Ok.
Here's the thing - I'm a SMith fan, but I don't think he's a Messiah. Reason? NO coach ever will be. I think the biggest issue for Parra at the moment is a confidence issue.
I look at the Roosters and Panthers forward line ups and say, "Damn! Great pack!" I look at Parra's and say, "WOW!" The difference is in the way they play.
We need to be more aggro and desperate. But that is another point.
My comments on Brian - I believe that ANYONE who claims a coach is good based solely on Finals or Premiership wins is a bit of a nutter. Other factors (such as players-turned-superstars, late-season-charges and the ability to pull a struggling team and make them competitive) are massivley important in deciding how good a coach is. Let us review these:
1.) Players - No doubt Brian has released a lot of talented players which ticks a lot of fans off, but he also seems to have a knack of refeshing 'unknown' or 'unrated' talent. Take Dunley. He was never as great as he was when he played for Parra. Another case is Hopkins; VERY unrated, and yet he turned out to be one of our best. No doubt players like Armit, Graham, Burt, Lyon, Hindy, Caylo, Vella and Witty (plus many more) will thrive through BS's coaching. And where's the proof? I am very sure that if we were t release Hopkins, VElla and CAylo, they'd be snapped up quite quickly by teams.
2.) Late-season charges - after 15 rounds of football, we had 5 wins and 10 losses. In the second half of the season, we managed to turn that around, and were playing some excellent football - testament to this is the matches against Brisbane and the Dragons, and even to an extent, Penrith. We were giving teams a shake-up and we were playing well. I think the players pulled their hands out, but also Brian made some choices and calls which worked favourably. The end result (missing out of a finals berth), though disappointing, is pleasing - we finished off the season with a flourish of good form, and with key players like Burt (our best back before injury) and Vella (if he finds form alongside Caylo, then watch out!) returning from injury, and with younger bloes like Cannings, Tsolous and Armit rapidly rising through the ranks, the next few years looks bright for Parra.
3.) Competitiveness - against Penrith we were beaten. But I think we proved to be competitive for most of the match. Against Canterbury earlier on we were competitive. In both instances, the scoreline didn't reflect the effort put in by the boys. But early in the season we struggled, but for some matches (like Brissie, in both cases) we turned up to play. The KNights in Newcastle were on fire, but we took it to them to the very last whistle.
It is these signs as well as Premiership success which determines how great a coach is.
Personally, I respect and support Smith for the above reasons, and have good enough reason to feel excited for the next few years.
