Rugby League: Gregory pays for poor line management

AT EACH end of The Willows for Salford's Super League match against Leeds early last week there was a video camera to record the efficiency or otherwise of the defensive line. There will have been some grim viewing in the days since then, leading up to today's game against the London Broncos.

The legacy of Andy Gregory's removal after four years as Salford coach is a team who do not know how to defend effectively. There is a certain logic here. Great player as he was with the ball in his hands, defence was never an area of enthusiasm. Whenever he wound up for a big hit, there was generally a blast of the referee's whistle close behind.

So it should have been no surprise that Gregory's side lagged behind others in this vital department, even if the contrast between some sporadically invigorating attack and their inept defence was starker than usual against Leeds this week. The cameras of the caretaker John Foran were evidence of a willingness at least to analyse the problem and try to put it right, in however long he has at his disposal before a permanent appointment.

Although it might look like a lack of individual commitment to emotionally engaged supporters on the terraces, that is not usually the case - although there was some of that on Wednesday. What the video nasty is far more likely to show is the lack of a cohesive pattern.

Or, as one of Gregory's players put it after the latest defeat: "Greg was a nice bloke, but we didn't do enough work on defence. After coming from a club where the coach went through the video with you to analyse your defence, it was a big difference."

When the obvious flaw is in defence, the urge to look to Australia for a successor becomes stronger than ever, and all the indications are that the former Gold Coast coach, John Harvey, will be confirmed in the role, at least for the rest of this season, next week. From a field which, at least on paper, looked strong, he seems a surprising choice, but he and his assistant, Rudi Meier, have the reputation as disciplinarians - and that will not come amiss.

In the meantime, Foran will try to start the process of getting the players into some better habits. With Gary Broadbent and David Hulme in line to return today, they could even break their duck against a London side who have been made vulnerable by a combination of the aftermath of Wembley and their heavy injury toll.

If they are to do that, though, the picture they present to the end-on cameras will need to be very different from the way they have looked - and played - so far this season.

None of us - however we might pick apart his methods - should gloat over Gregory's demise. A warm, likeable man and a genuine character in a game that can never have enough of them, he will be missed as a personality from the mainstream of the game.

Not, though, as an organiser of a group of players to do the mundane but necessary job of stopping their opponents scoring tries at will; that is a task for someone else.