Gentle to add killer touch as Hull plot challenge

Which big names are going to excel with their new employers, what will constitute value for money and who will be the best overseas capture are just some of the redolent themes before a campaign begins all over again.

However, in 2012, the scene is distinctly different. The most pressing question is which new coach will impress?

This is in part due to the obvious lack of stellar names arriving from the NRL, the strength of the Australian dollar against the British pound making that option less attractive to many players who may have made the move in previous years. Indeed, Kiwi full-back Lance Hohaia’s switch from Auckland to St Helens is about as exotic as it gets in that department.

There will, though, be six new managers in charge at Super League clubs this term with Yorkshire clubs dominating with regards changes at the top.

Of the region’s seven clubs, no fewer than four have appointed new chiefs in readiness for the season ahead, the most since the summer era began.

With both Hull clubs ending long associations with their previous coaches, and fellow derby rivals Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats doing likewise, there is an obvious feeling of fresh optimism from all about what might lie ahead.

For differing reasons, each club may argue they needed to force a changing of the guard to invigorate their hopes of progression if not instant success.

But establishing who will have the biggest impact of the quartet – Hull FC’s Peter Gentle, Craig Sandercock across the river at Hull KR, Castleford’s Ian Millward or Richard Agar at Wakefield – is a difficult task.

The talk is that Gentle, the former Wests Tigers and Australia assistant, has the nous to take the Black and Whites forward and engender the necessary changes required to make them a top-four title-challenging force.

It may be his first head coach appointment but no-one can doubt the quality of the apprenticeship he has served with both club and country under Tim Sheens, one of the most respected coaches in the world.

Kangaroos chief Sheens, who had Gentle as his assistant at Wests for six years, gave him a rousing reference and was adamant his protégé is ready to take control of a club himself.

With the experienced Shaun McRae acting as his director of football, Gentle will have many of the usual pressures – contracts, player negotiations, media commitments – removed from his workload allowing him to concentrate solely on getting the best out of his squad.

There has been a long-held feeling that Hull should be punching more powerfully than they have in recent years given some of the players at their disposal and Gentle’s main objective will be to fulfil their potential as a squad.

He has made improving skill levels of paramount importance – in the biggest games they often lacked a killer touch last year – and introduced specific daily sessions since pre-season training began in mid-November to enhance their execution.

A more expansive approach has been promised and, with England stars such as Kirk Yeaman and the in-demand Tom Briscoe, Hull certainly have strike power.

However, Gentle, a half-back in his playing days, will be relying heavily on Brett Seymour, the scrum-half who arrives from New Zealand Warriors, to quickly provide the invention and variety which the club has missed acutely in recent years.

The coach’s predecessor – Agar – did have some rotten luck with injuries especially in such key positions, half-backs Richard Horne and Sean Long rarely playing together during the last two seasons, so he will need some good fortune in that regard.

Gentle’s capture of Bradford Bulls captain Andy Lynch will certainly help offset the loss of the stately Craig Fitzgibbon while one of his other key areas will be bringing the best out of the mercurial Joe Westerman.

Given his reputation as one of the NRL’s smartest operators, though, it is hard not to see him adding that extra few per cent which could push them towards top-four contention and ending a disappointing run which has seen Hull fail to finish above sixth in each of the last four campaigns.

Sandercock, meanwhile, is a less-heralded acquisition from the Australian game and perhaps not the high-profile name Rovers fans would have liked to seen take them up to the next level after the diligent tenure of Justin Morgan.

Having lost such crucial players as Mick Vella and Clint Newton, as well as their long-serving coach, 2012 was always going to be transitional but the former Newcastle Knights assistant is left with the core of a decent squad.

Another who is taking his first head role, Sanderson has only actually been a full-time coach for the last two years at Newcastle.

He worked as an economics teacher in Sydney previously while cutting his coaching teeth in the lower grades at Manly.

However, he has since made swift progress and his attention to detail, sports science beliefs and tough discipline could all enhance Rovers as will his success developing youngsters.

Attaining some much-needed consistency is uppermost in his mind and, with the squad already saying they feel fitter than before, the 42-year-old is readying them to be able to attain that.

It will be interesting to see how Sanderson fares when the going gets tough in the intense atmosphere of Hull. It perhaps already is with the season-long loss to injury of outstanding stand-off Blake Green. New captain Ben Galea will also miss the opening three months so perhaps eclipsing last season’s seventh place in his first campaign would then be a relative triumph.

Millward needs no introduction. It may be six years since the colourful Australian was last involved in Super League but it seems like only yesterday.

Always forthright in his opinions, he became the most successful coach in St Helens’ history, guiding them to Super League titles in 2000 and 2002 as well as two Challenge Cup successes plus a memorable World Club Challenge over Wayne Bennett’s famed Brisbane Broncos.

His career at Knowsley Road typically ended in controversy, sacked for gross misconduct, and then came an ill-fated spell at Wigan which did little to repair his reputation.

But Millward’s return to the NRL, as assistant at North Queensland and Canberra Raiders, has seen him add to his coaching repertoire and, after a successful stint at Leigh, he is back in the top flight once more. Castleford, bereft of the sort of resources and playing talent afforded him at Saints, will be a much sterner test of his credentials but he has inherited some young class in the likes of Daryl Clark and Joe Arundel.

Under the affable Terry Matterson, Tigers demonstrated their potential last year when they amazingly topped Super League approaching Easter only to tumble alarmingly amid a crippling injury list, eventually missing out on the eight.

Millward has identified improving both the squad’s mentality and durability as crucial in avoiding any such collapse this time around.

The 51-year-old has pressed hard to see them become more professional in all aspects but they have lost a lot of experience and will start 2012 with numerous players missing. It will take a significant effort to reach the top eight during his first attempt but Millward has signed a three-year deal and has a long-term vision, hopefully, augmented by a move to a new stadium.

Wakefield are in a similar situation as they await the outcome of a public inquiry with regards plans for their own purpose-built ground. On the field, though, it is Agar who undoubtedly has the largest challenge of all. Ironically, in many ways, there should be little pressure given Trinity can not perform much worse than in 2011 when only doomed Crusaders sat below them in the table.

However, in light of his forced exit from Hull, Agar will be desperate to prove his merits as a Super League head coach.

Away from the stifling pressure of the Black and Whites, he may excel and a drastic transformation of the Trinity playing squad – 18 new captures in total – means, with an almost blank canvas, he can certainly formulate a side and style in his own vision.

Undoubtedly, many who so badly under-performed for predecessor John Kear have departed and, in new captain Steve Southern and Richard Mathers to name just two, he has made some astute signings.

On paper, their squad looks far superior but, given the sheer number of those new arrivals, Agar faces a real battle to quickly form some cohesion in their play.

He has the opportunity to turn heads, though, and how Trinity progress under his leadership in 2012 could be one of the most interesting tales of the year.