Mark Bakewell

[newport tiger]

When MB first arrived he seemed to have an immediate effect and our forwards seemingly improved overnight. Unfortunately as we all know they have regressed again and as a unit seem inferior to our opposition in almost every aspect(scrum excepted). I know he arrived with a big reputation, so i would like to ask: Do you think MB is underperforming as a forwards coach or are the majority of our pack not quite up to the task?

[sapajo]

Neither Bakewell or Blake have in my opinion enhanced their reputations at Tigers.

[strawclearer]

Neither Bakewell or Blake have in my opinion enhanced their reputations at Tigers.

[BFG]

When MB first arrived he seemed to have an immediate effect and our forwards seemingly improved overnight. Unfortunately as we all know they have regressed again and as a unit seem inferior to our opposition in almost every aspect(scrum excepted). I know he arrived with a big reputation, so i would like to ask: Do you think MB is underperforming as a forwards coach or are the majority of our pack not quite up to the task?

Why except the scrum, it made no impression against Saints and was destroyed by Wasps in the Premiership Shield match at the weekend!

[mol2]

Perhaps we overlook the possibility that aside from our props there is a lack of grunt in the pack.
Small hooker and second rows don’t seem to add much in terms of go forward.

Neither Blake or Bakewell seem to have achieved more than a dead cat bounce.
Have they the players to work with is a consideration? Our defence when Blake was here before was hardly great and his return hasn’t plugged the leaks. Our formerly feared pack isn’t scaring our opposition these days.

[Dangerous4]

In a nutshell I would say it is both M.B. and the back five, not producing the goods.

[CitizenSmiff]

He's been working with a forward pack in dire need of reinforcement (Spencer Thompson and Denton all having had long layoffs) so I don't necessarily blame him for this season's decline. Add in returning players plus Taufua Lavanini and Green and my hope is we'll see some progress. I do think the coaching team needs supplementing with a breakdown specialist in the mode of our old mate Julian at Chiefs to inject a bit of guile when the ball hits the floor.

[Dangerous4]

It's a shame Julian isn't here.

[Scott1]

Lavanini in then?!

[sam16111986]

He's been working with a forward pack in dire need of reinforcement (Spencer Thompson and Denton all having had long layoffs) so I don't necessarily blame him for this season's decline. Add in returning players plus Taufua Lavanini and Green and my hope is we'll see some progress. I do think the coaching team needs supplementing with a breakdown specialist in the mode of our old mate Julian at Chiefs to inject a bit of guile when the ball hits the floor.

Like Ben Herring did for us 2009-2011. Wouldn't be a bad idea to have a forwards skills coach who's there to look at our breakdown and contact work. With the way the game is being driven at the minute with the aim being to keep the ball in play longer it's an increasingly important area.

[JP14]

I cannot really stress the imprtance of Ben Ryan potentially being in our coaching squad, wouldn’t imprive skills overnight obviously but we would see a massive improvement.

[Chobbsy]

Perhaps we overlook the possibility that aside from our props there is a lack of grunt in the pack.
Small hooker and second rows don’t seem to add much in terms of go forward.

Neither Blake or Bakewell seem to have achieved more than a dead cat bounce.
Have they the players to work with is a consideration? Our defence when Blake was here before was hardly great and his return hasn’t plugged the leaks. Our formerly feared pack isn’t scaring our opposition these days.

Is it a lack of grunt or heart and will?

[Chobbsy]

When MB first arrived he seemed to have an immediate effect and our forwards seemingly improved overnight. Unfortunately as we all know they have regressed again and as a unit seem inferior to our opposition in almost every aspect(scrum excepted). I know he arrived with a big reputation, so i would like to ask: Do you think MB is underperforming as a forwards coach or are the majority of our pack not quite up to the task?

I haven't watch Tigers live in quite some time, but someone said to me that the players who are leaving just do not seem interested and not really even going through the motions, again this is hear say but could there any truth in it?

[sam16111986]

I cannot really stress the imprtance of Ben Ryan potentially being in our coaching squad, wouldn’t imprive skills overnight obviously but we would see a massive improvement.

I doubt he'd accept any role other than director of rugby. He likes to create a culture and philosophy for his team. He's an out of the box thinker, a radical. People like that don't generally work well under the kind of people we are looking at. I also think the board might be a little 'old school' in their thinking for someone like Ben Ryan.

[drc_007]

I cannot really stress the imprtance of Ben Ryan potentially being in our coaching squad, wouldn’t imprive skills overnight obviously but we would see a massive improvement.

What has Ben Ryan done in the 15 a side game to justify a coaching position? I'm well aware of his outstanding 7 aside contributions but for me the games are totally different these days.