Expectations - 2013

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Well given the unmitigated failure that this season has been, it can hardly be used as a yardstick. Sadly without a radical rethink on all aspects of the team, with quality of coaching being the most paramount, I suspect that our next season's performance may not quite match that of the current one.

Agreed....We used to have Penfolds as our major sponsor when we were compared to classic red and whites that got better with age.... with whats currently on the vine now we will be flat out making vinegar

 

[_snafu_]

I am expecting somewhere between 10th and 15th on currently known roster for 2013.

 

[Ronnie Dobbs]

Rapid improvement, innovative selections, a different approach to the way we play with the pill.

That or blood.

I predict blood.

 

[Fire]

Gasnier returns.

 

[TheRev]

I dont particularly want to go back to consistent boring football either, I know it did win us a premiership (though we still had some attacking weapons), but id much rather watch the Warriors play, than a bunch of older defensive players grinding out wins.

 

[Minh]

We should have a better more well rounded squad next year with the appointment Beale and Frizzel as well as young blokes like Rein, De Belin and Marketo having more experience under their belts. If Price cant improve them next year than I doubt he ever will.

 

[rasaint]

I don't post to often here but really enjoy all the discussion and banter. My point is simple and I have said it before. Good players make good coaches to a fair degree. Jack Gibson won the comp with Parra at their best and ran last with Souths soon after. The deciding factor was the cattle available.
I do applaud Wayne Bennent but we recruited on top of an existing good squad. Weyman, Smith, Boyd, Costigan and then Gaznier.All added to Hornby, Nighty, Morris,Cooper, Young Etc.
Whatever the reason we are not recruiting strong players.The Sharks are going much better because of Robson, Carney, Wade Graham, Smith etc. Even this year the Knights are recruiting mid season and going better.
Whoever the coach is needs the cattle. That is the major problem! OK Price has not gone well but I would not want this year's roster. If we didn't have Morris we would be a basket case completely. We have to be miles under the cap.Phew.

 

[dragondad]

That's interesting and logical but, please, it's GaSnier. It is a legendary name at the Club.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

If there is one positive to look forward to is that the team's execution and game plans may finally come off.Then we can all keep our pants up.

We cant even say Price wears elevator pants...at least their up and down....cause right now we hav'nt even stopped at the basement

 

[TruSaint]

I don't post to often here but really enjoy all the discussion and banter. My point is simple and I have said it before. Good players make good coaches to a fair degree. Jack Gibson won the comp with Parra at their best and ran last with Souths soon after. The deciding factor was the cattle available.
I do applaud Wayne Bennent but we recruited on top of an existing good squad. Weyman, Smith, Boyd, Costigan and then Gaznier.All added to Hornby, Nighty, Morris,Cooper, Young Etc.
Whatever the reason we are not recruiting strong players.The Sharks are going much better because of Robson, Carney, Wade Graham, Smith etc. Even this year the Knights are recruiting mid season and going better.
Whoever the coach is needs the cattle. That is the major problem! OK Price has not gone well but I would not want this year's roster. If we didn't have Morris we would be a basket case completely. We have to be miles under the cap.Phew.

Interesting post. Listening to Matty Johns on NRLxtra last night, he and the team were of the opinion that we are so way off being competitive. Same argument.

Our squad is very thin. Im not a fan of most of these commentators, but you cant argue that we are some years away from success.

Will be intersting to see how the club reacts, as history tells us lean years lead to lean membership, sponsorships etc. This is a crucial part of the JV's history. We have had poor seasons, but also had depth. Not now.

 

[grandorient]

Too far away to think about.

Hope the fishing's good up here this spring and summer.

GO

 

[Cagey Mac]

The primary change at the Dragons this year is obviously Steve Price replacing Wayne Bennett.

It takes time for the influence of a past coaching regime to be replaced by the methods and influences of a new coach.

If you run a trend line across the performance of The Dragons and overlay it with the Knights you’ll almost get an X, with the Dragons sliding down a bumpy road while the Knights slowly climb to optimal performance (for this season).

Look more closely and you’ll see, with few exceptions, deterioration or improvement in individual player performance and fitness levels that pretty well mirrors team performance of the respective clubs.

If follows that club marketability will reflect the same patterns as one club rides on the back of certainty and the other turns in on itself and begins to implode.
Fans, sponsors and players gravitate to a club that is on the way up. Players again will also move to where they believe that they will be mentored and hopefully improve just as they will move away from confusion and doubt.

Trend lines don’t often change without altering a significant factor in the equation.

It will cost the club financially to move Steve Price along but it will cost them much more if they do not.

