Super League Betting: Noble is a miracle worker

Super League / Ralph Ellis / 07 September 2010 / Leave a Comment

Miracle worker - Brian Noble

"Warriors are [2.48] favourites to add the Grand Final to their shield, but that’s one to lay."

Despite a series of early setbacks, Brian Noble has worked wonders at Celtic Crusaders this season and deserves to honoured, says Ralph Ellis.

When the Super League coaches sit down in the next week or so with their nomination forms to elect the coach of the year, there should be only one winner. And I don't mean Michael Maguire, even though his achievement in helping Wigan break up the Leeds/St Helens monopoly to lift the leaders' shield has been immense.

No, for Rugby League's real success story you have to look further down the table, to eighth place, where Brian Noble hasn't just done well to nurse Crusaders into the play-off places, he's worked miracles.

Noble couldn't have had more obstacles put in his path. A week before the season kicked off, he lost half his team because the Home Office refused them work permits. Then the entire club was moved from South Wales to Wrexham. He was left with a matter of days to scramble together enough players to fulfil the first fixture, and had to beg and borrow somewhere to train his team because the new facility in North Wales wasn't ready. He then dealt smoothly with the inevitable circus that surrounded encouraging Wales and British Lions star Gareth Thomas to switch codes.

How many excuses does one man need? You might have thought with a list of problems like that the only aim would be to avoid finishing bottom - and be grateful that Super League have abolished relegation for a year or two. Instead Noble has risen to the challenge, spread his own positive thinking through his team, and come up with some astonishing results.

As he goes into the play-offs this weekend, you can't blame him for thinking he could yet turn up another miracle. "I believe you can do anything from anywhere," he's told anybody who'll listen.

If he's right then fill your boots at anywhere between [160.00] and [1000.00] for Crusaders to win the Grand Final. Sadly for him, in the real world they are likely to be out first go, because Saturday's opponents Huddersfield Giants are actually the best outside bet of the play-offs at [17.5].

Their coach Nathan Brown was coach of the year last season, and has brought the team to peak form at just the right time. Last week's cruise to a gentle 26-12 success away to Catalans was their fifth straight victory, crucially including a win away to Wigan which should have provided a massive confidence boost.

Warriors are [2.48] favourites to add the Grand Final to their shield, but that's one to lay. In 12 seasons since the play-off concept was created, it's been won by the regular champions seven times - only just over half. And there's never been a more wide open season than this one, with three clubs all getting to the 40 point mark.

As we said Giants have hit form, but St Helens are also unbeaten since the start of July, and Warrington underlined their potential in one-off games by retaining the Challenge Cup. It leaves too many genuine contenders to feel safe about backing one team, however good they may be, at short odds.

As Noble says: "I've learned in 10 years as a coach that on a given day anybody can beat anybody else."



Five things you might not know about Brian Noble

1. Born in Bradford on Valentine's Day in 1961, he started playing for the Police Boys Clubs

2. He became a policeman and continued to pound the beat for a while even though he signed professional terms with Bradford Northern

3. In his chosen position of hooker he spent 15 years as a Bradford player and captained the 1984 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand

4. After hanging up his boots he spent six years in the coaching backroom - and when he got the head coach job in 2001 his appointment was announced as Ross Noble, who was a radio comedian at the time

5. He is big friends with former Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill. They share an interest in criminology.