....giving out free Humble Pie to the estimated 75-80% of fans who wanted rid of him about 6 weeks ago.



In all seriousness, what's people's thoughts on him now? Are we happy that he is in charge? Was it just a blip (albeit a long one) that we were going through?

I'm glad things have turned around for him. Although I think the major credit has to go to the players who seemed to have settled into a nice cohesive unit.

When DA arrived the cynics [iin the know [/isaid he'd never coach us to a trophy. After Hull bullied us out of the CC in 2005 and a dour start to 2006 (including another loss to Hull) I was tempted to agree. However, the creases soon fell out of the side and we won 4 trophies in 3 years (not including LL shields).

Maybe its just taken a while for the side to settle into potter's plans, although I still can't find an excuse for our terrible last play execution/decision making last year.

So here's the BIG question.

Will his contract be extended this year?

Not sure he wants it extended. He was all set to return to Aus with the family after the Dragons.

The opportunity was one he couldn't really say no to so decided to give it a go IIRC.

No idea what the problem was although I became convinced it was Potter since our team was still made up of the same players from Anderson's day. Nothing has happened to change my mind on that because I have no idea why the change occurred between the Hull match and the Bradford match. For all I know the players could have simply refused to continue playing to the style Potter wanted or Potter could have had a change of mind or pressure from elsewhere could have been applied, etc, etc. Who knows? I don't care. All I care about is that Saints players themselves look more up for it these days, which is always good to see; we seem to have rediscovered our style of play, our attack and our defence (although our defence is probably still a bit patchy); we have managed to break the 20 point barrier a few times now; we have won at home (which I think was important from a confidence POV) and we appear to be playing as a unit even when injuries disrupt a match.

These days I'm neither for or against Potter, simply because I don't know the reason for what appeared to be a sudden change in style. So long as we continue to build on what we are at present - win or lose - that's all I care about. It's just great to see Saints playing with some flair and some enthusiasm again. Just great.

We won out first 13 matches of 2006 if I recall correctly, and lost only 4 matches all year. Not so dour if you ask me.

We were outstanding all the way threw 2006! There was no dour start as you rightly point out. Arguably the best Saints side ever imo!

All most fans wanted was to stop the boring 5 drives and a kick, no plan B stuff.
This he seems to have done, so i'm happy

I'm torn on this. Last season was dire and the start to this also was. But since my harsh statements on here about the situation he seems to have improved a lot. The team is playing a good style of rugby again and actually seems to want to win again. If that carried on to the end of the season I wouldn't have much to hold against him, despite his lack of charisma and connection to the fans.

fully agree. the only thing wrong was the dour style of play leading to not scoring points and terrible results as a consequence. If we carry on playing in the style we are now, we will be in with a shout at the end of the season and that is all that we can ask for.

Like others, I question what happened between the Hull game and the Bradford game to see such a sudden shift in playing style.

I think we all do !

Looking at the team who played yesterday i couldnt see a player who didnt join in the celebrations after a try and started slapping each other on the back before, through and after the game. Especially Jammer and Kyle. He is getting the best out of Leon at the moment and i havent seen him play this well in god knows how long.

Potter staying on through the rest of this year is the only option. I've been a Potter supporter and think he can do it this year for us. As for next season i'm not sure like someone said he did want to go back to Aus after Catalans so i'd expect him not to renew his contract.