I would agree that we do not have the material that the other clubs have to work with. Our team is comprised mainly of good players, but not great players.
We have the likes of Dugan and Widdop who, on their day are up there with the best players in the league.
We also have players like Marshall and Nightingale who were top class players but would be on the downward spiral of their careers.
We have players like Frizzell,Rein, and DeBelin, who offer good work up front but also lay in that fringe area. the same for AhMau and Thompson. All have performed well at different times this year but cant seem to take that last step.
Our only so called star in the forward pack would be Merrin who has had a reasonable but not outstanding season.
We do not have the same quality as other teams in the semis however they are capable of beating any side in the semis as long as they play as a team and defend as they have previously.
It is the job of the coaching staff to motivate and mould the players into a unit. We have seen our players work that way early in the season but for the majority of it they all seem to have different play books.
I believe if we had a better more experienced coach we could have achieved more. We have finished the 2nd half of the season by falling over the line. The team has little attack of direction, a faltering defensive line and remains ill disciplined. These are things the coaching staff are responsible for.
I agree that some "super" coaches have a playing roster that ensures success. I believe bellamy is in that category as well as Bennett to maybe a lesser degree.
Bellamy without his star players is an average coach but he still manages to motivate the team as a unit.
Bennett had our side for our 2010 win. He had a team of fringe players and moulded them into a formidable force. We had the likes of Gasnier and Boyd as genuine contenders but our roster was strong hard working team players.
Roll forward to Newcastle and with a similar roster he was unable to do anything.
Whilst the players take a lot of blame for the poor form and inconsistency, the coaching staff are the ones directing the traffic.
McGregor is not the fit for this side and I class him in the same league as Brown when he took over at the Dragons. Eventually he may develop into a smart coach. It will however come at our expense over the next couple of years and beyond.
Good luck to the boys today. It will be luck rather than good management from the coaching box that gets them any further. They will need to realise they are a team and hunt as a pack. Defence will win them the game along with a team effort in attack. If they let the dogs dictate the style of play we are done for. They need to bog them down and frustrate them.
I do not believe the coaching staff are able however, to convince them they can do it.