jed
First Grade
- Messages
- 9,280
Bay, I hope you don't think that I was having a go at you personally. The point of me challenging you yesterday was not to get your back up, merely to see if you had specific answers to the questions you were raising.
Bitching about the state of things on the forums is certainly cathartic, but it doesn't achieve much in the grand scheme of things. And burying your head in the sand is even worse, trying to pretend that we're dealing with a utopian club.
The crowds have dropped off, there's no doubt about that. But Canberra crowds are fickle, as soon as we start winning again, they will be back. And this happens with most clubs, we're in a far from unique situation. What makes it worse is that we're on our own in Canberra, hundreds of kilometers from the nearest club. While this is great for producing a home-ground advantage, like all the out-of-Sydney clubs have, it also makes it tough to get rival supporters to come down for the clash. And although there are dedicated Sydney-based Raiders fans (including among many others the SGB) who make the trip each week down to Bruce, there are nowhere near the number of fans travelling the Hume that we need, this needs to improve. And actually marketing the team would help.
Looking at our Premier League side, I'm content that we have anything but a dearth of talent. The vast majority of our playing roster are from the Canberra region, there's very few who have actually come from other clubs, and I can't see that changing. Yes, I see external recruiting as a definite problem, but it's one that we've lived with in the past and we've shown that we could mount a serious challenge last year, I know that it's something that we'll rise to again. Maybe not this season, maybe not even the next, but the Raiders will be triumphant again. And heavy recruiting is no guarantee of success - you only need to look at some of the teams that were active in the market last season.
Yes, I'm concerned that we haven't recruited, and I would also like some signal from management that they're doing something. I'm also concerned that our supercoach from last season isn't achieving the same results from a playing roster that is, for all intents and purposes, the same as last season.
But like I said before, bitching here will not achieve anything. If you want to affect change, you need to demonstrate to management how you feel, and so should everyone who has a strong view on things. Don't go off calling them merkins or morons, don't get abusive, don't attack their integrity. Explain that you're not happy, and that you think more can be done. If enough of us let our feelings be known, the message will sink through. RAID04 has already sent a letter to them, he (she?) should certainly not be the last.
The subject of someone from here applying to be elected to the board was also raised last week. I will whole-heartedly support anyone from here who nominates to be elected to the board. A genuine passion for the Raiders is what is needed at a management level (all levels in fact), and that is something that a 5 year course at Uni can not ever replace.
Bitching about the state of things on the forums is certainly cathartic, but it doesn't achieve much in the grand scheme of things. And burying your head in the sand is even worse, trying to pretend that we're dealing with a utopian club.
The crowds have dropped off, there's no doubt about that. But Canberra crowds are fickle, as soon as we start winning again, they will be back. And this happens with most clubs, we're in a far from unique situation. What makes it worse is that we're on our own in Canberra, hundreds of kilometers from the nearest club. While this is great for producing a home-ground advantage, like all the out-of-Sydney clubs have, it also makes it tough to get rival supporters to come down for the clash. And although there are dedicated Sydney-based Raiders fans (including among many others the SGB) who make the trip each week down to Bruce, there are nowhere near the number of fans travelling the Hume that we need, this needs to improve. And actually marketing the team would help.
Looking at our Premier League side, I'm content that we have anything but a dearth of talent. The vast majority of our playing roster are from the Canberra region, there's very few who have actually come from other clubs, and I can't see that changing. Yes, I see external recruiting as a definite problem, but it's one that we've lived with in the past and we've shown that we could mount a serious challenge last year, I know that it's something that we'll rise to again. Maybe not this season, maybe not even the next, but the Raiders will be triumphant again. And heavy recruiting is no guarantee of success - you only need to look at some of the teams that were active in the market last season.
Yes, I'm concerned that we haven't recruited, and I would also like some signal from management that they're doing something. I'm also concerned that our supercoach from last season isn't achieving the same results from a playing roster that is, for all intents and purposes, the same as last season.
But like I said before, bitching here will not achieve anything. If you want to affect change, you need to demonstrate to management how you feel, and so should everyone who has a strong view on things. Don't go off calling them merkins or morons, don't get abusive, don't attack their integrity. Explain that you're not happy, and that you think more can be done. If enough of us let our feelings be known, the message will sink through. RAID04 has already sent a letter to them, he (she?) should certainly not be the last.
The subject of someone from here applying to be elected to the board was also raised last week. I will whole-heartedly support anyone from here who nominates to be elected to the board. A genuine passion for the Raiders is what is needed at a management level (all levels in fact), and that is something that a 5 year course at Uni can not ever replace.
Once again....solutions.
