Official West Hartlepool RFC

Wowzers - what controversy.

the chocky situation is a non starter for me. it is a 'friendly' so i really dont see it as a problem. had it been a league game then maybe he should have played stags! saying that if a player is a key player and will be pushed back into the 1st team as soon as poss then is there really any point pretending by playing him in the stags just for one game when it is just a mere excercise

I feel that with the depth of our squad he should have to prove his fitness in the Stags before pulling on a 1st team shirt, but seeing as its a friendlt and the Stags have a league match then i believe this is the right decision, and who said the stags want chocky ha ha lol only joking m8

I will be in the club tomorrow to discuss any such issues with each and every unhappy and disgruntled player/club member who wishes to do so.

Given the obvious sense of injustice felt, I would anticipate that the aggrieved parties will take take me up on this offer and allow me to explain, amongst other things, the mockery of a selection comittee and the issue of fairness to all players.

As a matter of interest, who did you whinge to before websites were invented, Chipper?

Slob.

Tim shh your showing your age most of our squad won't remember chipper :oP

or life without websites

If you did put chocky in the stags the player dropped for him wouldnt of thought it was very fair would he? better to give him an hour or so in a game like this one!

tim is right if anyone feels genuinely upset about this decision they should speak to him in person. however, i imagine this is not the case and is just something else to talk about. also, we had a problem at 2nd row last week with paul rudd, carl miller and phil henderson all unavailable. so should they all be stags/3ams too?????????

stag1012 wrote:

> ...seeing as its a friendly and the Stags have a league match
> then i believe this is the right decision,...


What an absolutely sensible and mature observation, I completely agree.

If the club have a policy of a long injured player playing for stags before 1sts (if both have competitive matches) then they should stick to that, but if its a friendly or the player is only going to be on the bench anyway, then what does it matter?

Too be honest although chocky has been injured he has been doing light training with gez. It was a friendly game that was'nt planned anyway. Dont see a prob. He played well for 30 - 40 mins but still needs to work on match fitness so what a better way to work on that then in this FRIENDLY. There where plenty of subs during game and beleive every1 had a good run out.

Thank you Mr Campbell.

Like Tim came on here and said any player with a problem only has to speak to him. No disrespect to Chocky but today we might not have functioned as well in the forwards today if he was there, nothing to do with ability just his match fitness.

Now that the game is over, please let me elaborate further. It would have been unappropriate to do so prior to the game as highlighting any injuries or niggles players may have is not something I like to do.

I arranged the Rovers game as this time of year is very fractious and it can be difficult to stay sharp with a game one week and then a blank weekend the next - this showed in our performance at York. Craig Lee was of the same inclination so we agreed to stage the game. Alongside this, I also needed an opportunity to test the fitness of a number of players carrying injuries, namely Chocky, Neil Howe and Greg Edwards as all have been doing rehab work with Gez rather than full training. Greg was injured playing last week, Neil and Chocky both travelled with the team and completed the warm up as part of the team.

Chocky's incluson in yesterdays squad was a continuing part of his rehab, allowing me and more importantly, Gez, the opportunity to further assess his progress first hand. Indeed, we were unsure whether he would actually even be able to take his place on the bench as was the situation we found ourselves in yesterday when Greg was unable to complete the warm up. Aside from anything else (moving regular Stags down, etc), playing any of these players in a second team league game (which I considered to be more important than the 1st team friendly) would have constituted a risk to the Stag's winning against Westoe.

Both Brett Cullinane and Paul Rudd, who were late unavailabilities last week, took their place on the bench yesterday (rather than being thrust straight back into the team), Carl Miller was once again unavailable due to work as he was unfortunately last week.

With regard to Andy Cheslin, his abilities have been known for a long time and his performances of late have been noted. Indeed, he trained with the first team squad on Thursday and I would have loved to have given him some game time yesterday but I as has generally been the case all season, I did not want to take away from Sos and the Stags on a weekend where the Stags game had more importance than the firsts. This was also the same with Dash Thomas. This is not necessarily a situation that is fair on Andy or Dash, but is fairer on all other players in a wider context, especially those in the Stags.

Andy's chance will come as it has done with Colin, who proved again yesterday he is more than worthy of a place in the team. Indeed, the opportunity to play first team rugby has been given to 32 players already this season, with Andy incidentally the only one of those 32 not to have featured in a league game - I doubt any other team in the league would match those figures. This to me certainly does not suggest that the first team is an exclusive club and should highlight 2 things if nothing else:

a) we have a huge amount of talent present in our club,
b) if you continue to work hard your opportunity will eventually come.

Hopefully that has cleared up a few issues for some people, however I am still available to chat, as always, should further clarification, advice, opinion or whatever be required.

Here's to further success for all our teams this season.

Slob.

Sawyer,

Stop explaining yourself to the unwashed masses, tell them to look at the league table, be grateful and rest easy in the knowledge you and Tighe know what you're doing.

As for Chocky, the debate is spurious. Are you a better team with him in the second row? Yes, he is a skillful and abrasive player, as such he should be put back in the team as soon as he is able to play. It would be lovely to have a "must play seconds" policy but in the days of league rugby it is essential you get your first choice team on the paddock.

As someone who has played against you for a number of seasons, I would say you have certain players if fit should start Tighe, Older Boatman, Davies and Sawyer.

Wonderfish,

My, my this is a reverse in your selection policy.

You have previously had goes at me about Rovers putting players directly into the firsts without having played in the seconds. Perhaps you enjoy playing Devils Advocate?

On a more serious note:

My opinion regarding Tim explaining his actions on here, your point about him pointing people to the league table etc is very valid. I also think it's very brave and a good thing that a coach feels able to answer his critics in public.

I think the purpose of him doing so on here is to settle the minds of those who do not feel able to speak with him directly.

Jimmy,

I remember the occasion I questioned you at Rovers installing players straight into the firsts, I believe it was your kiwis who had never played for the club before, a very different scenario to Mr Davies who is well known to West, opposition and referees.

Also I believe it is Keanu Reeves who likes playing Devil's Advocate.

i think the fact that it was rovers made some people forget that it was just a friendly. As others have mentioned, a friendly is a better place to give returning players a run out than a difficult league game.

I can see both sides of this argument but could not put it any better than Tim Sawyer. Well done to him for getting his message across so eloquently.
All West supporters would expect Davies to now figure in some way at Aspatria having proved himself on Saturday.

West Park Allotment wrote:


> All West supporters would expect Davies to now figure in some
> way at Aspatria having proved himself on Saturday.

As I mentioned, I didn't get to the game due to work, but just because Chocky played well, I'd still expect Tim and Davy to put out the best 15 players, based on fitness and performances both in matches and training, no player should be guarenteed selection.

I am mightly impressed by what I've seen of West this season, it is very pleasing to see the turn around the club has made in the last few years, it is testiment to the dedication of the coaches and the players that West can attract and produce such large pool of talent that made us have this discussion in the first place.

I hope West can continue the form for the rest of the season, it will be a tough match at Asps this weekend. I said jokingly after the first match of the season, 1 win down 23 to go, I would never have believed they would have won ALL the matches to this point, but I am over the moon so far.