Gould's Comment On WT 09 Season

[Magpies Forever]

Also rans left to rue what might have been


September 13, 2009 ​

WESTS TIGERS

WHERE THEY FINISHED: 9th.
WHERE THEY WENT WRONG: Sacking chief executive Scott Longmuir mid-season for wanting to apply an annual key performance indicator - aka accountability - to the football club sent out the wrong message to everyone. It also opened old wounds as the joint-venture partners Wests (Ashfield), Wests (Campbelltown) and Balmain took sides. Longmuir's demise suggested a CEO who sticks his neck out risks having his head lopped off. On the field, inconsistency robbed the team of a finals berth.
WORST LOSS: On the scoreboard, a 42-14 defeat to North Queensland in Townsville. Losing to Parramatta in round 24 was the most hurtful. Victory would have assured the Tigers a place in the final eight, and but for a spate of silly penalties, they could have won.
BEST WIN: The 34-12 final-round win against the Bulldogs was sensational. The victory denied the Dogs the minor premiership but made the year another what-could've-been …
WHO AIMED UP: Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah enhanced their reputations but Gareth Ellis (pictured) proved he is world class. Club's marketing department - best in the NRL.
WHO DIDN'T: The team when it failed to put opposing sides away in the close games, especially Souths at the SCG.
WHO'S COMING: Mitch Brown (Cronulla), Geoff Daniela (Penrith), Arana Taumata (Brisbane Easts), Tame Tupou (Bradford), Mark Flanagan (Wigan).
WHO'S GOING: Shannon Gallant (North Queensland), Dean Collis and John Morris (both Cronulla), Peni Tagive (St George Illawarra), Dene Halatau (Bulldogs).
PHIL GOULD'S VERDICT: Should be disappointed they didn't make the finals. When you have the ability to beat the best and don't qualify, tough questions need to be asked.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/...might-have-been/2009/09/12/1252519678860.html

Tough questions? Yeah right........... I know they're needed but where the heck are they going to come from? I like Sheens as a person but I think he defintitely needs a hard person that can say no to some of his ideas and thoughts. Being surrounded by yesmen and such forth has not done WT good in the long run.

 

[69-05-41]

Two words: Sycophants and Nepotism. Sheen's idea of being accountable is publishing his annual list of reasons (ie excuses) for missing the eight. The 2010 list is already available just find the 2009 list and substitute 2010 for 2009. Bring back the KPI's!

 

[nomarg]

I disagree- Sheens acknowledged we need to improve and make the semis, and commented if they wanted KPI's they need to spend the entire salary cap......

Longimuir got booted because of the way he went about things

 

[madunit]

So we've signed Flanagan? I guess thats some good news.

 

[N.C.]

I disagree- Sheens acknowledged we need to improve and make the semis, and commented if they wanted KPI's they need to spend the entire salary cap......

Longimuir got booted because of the way he went about things

I don't think we'll ever really know how Longmuir went about things. There was not a lot of neutral press coverage of the whole affair... We were fed one side's version and then the other, but never a true account of what actually went on behind the scenes.

But I'm not buying the whole "we don't spend the cap" thing.

Gould is spot on. Under the circumstances, running 9th and missing the finals again puts a lot of pressure on Sheens going into 2010. If he gets us off to a slow start, will we see him marched early?

 

[RoMo]

I hark back to Alan Jones' famously remarks in `Something more than Victory' when he quoted Churchill `Give us the tools and we will finish the job' when he quoted Churchill (Winston not Clive) before the team fumbled its way to another loss with the likes of Gary McFarlane, Gavin Catanach and Derek McVey looking bemused at the Oxford scholar.

Tim Sheens was given all the tools and given a simple task. How a side with the likes of Farah, Marshall, Lawrence, TNT, Moltzen (who is obviously a class half), Ellis, Hino, Galloway was unable to get in the top half of a comp where the team that came first had a 1,6,7,9 of Boyd, Soward, Hornby and Young shows how poorly supercoach performed.

Again

Still, the 2 Penrith legends are probably still at the St Mary's tavern celebrating the great man's second 50% or better season since 1996 and planning next year's mufti day training sessions, flying fox defensive drills, grappling with Batista and visits to schools and hospitals

 

[Magpies Forever]

I disagree- Sheens acknowledged we need to improve and make the semis, and commented if they wanted KPI's they need to spend the entire salary cap......

Longimuir got booted because of the way he went about things

I dont disagree that is what Sheens is supposed to have said- however we have heard it all before - 'need to improve', 'next season', 'taps on shoulder', 'almost there', 'promising juniors'.

Dont disagree- but what is he, and his team of coaching and recruitment staff, actually doing to improve it? ie work towards improvements to KPI's (not that they exist at WT).

What are the main traits we here in this forum are noting of WT play throughout the last 4 seasons of failure? The team misfires too often- lack of consistency, bad play options, brain explosions, poor kicking game, poor goal kicking, players playing out of best position mixed wiht games where they set the world on fire and play magnificently.

If Sheens can manage to address that that in the first quarter of the 2010 season great- but I doubt it. As much as he needs someone that can say no to him and curb some of his 'visions' I dont think Sheens personality will permit it- he loves yesmen.