Where has anyone said we are premiership threat? We may never be under hook. Hell may not be under the next coach. The argument has been we are no worse off then we were before.
I think if RCG and Blake or Whare play v Canberra we win in 2016.
Same last year Blake plays. May doesn't go down.. Of course Moylan we beat Broncos.
2014 and 2010 still copped injuries too so same could be said for those years.
The big difference is backing it up the next season instead of the down years.
Aside from that we haven't been a true contender since 2004.
We didnt win... and we have an 8% win rate against top 4 teams so theres a better than average chance we weren't winning those games under any top 17. Because no matter what 17 we have. They play to Hooks game plans. This genius took a fit hooker off to put Wallace back out there... that decision alone could have been the difference between winning and losing. It without doubt made the team worse... and Hook CHOSE to make it worse. Everyone on the planet could see we were better once Wallace went off. Except Hook.
We are worse off than we were before though. We arent a premiership threat at all. At the dnd of the day everyones goal is a premiership. Or it should be. Under Cleary we were a legitimate threat. I doubt he wins us one either. Elliott definitely never would But I back Cleary to ever get closer than Hook will. But close still isnt good enough. Its still a failure. We built a top 4 side with the best depth in the competition and it's being pissed away under a coach who has won 8% of his games against top 4 teams since being here.
Our depth has taken a huge hit and our top 17 is now weaker also. This premiership window is being wasted under a coach who clearly isnt good enough. He wasnt good enough for the Broncos. No other team wanted him... well Tigers were interested in him until meeting with him and seeing how f**king clueless and unprepared he was.
Hook was brought here in Year 5 of Goulds 5 year plan. The roster was top 4 capable. The depth was experienced and hardened. Gould didnt look at anyone else. He just sacked Cleary and handed over 5 years of hard work to Hook.
Des Hasler made 2 grand finals with inferior sides to ours and the Bulldogs didn't accept that as successful.
Craig Bellamy would never look back at week 3 of finals and think that was a successful season.
There bar is set way too low for where we are in Goulds 5 year plan. We should have been looking at week 3 of finals minimum last year and a grand final this year. Instead we actually won less games than 2016, were eliminated in the same week of finals and even at our best weren't close to our 2016 form.