I can't see what your issue is.
I'd like to think that maybe someday a coach is good enough to name a team that's good enough to go out there and win a game of football. Upfront and honest.
Simple as that. Is that to make to expect? A team is good enough to go out and be coached to win a game of footy fair and square? :lol:
A team that's named Tuesday 1 to 17, whatever it may be, deemed good enough to go out and win a game of football without the deception and mystery involved week in week out. Let's not lose sight that Brian Smith is not the only one who does this. Hasler, Stuart and others are tainted by the same brush.
I understand players have injury clouds. If there is doubt over a player - be upfront about it. " Player X has a sprained ankle - he is only 50/50 ". Of course there is always injuries to contend with - but is it too much to ask teams to be more open and honest about them? There's times when players are clearly playing or not playing all week and nothing's done about it. If a player has an injury, it should be made public, and they should be listed as " in doubt ". This happens only
SOMETIMES.
Last night is a good example. Matt Orford was not playing all week. In fact his injury was kept secret all week. Why?
In an interview during the game, Orford admitted to being injured against the Sharks the previous week, and the coaching staff decided to give him a game off to " see how the team went without their regular half "... Do you think Hasler decided this on game day? Of course not.
The system sucks. Forget the punters. What about blokes like you and me who might throw in $10 or something at the start of the year to have a bit of a crack at an office tipping competition? Does it not frustrate you in anyway?
It sure takes the fun out of any free fantasy football competitions you might be in as well.
No one can tell me the system as it stands by the NRL is not completely flawed and a bunch of garbage.
Why can't a team in 2008 be named upfront, go out and win a game of football without the deceptive drama?
Honestly, the constant smoke and mirrors treatment, and the constant disregard to be honest with fans about team line ups is slowly turning me off the game. My interest levels in RL is slowly fading. This type of thing, and a few things happening on the field and officiating, is just making me apathetic to it all - and I never thought I'd see the day that would happen.
Uate has been playing all week. It's been kept from everyone. Sure to protect him a bit from the media pressure, but surely the coach has heard of such a thing as slapping a "media ban" on Uate to do the same thing? After all, other players have been named to make their debut and had a media ban placed.
Are you really naive enough to think the Sharks don't already know what the Knights plans are?
I can't understand why other fans aren't more p*ssed off about it actually, and I really don't get how some of you here have an issue with me being so outspoken about it, and can't understand where I'm coming from. Is it just because of my username?
Just how much effect do you really think being deceptive about your team line up has on the outcome of a football game?
Surely in the end, the 17 who play on the day has direct input into the result of a game of footy, and not the bullsh*t that occurs in the lead up to it.
