Brown blasts his 'look pretty' Dragons
By Todd Balym
http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=289581
St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown launched a scathing attack on his team, accusing the players of trying to "look pretty" instead of playing committed football in the worst performance in his time at the club.
The Dragons suffered a 24-16 loss to the Wests Tigers at Sydney Football Stadium, Brown livid his side failed to apply any pressure to a team which lost its star playmaker in Benji Marshall after just three minutes.
The insipid performance will add to the pressure on Brown, who is off contract this year and needs rapid results or will be seeking employment elsewhere.
The Dragons trailed 18-4 after just 26 minutes, Brown labelling the start the worst he has been involved in 17 years with the club.
He won't publicly name the offending players but says he'll make big changes for next week's clash with Gold Coast at WIN Stadium.
"As a whole performance I have never been as disappointed in some people at the club since I've been coaching and even playing to be honest in my time," said Brown, who played with the Dragons from 1992-2001 before taking over as coach in 2003.
"It was disgraceful ... to start games like that is showing no respect to your teammates and no respect to your opposition.
"They waited for us to do what we've done in the past. Just stick with us and they'll make errors and we'll get field position and eventually we'll wear them down.
"We've got Gaz (Mark Gasnier) and Coops (Matt Cooper) out wide but we may as well be firing blanks rather than have good bullets out there.
"(The Tigers) thought process to the game is just so different to ours. Ours is `how can we get out there and look pretty and score a try'.
"The Tigers is `let's work hard, build some pressure and away we go'."
Brown says recruits to his club have told him other NRL clubs perceive the Dragons as unable to sustain pressure.
He believes it's been the club's problem ever since the merger in 1999.
With his coaching future on the line, Brown has made it his goal to turn the club around and not let his own future affect the direction he's trying to take the team.
"We're going to change it (that perception). That's the reality. We have to change it," said Brown.
"It's not about Nathan Brown ... apparently I've been under pressure for five years.
"Regardless of what is said about Nathan Brown it's not going to make me vary on what we've set out to do and not make me vary from making some hard decisions."
Dragons skipper Mark Gasnier said the coach has the full support of the playing group but couldn't explain the performance.
"You don't really know why people do things sometimes in football," he said.
"The players want to win the comp. Obviously we love Nathan's game plans and we showed it no respect today in what we set out to do.
"Whether that's the wake up call ... the proof will be in next week."
http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=289754
By Todd Balym
http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=289581
St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown launched a scathing attack on his team, accusing the players of trying to "look pretty" instead of playing committed football in the worst performance in his time at the club.
The Dragons suffered a 24-16 loss to the Wests Tigers at Sydney Football Stadium, Brown livid his side failed to apply any pressure to a team which lost its star playmaker in Benji Marshall after just three minutes.
The insipid performance will add to the pressure on Brown, who is off contract this year and needs rapid results or will be seeking employment elsewhere.
The Dragons trailed 18-4 after just 26 minutes, Brown labelling the start the worst he has been involved in 17 years with the club.
He won't publicly name the offending players but says he'll make big changes for next week's clash with Gold Coast at WIN Stadium.
"As a whole performance I have never been as disappointed in some people at the club since I've been coaching and even playing to be honest in my time," said Brown, who played with the Dragons from 1992-2001 before taking over as coach in 2003.
"It was disgraceful ... to start games like that is showing no respect to your teammates and no respect to your opposition.
"They waited for us to do what we've done in the past. Just stick with us and they'll make errors and we'll get field position and eventually we'll wear them down.
"We've got Gaz (Mark Gasnier) and Coops (Matt Cooper) out wide but we may as well be firing blanks rather than have good bullets out there.
"(The Tigers) thought process to the game is just so different to ours. Ours is `how can we get out there and look pretty and score a try'.
"The Tigers is `let's work hard, build some pressure and away we go'."
Brown says recruits to his club have told him other NRL clubs perceive the Dragons as unable to sustain pressure.
He believes it's been the club's problem ever since the merger in 1999.
With his coaching future on the line, Brown has made it his goal to turn the club around and not let his own future affect the direction he's trying to take the team.
"We're going to change it (that perception). That's the reality. We have to change it," said Brown.
"It's not about Nathan Brown ... apparently I've been under pressure for five years.
"Regardless of what is said about Nathan Brown it's not going to make me vary on what we've set out to do and not make me vary from making some hard decisions."
Dragons skipper Mark Gasnier said the coach has the full support of the playing group but couldn't explain the performance.
"You don't really know why people do things sometimes in football," he said.
"The players want to win the comp. Obviously we love Nathan's game plans and we showed it no respect today in what we set out to do.
"Whether that's the wake up call ... the proof will be in next week."
http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=289754
