Brad Fittler Resigns

[Big Pete]

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David Riccio and Brent Read of the Daily Telegraph are reporting that Fittler has reconsidered his bid to stay on as coach and has informed NSWRL CEO David Trodden and the board of his decision to resign.

Source

 

[Apey]

Mmm yes "resigned".

 

[Chins get the wins]

I was excited for some more Cook at centre

 

[Mr Angry]

Bellyache please.

 

[Big Pete]

Big news and comes in the wake of Billy Slater re-signing till the end of 2026.

I thought Freddy was excellent in the role and made the necessary changes to usher in a new generation. A lot of talented players were overlooked to fix the culture of the team and it paid off with back to back wins.

However cracks started to form in 2019 and he didn't handle pressure too well. Suddenly the excuses would come out, players would be thrown under the bus and he started making some very questionable selections. It all came to ahead in the 2020 series when Queensland pulled off one of their greatest ever upsets to recapture the shield.

While the Blues would hit back the following series, Freddy didn't learn from it and as the Blues faced more adversity he failed to come up with the appropriate solutions.

 

[Generalzod]

Bellyache please.

Didn't work out before?

 

[Munky]

The bloke went into games with Yeo, Hynes and Cook as backup outside backs.

Totally clueless.

 

[Mr Angry]

Didn't work out before?

Smith, Thurston, Lockyer, Slater..

I forgive him.

Perhaps Barrett.....

 

[Frailty]

Honestly, the biggest disgrace is that both he and Alexander were allowed to 'resign'.
They should have been publicly shamed.

 

[shear_joy9]

Belongs in a mascot costume or on the couch with the other clowns on Matt Johns show

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

The bigger news than Fittler getting fiddled is who the hell they get to replace him. Cleary to do double shifts?

 

[Big Pete]

Yeah, I can't see Bellamy revisiting the role. However if he did, I'd expect he'd be more successful than his last stint. Not just because of the quality of the opposition but because he has better players to work with.

It was always going to be difficult in the post-Joey era. Even so, they went onto lose Minichiello, Gasnier, Bird, Mason, B. Stewart, Wing etc. and their selections were all over the place. Players like Peter Wallace virtually came out of nowhere to nab a halfback jersey, players like Watmough were left out despite being the best second rower in the competition and it just seemed like there was a lot of bias in play.

That era got me thinking about what an ideal 17 would have looked like in 2008. What if everyone was available, what if they were in-form and this is what I came up with.

1. Brett Stewart 2. Anthony Minichiello 3. Mark Gasnier 4. Jamie Lyon 5. Jarryd Hayne
6. Braith Anasta 7. Matt Orford
8. Luke Bailey 9. Danny Buderus 10. Brent Kite 11. Anthony Watmough 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Greg Bird

14. Craig Wing 15. Willie Mason 16. Paul Gallen 17. Luke Lewis

With Cooper, Monaghan, Gidley, Ryles, O'Meley, O'Donnell, Kimmorley etc. in the squad

It's an interesting era to look back on because the Blues had been so dominant just before. Was it bad luck? Bad preparation? On the coaches? Or on the players?

 

[Chins get the wins]

Des would have been good. Maybe Tooves

 

[The Man Shake]

Oh well guess it’s time for Paul McGregor to come on dowwwnnnn!

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

Freddy not ruthless and single minded enough to be a coach at that level. I’m surprised he had another go at it after the roosters which didn’t end well. I don’t know why he bothers, he’s loaded and got the world’s cushiest job on tv. Why put yourself through the stress.

 

[Chief_Chujo]

Cometh the hour, cometh the man

 

[Apey]

Cometh the hour, cometh the man

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I reckon he'd be good with the right assistants. Man knows how to get his players up for a match. His us against the world attitude might work for Origin and be a funny opposition to QLDs underdogs routine.

 

[Chief_Chujo]

I reckon he'd be good with the right assistants. Man knows how to get his players up for a match. His us against the world attitude might work for Origin and be a funny opposition to QLDs underdogs routine.

Yea if he played the Meninga role he could be great. But he can't be near team selections and control of the bench.

 

[JamesRustle]

Freddy thinks he has re-signed and will turn up to 2024 camp with clipboard and bare feet.

 

[JamesRustle]

I'd look at Tooves, Cartright, Folkes, Potter.. get a few winners with playing and coaching runs on the board. Freddy. Great player, shithouse coach.