perverse
Referee
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- 26,514
Look at the teams in the 2001 grand final. Compare them position vs position, and you'll wonder to yourself how Smithy even got them to a grand final, let alone why everyone thought they would flog us. They were a record-smashing team that year - scored more points in a season than any team previous (and a think since, too). But yeah, Smithy can't coach at all (bold for extreme sarcasm). I think the general wisdom about Smith rings very true - he can build you a team and get them playing well - he's a brilliant strategist and has a great eye for talent - but he's a very poor man-manager.
To be honest I think the truth about Smithy is that he's just a bit weird, might even be somewhere on the autism spectrum from the outside looking in. That would make sense to me for multiple reasons (autistic people oftentimes have great talent at certain things - in Smithys case possibly Rugby League knowledge). It would also explain why he has trouble relating to, or managing his players at times.
Brian Smith should have been our head of football instead of Hages, for mine. Would be the perfect role for him - have him manage the roster and steer the football side of things from a distance... but don't let him interact with the players more than absolutely necessary. I suspect his review at the Tigers will start to pay some dividends - although I doubt Farah would have been in Smithys plans. He would have said turf Farah - he's a threat to your authority over the team. