OT you just keep going around in circles with this stuff. I'm surprised your head hasn't fallen off with how much it's juggling to keep your negativity going.
We played some great games. We played some terrible games. No arguments there.
Manly didn't play well when we beat them early in year. Okay.............Am I allowed to argue we played just as poorly in the second Manly game and that they should have lapped us? Or does the argument only work one way? Because they were also there to be beaten the second time we played them. So deserved win by Manly or bad game by us? It was actually a really poor second half by us, but in the end Manly dug deep and won. And while we're at it, let's not mention the crucial obstruction try that proved to be difference in the game that the NRL apologised for a few days later......
But this stuff has happened in footy since day one. A win is a win. A loss is a loss.
As for "If people are going to praise the coach and team for those wins and decry anyone who suggests the opposition were under strength or a bit off their game then it’s a bit rich to then blame the quality of the squad for the losses and say S F had little to work with" - you are missing the point.
You can't blame the quality of a squad for a loss. But you CAN blame the quality of a squad for a performance over an entire season or for their consistency / lack of consistency. Our squad was bottom tier in '24, easily one of the worst rosters in the NRL with a lot of bad leftover baggage from past regimes and terrible coaches.
I really think you go out of your way to either forget or ignore that 2024 was year one of a rebuild. I expected both improvement and inconsistency and guess what - thats exactly what we got. In year one I would happily take improvement and at times frustrating inconsistency under SF instead of just being consistently bad / woeful under Griffin and McGregor.
Big question is do we get better next year? If we don't then you'll be more entitled to be critical. I might even join you.
Interesting that you say I cant have it both ways but in your post you do exactly that.
"You can't blame the quality of a squad for a loss. But you CAN blame the quality of a squad for a performance over an entire season or for their consistency / lack of consistency."
You're blaming the quality of the squad for the losses over a season despite them scoring some enviable wins. If the squad can win against contenders then there is no excuses for either players or coaches for some of the ignominious losses. The team obviously had ability but only invested on a casual basis and that is on the coaching staff and I believe S F knows that too.
"Our squad was bottom tier in '24, easily one of the worst rosters in the NRL with a lot of bad leftover baggage from past regimes and terrible coaches."
S F disagrees with you because when he took the job on as he said there is a footy team in there and they are anything but a "spoon contender" and in fact the squad that took the paddock for S F this year was IMO much stronger than those that took the paddock in seasons 23 or 22.
You like others keep thinking that because we finished higher than the ridiculous assertions the media made of our chances before the season started that we have had some miraculous season and S F worked wonders.
FFS those idiots in the media even jumped on the various trains like Saints to make the semis, S F coach of the year, Saints to beat Easts on Anzac Day etc etc.
We got to where the team should have been no more no less and our obvious limitations in attack and defence were on show as they had been for several years but sadly our defence and mental strength actually got worse and that is a major concern.
Wins are wins and losses are losses but having a proper analysis of them is the key and every time anyone suggests that the opposition were under strength or simply poor instantly meets with push back and criticism well unfortunately often there is truth in the assertion despite the fact we played well and deserved our win.