The decision is in the hands of Peter Doust and frankly his credibility is on the line. There was no empirical evidence to support the hiring of Price and you have to assume, (yeah I know) that expedience was the prime motivation for Doust’s gamble. It’s time for him to cut his losses and find a more experienced alternative for 2013. Time to stop the rot!

There are coaches that would jump on a one year contract and would crave the chance to break into the NRL as well as the high-flyers that would need. Immediately
Names like

• Potter
• Stone
• Dymock
• Georgallis
• Brown

They may not be Bennett, Hasler, Bellamy or Gould but they have a more runs on the board than the incumbent, who’s post match performance on Friday only underpinned the level of frustration that many feel.

Given current trends, it is likely that The Knights will finish 2013 as close to the top of the competition as The Dragons do to the bottom and that may well extend to the Premiership for them and The Spoon for us.

 

[Slippery Morris]

The primary change at the Dragons this year is obviously Steve Price replacing Wayne Bennett.

It takes time for the influence of a past coaching regime to be replaced by the methods and influences of a new coach.

If this was true then why are Manly and Souths doing OK with a new coach?

 

[possm]

The facts are:
Price was assistant coach to Bennett for three years.
During the Bennett years the team was very successful.
Bennett had a system and a man management style that ensured success.
Price ignored all he witnessed under Bennett and chose to make his own mark.
Price gambled the success of our club in the hope of fame and recognition.
Price failed and should be sacked for what he has done.

 

[Cagey Mac]

If this was true then why are Manly and Souths doing OK with a new coach?

Simply a matter of degrees Slippery
Canterbury have won 11 on the trot and continue to improve under Hasler
Maguire has take a little while to get the Rabbitohs to gel
Bennett has take a little longer and probably introduced more changes to the way that the Knights play
We started okay but we're on a slide

 

[Stdavid]

Consistency is all I ask for. None of this hot-cold-woeful-hot rubbish.

Hot?, which game were we hot in ... bugger, I must have missed a round!

 

[st.phil]

The facts are:
Price was assistant coach to Bennett for three years.
During the Bennett years the team was very successful.
Bennett had a system and a man management style that ensured success.
Price ignored all he witnessed under Bennett and chose to make his own mark.
Price gambled the success of our club in the hope of fame and recognition.
Price failed and should be sacked for what he has done.

Thats stupid - it's not a matter of ignorance or Price seeking fame - it's just capability related. Steve loves the club and is doing his best. I feel sorry for him more than despising him.

 

[Drain the Dragon]

The facts are:
Price was assistant coach to Bennett for three years.
During the Bennett years the team was very successful.
Bennett had a system and a man management style that ensured success.
Price ignored all he witnessed under Bennett and chose to make his own mark.
Price gambled the success of our club in the hope of fame and recognition.
Price failed and should be sacked for what he has done.

Bennett the man also has an aura about him. Price could never have hoped to command the same respect and admiration that Bennett gets from his players.

Knowing that is what makes it such a tough ask for any coach to take over from Bennett. I suppose Price has figured that instead of being a poor man's Bennett, he needs to be his own man. But so far it hasn't worked. And once a coach loses the dressing room, it's virtually impossible to get it back.

 

[TheRev]

Given current trends, it is likely that The Knights will finish 2013 as close to the top of the competition as The Dragons do to the bottom and that may well extend to the Premiership for them and The Spoon for us.

Correct, people have been trying to put the boot into Boyd etc all year, but Newcastle has been coming together very well over the past month, with Gidley to come back also, they will likely be a Top 4 or Top 6 side next year. Where Bennett had deficiencies he recruited new talent, attracting genuinely talented players this year for cheap, in Gagai & Mason, and potentially more in 2013 with Scott and other rumours.

Dragons on the other hand.. have an empty shell of a side left, even Bennett (a great motivator) couldnt coach this current squad to a premiership, let alone a brand new coach. Our 2013 squad is possibly a fraction better than 2012, 'if' Beale really fires up and stays fit, if not were in a world of hurt. But either way, Price has a lot of work to mentally get this club back off the floor.

Unfortunately its chicken & the egg also, quality players wont come to our club until we show that we have a club/coach/squad capable of real success, meaning that for now we need rely on our junior base (organic growth), but that leaves gaping holes in your 1st grade squad.

 

[Fingerbang]

Everyone is missing the most relevant point to this year....the fact that the guys still playing, who played for Dragons under Bennett, are 3 years older and close to the end of their careers than they were when Bennett started coaching them.

Could Price have done things differently?....yes
Is it solely his ability as a coach that caused the shocker of a year we have had?.....no

2013 will answer all our questions for us.