interim coach - Carr?

[Dragon David]

What odds he wins a couple of games and we give him 3 years?

I would say that if he does win the next 3 games, he will go close to getting the job, if all others pull out. Not likely, but you never know with our Board.

 

[Slippery Morris]

If Carr impresses he will get to keep his assistant coach role so he has plenty to play for. I think Saints are in a win win situation at the moment with players out to impress. If players sulk good riddance as it shows they have their own interests ahead of the team and fans. You don't want those guys hanging around.

 

[since77]

Interesting body language observation from my lounge room during last weekend’s game. My wife asked during the game as things imploded in second half who the guy sitting next to Griffin in the coaches box was. The assistant coach I said. She said that guy looks like he’s frustrated and disagreeing with everything Griffin is doing and saying and looks like he thinks Griffin is an idiot. She said he looks embarrassed to be sitting next to Griffin and probably thinks he could do a better job.
I was thus amused to see his first team sheet which in one foul swoop finally put most of the best players on the field and left one of the biggest problems out.

 

[RedV Resurgence]

Selections have been a step in the right direction, but what I'm keen to see on Friday is game plan.

Specifically, our kicking game, when we kick, who we kick to - Roosters have big winger so sliding kicks along the ground are harder for these guys to pickup when we are close to the line.

Also, our attack, will we get the ball out wider early to give our centres and wingers a chance one on one before the sliding defence covers. This will also make Roosters forwards move left and right more and increase their exhaustion. We have been attacking a lot in the same 30meter width of the field. Defence coaches know this compress their teams to accomodate.

Better management of the interchange.

I'm only expecting to see glimpses of this this week but i'm sure a change will happen.

 

[dannyt]

What odds he wins a couple of games and we give him 3 years?

His apprentice looks better than Hornby's or Young's, and similar to Ryles'!

 

[dannyt]

Interesting body language observation from my lounge room during last weekend’s game. My wife asked during the game as things imploded in second half who the guy sitting next to Griffin in the coaches box was. The assistant coach I said. She said that guy looks like he’s frustrated and disagreeing with everything Griffin is doing and saying and looks like he thinks Griffin is an idiot. She said he looks embarrassed to be sitting next to Griffin and probably thinks he could do a better job.
I was thus amused to see his first team sheet which in one foul swoop finally put most of the best players on the field and left one of the biggest problems out.

Your wife is extremely smart and intuitive. I missed all of that because I was too busy yelling at the TV.

 

[dannyt]

Selections have been a step in the right direction, but what I'm keen to see on Friday is game plan.

Specifically, our kicking game, when we kick, who we kick to - Roosters have big winger so sliding kicks along the ground are harder for these guys to pickup when we are close to the line.

Also, our attack, will we get the ball out wider early to give our centres and wingers a chance one on one before the sliding defence covers. This will also make Roosters forwards move left and right more and increase their exhaustion. We have been attacking a lot in the same 30meter width of the field. Defence coaches know this compress their teams to accomodate.

Better management of the interchange.

I'm only expecting to see glimpses of this this week but i'm sure a change will happen

This game feels like the first game of the year-the expectations are high following a mediocre previous year.

I'm looking for a more positive attitude. I would love to see a better game plan, but Carr only has 4 days as coach with the team.

 

[Dragonslayer]

I think our current assistant coaches are much better than they've been allowed to be.

 

[dannyt]

I think our current assistant coaches are much better than they've been allowed to be.

Seems that way. Hook probably thinks free speech and having an opinion are just examples of this new "woke crap" agenda.

 

[Gourley's Socks]

Interesting body language observation from my lounge room during last weekend’s game. My wife asked during the game as things imploded in second half who the guy sitting next to Griffin in the coaches box was. The assistant coach I said. She said that guy looks like he’s frustrated and disagreeing with everything Griffin is doing and saying and looks like he thinks Griffin is an idiot. She said he looks embarrassed to be sitting next to Griffin and probably thinks he could do a better job.
I was thus amused to see his first team sheet which in one foul swoop finally put most of the best players on the field and left one of the biggest problems out.

I saw that too and thought the same thing: that he looked like he wanted a hole to open up and swallow him.

 

[dannyt]

I saw that too and thought the same thing: that he looked like he wanted a hole to open up and swallow him.

Are you sure he wasn't looking for a blunt instrument?

 

[justadragon]

Are you sure he wasn't looking for a blunt instrument?

He had one sitting there right next to him ))

 

[Mojo]

He had one sitting there right next to him ))

Gossip I've heard is that Carr argued vehemently with Hook in the box and made his opinion of Hook very clear to management.

 

[justadragon]

Gossip I've heard is that Carr argued vehemently with Hook in the box and made his opinion of Hook very clear to management.

Too true Mojo, it would seem obvious that if intentions were to sack the coach then getting an assistants appraisal of him would be the way to go also. And if true then good on them for being honest .

