Fittler aware of possible Storm damage
By Steve Mascord
July 27, 2007
SYDNEY Roosters coach Brad Fittler believes some teams are beaten before they take the field against Melbourne.
Asked last night how he knew the Roosters would not fall into the trap at Aussie Stadium tonight, Fittler said: "I don't know. I've only been coaching for two weeks."
The hype surrounding the former Australia captain's unbeaten opening fortnight in coaching could move into the stratosphere if the club can inflict Melbourne's third loss of the season.
But Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan said results would be "not an overly significant" factor in determining whether Fittler gets the head coach's position beyond this year.
"He's gone extremely well in the first two weeks but we've got an acid test tomorrow night," Canavan said.
"We can't expect miracles coming off a lean first two-thirds of the season. What we would be looking for are some more abstract things regarding preparation, attitude, enthusiasm, spirit."
In front of an expected healthy crowd tonight, Roosters officials should get a good indication of all four.
"For sure some teams are beaten before they take the field against Melbourne," Fittler said.
"Obviously belief is a big thing.
"Them turning up with a bad attitude also helps."
The decision on whether a director of football is installed above Fittler could be taken within a month, Canavan said.
"We've been talking informally among all board members and myself and there's no real timeframe," he said..
"If we said a month, that would be loosely it."
Fittler said he had learned from rival Brian Smith last week, and, when asked whether facing up to Craig Bellamy represented a new hurdle, he replied: "No doubt.
"But we've just been trying to think about ourselves," he said..
"I watched what Brian did last week and took note of that."
In pre-match news, Australia hooker Cameron Smith is close to assuming the full-time captaincy of Storm.
"He's done (press conferences) the last couple of weeks but I wouldn't say he's got the full-time captaincy," Bellamy said.
"But, again, it's a decision we've made in the last couple of weeks. I think, if we're ever going to go to one captain, he'll be the one."
The Storm coach also said players and coaches had to take a stand against diving in the game.
"The referees can't police it," he said.
"It's not for them to know if the bloke's hurt or not. At the end of the day, the players have got to decide if it's a tactic they should be using.
"They all need to get on board. No one is owning up to say they think it's a good thing for the game but there are still people doing it.
"It's up to the players and coaches to decide that we're not going to do that."
Bellamy still has two players to omit from his bench while the Roosters trained last night and reported no changes.
