A massive culture change was needed fo shore. It just got fast tracked by Joey's retirement. I mean, Mick Hagan's old tactic of picking #7 Johns, and the other 16 being always the blokes who played the week before who he made look good was a bit of a farce. Even their game plan, get it to Joey, Walsh and Mullen are good kids but they ain't him. They needed some drastic changes.
Looking at their 2007 roster, there's some blokes there I wouldn't feed let alone want on my team...
Riley Brown
Steve Gordon
Nathan Hinton
Josh Perry (and let me tell you, dropping a few Big Macs would do him the world of good, Dessy Hasler is going to train his a-hole into the dunes of Manly beach)
Todd Polglase (yep, he's a trier but he's a big hit magnet)
Kirk Reynoldsen (Love the beard, not much else going for him)
David Seage (can't stay on the field)
Kade Snowden (bloke lumbers slower than a 300 pound street hooker)
Reegan Tanner (is there a bigger nuffy in the game?)
Daniel Tolar (has the size, but you'd expect more from him now)
Matthew White (player, please)
Some of those blokes aren't up to it. They may have been good for the Cessnock Goannas or the Port Services Mudcrab pub side, but this is the NRL. Out of the mob there now, you'd keep Gidley, Buderus (although if he keeps his whinge fest up it's fair to say he's not as good as he once was), Bailey (if he could stop breaking like a piece of the local church's finest he'd be a terrific young lock or five eighth), Mullen, Walsh, Paterson (deadset superstar), Simpson, Royal (bloke busts his chops week in week out), Vuna (he defends like a used beat up Toyota Camry but runs like a cheshire cat on coals), Taia (cha ching superstar), McManus (seems to have a good attitude and good committment), Seuseu (kid wants to play it's fairly obvious he has something to him), they'll be fine. They have the core, Smith is right, they need to change the chocolate almonds hanging off the core to make it into a slick bag of M&Ms.
