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Do you want Brad Arthur as coach

Do you want Brad Arthur as coach

  • Yes

    Votes: 106 49.3%
  • No

    Votes: 109 50.7%

  • Total voters
    215

Eelementary

Post Whore
Messages
56,108
It's both imo.

Ever had to performance manage staff? Sometimes merkins just don't perform. Thats on the coach too though. As others have pointed out he tends to show questionable loyalty at times.

I have - and if I wasn't able to get them to perform, they were usually let go, and I had a talking to from my boss, as to why our performance plan didn't work.

Mind you, the companies I've worked for, until now, were terrible.

I like Brad - honestly, I do.

But I think he needs to make some tough calls regarding our roster, and make some difficult decisions.
 

Eelementary

Post Whore
Messages
56,108
You can say that but then you look at coaches with runs on the board (e.g. Stuart, Hagan, Bennett, Maguire, Green) going to weak clubs and failing to recreate their success (Green took over a powerful Cowboys team, won a comp, appeared in another decider, and then oversaw their decline), the only possible assessment is that not all clubs are equal, and not all rosters are premiership material or can even be improved with that club's resources. Tim Sheens won a fairytale premiership with the Tigers but then watched as they gradually lost their recruitment/retention power. Since he left in 2012 no coach has been able to get them into the finals, including coaches who had done so with other clubs. Maguire got Souths into the finals for three straight years, culminating in their first premiership in decades. Now in his third year at Wests he will probably fail to finish in the top eight yet again. Changing coaches at these clubs is like shuffling the deck chairs on a very famous boat that sank.

Unless the club itself becomes stronger overall (investment and post-career opportunities for players, better facilities, more staff, etc) then making the finals at Wests will remain the equivalent of winning the comp at Manly, Souths, Cowboys or Cronulla, because it has happened the same amount of times in the last ten years. And if that's true of the Tigers, then it is true of other clubs to varying degrees. I don't think we're as weak, structurally, as the Tigers. We are better able to recruit/retain players than they are (i.e. for less under the cap), but we are absolutely not in the same league as the Roosters or Storm, and I have strong suspicions that we aren't even in the same league as Penrith and Souths.

Would replacing Arthur put us in that group? I don't think so. I think a bunch of other stuff has to change for that to happen, however I think it's happening gradually behind the scenes. If we get a better coach than Arthur it won't make us a stronger club (though it will improve performance on the field), but rather, it will be a sign that we have reached a new level as a club.

How good is Arthur? In my opinion he is as good as a few coaches who have won premierships at stronger clubs (e.g. Green, Flanagan, Maguire and Stuart) as well as a couple who haven't yet won premierships (Cleary, Griffin). But there is a handful of coaches that are obviously better (Bellamy, Bennett, Robinson, Hasler) that I don't think would come to our club just yet. But coaches do have a use by date, and Arthur will eventually reach his at our club. I'm just not convinced it's now.

Valid points.

I do think that Arthur needs some stronger Assistant Coaches, though.
 

Gary Gutful

Post Whore
Messages
51,727
I have - and if I wasn't able to get them to perform, they were usually let go, and I had a talking to from my boss, as to why our performance plan didn't work.

Mind you, the companies I've worked for, until now, were terrible.

I like Brad - honestly, I do.

But I think he needs to make some tough calls regarding our roster, and make some difficult decisions.
Fair call mate. He’s assembled a pretty good roster to date, but there have been some funny decisions along the way.

I think fans and the club itself want more than ‘pretty good’ though. We’ve not really improved at all over the last 3 years.
 

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
84,180
Valid points.

I do think that Arthur needs some stronger Assistant Coaches, though.
Can we even afford them? Clubs like Melbourne and Easts get assistant coaches of the calibre of Kearney and Fitzgibbon, whereas weaker clubs can only get them as head coaches. It shows it's not a level playing field.
 

Eelementary

Post Whore
Messages
56,108
Can we even afford them? Clubs like Melbourne and Easts get assistant coaches of the calibre of Kearney and Fitzgibbon, whereas weaker clubs can only get them as head coaches. It shows it's not a level playing field.

It's definitely not a level playing field, and the NRL is kidding themselves if they think it is.

I believe we could get some decent Assistant Coaches on board - new stadium, good roster, large supporter base, a club which is heading in the right direction, we are no longer a laughing stock off the field...

Brad Arthur, with his professionalism, man-management skills, and passion for the club, still has plenty to offer - but we need changes, I think.
 

IFR33K

Coach
Messages
17,002
Fair call mate. He’s assembled a pretty good roster to date, but there have been some funny decisions along the way.

I think fans and the club itself want more than ‘pretty good’ though. We’ve not really improved at all over the last 3 years.

How so?
 

Gazzamatta

Coach
Messages
14,145
Im guessing The Bubble will prevent influential Parra Ppl from being around training etc to get a feel for how things are going within the team environment. This being the case all they have to work with would be results, phone calls, media and feedback from supporters etc. I dont think that would help BAs cause. We now have a well established board no longer feeling their way. The pressure on them these past couple of weeks and future weeks would of and will be enormous. Get this wrong and the usual spokespeople will be ringing their media mates once more. Put simply, performances improve or someone will pay the price. These are all corporate people. Its what they do.
 

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