 

[Mojo]

Too true Mojo, it would seem obvious that if intentions were to sack the coach then getting an assistants appraisal of him would be the way to go also. And if true then good on them for being honest .

I assumed, when the changes were made to the assistants, that they would have been selected at Hook's request. Now, it seems, that wasn't the case. This tells me that whoever did recruit these guys is a pretty good judge (I like both Carr and Woolf). It seems pretty obvious now too that the retirement of Macca, the non-extension of Norman, the recruitment of the young Manly guys, the transfer of Woods, the recruitment of Liddle, and the selection of Sullivan to run-on against Tigers (from memory) didn't involve Hook. Hook insisting on Mbye at 9 to run-on was Hook's call, and he knew it would cost an interchange. It's glaringly obvious where the 'rift' was.

I've always said 'ears are the best management tools' - arrogance is destructive to any joint objective (aka: team work). Bennett has made this point repeatedly. He talks to players individually but, much more importantly, he listens to them individually, gives them time, and he thinks about them and their ambitions, challenges and needs as individuals. This is the main ingredient in the respect, even devotion, he obtains from his players as individuals. Then he talks to them as a group, and every one of them listens to him, the same way he listens to them, soaking-up his instructions and guidance. That's leadership.

IMO Hook, clearly, is not in the same ballpark.

 

[justadragon]

I assumed, when the changes were made to the assistants, that they would have been selected at Hook's request. Now, it seems, that wasn't the case. This tells me that whoever did recruit these guys is a pretty good judge (I like both Carr and Woolf). It seems pretty obvious now too that the retirement of Macca, the non-extension of Norman, the recruitment of the young Manly guys, the transfer of Woods, the recruitment of Liddle, and the selection of Sullivan to run-on against Tigers (from memory) didn't involve Hook. Hook insisting on Mbye at 9 to run-on was Hook's call, and he knew it would cost an interchange. It's glaringly obvious where the 'rift' was.

I've always said 'ears are the best management tools' - arrogance is destructive to any joint objective (aka: team work). Bennett has made this point repeatedly. He talks to players individually but, much more importantly, he listens to them individually, gives them time, and he thinks about them and their ambitions, challenges and needs as individuals. This is the main ingredient in the respect, even devotion, he obtains from his players as individuals. Then he talks to them as a group, and every one of them listens to him, the same way he listens to them, soaking-up his instructions and guidance. That's leadership.

IMO Hook, clearly, is not in the same ballpark.

All the players used to say that Bennett not only made them better players but better people, can any of our players say that about Griffin. And if they did, did they really mean it !!

 

[Wolfgang90]

Interested to see his use of interchange. I don't think our gameplan will change too much, if anything he'll try to keep it simple after the inconsistent of team selections & performances recently. Think we'll see more of his game style imprint in 3-4 weeks. They need to practise it, educate themselves about it which takes time. So 2 things I want to see this week is:

1. Players attitude
2. Interchange use

 

[Wolfgang90]

I think the selection of Amone in the halves is him trying to give Amone a chance to see how he performs without Hooks instructions. It also means Hunt gets to play his natural dominating halfback role which is a bit of an olive branch from Carr towards Hunt. I think if Sullivan is selected in the halves then Hunt has less control which he doesn't like. Sullivan on the bench also explores his effectiveness at dummy half.

Eventually I hope Sullivan get a solid block of games in the halves because to me he has all the hallmarks of a gun half. This is dependent on opportunity & luck with injury.

 

[Mojo]

I think the selection of Amone in the halves is him trying to give Amone a chance to see how he performs without Hooks instructions. It also means Hunt gets to play his natural dominating halfback role which is a bit of an olive branch from Carr towards Hunt. I think if Sullivan is selected in the halves then Hunt has less control which he doesn't like. Sullivan on the bench also explores his effectiveness at dummy half.

Eventually I hope Sullivan get a solid block of games in the halves because to me he has all the hallmarks of a gun half. This is dependent on opportunity & luck with injury.

100%. If Amone doesn't perform though I reckon Sullivan 7, Hunt 6 would be a deadly combo. We've had good options available at 6, 7 and 9 for a while. Finally we can start to explore them (I sincerely hope).

 

[baggygreen man]

1. New fullback - Sloan
2. Matt Feagai -
3. Suli - left wing
4. Lomax - right wing -
5. Ravalawa
6. Sloan- Amone
7. Sullivan- Hunt
8. Musgrove- JDB
9. Hunt- Liddle
10. Lawrie
11. Bird
12. Su'A
13. De Belin- Mike Molo.

Carr selections (above) are no better than Griffins. No new blood such as Sione Finau, Ryan Couchman or Alec Tuitavake, but he at least has returned Lomax and Liddle. I think moving Hunt back to half is a bad move as he has shown good dummy half distribution, better than he does at half. A Liddle/Hunt combo would give us good impetus.