayne’s one, and both have been round the block . I will be particularly interested to see how Adrian Kennedy goes with our forwards. The main strength of the club lies in the club itself and its organisation. Momentum need not be lost during a regime change, as there is an awful lot that does not change.

Lastly, having tried my hand at analysing other clubs, I have to say I enjoyed Chris’s article, but you have to bear in mind that for the clubs other than your own, one's knowledge is so superficial you might as well be a journalist - after all it's just an essay to keep us folk on the boards amused.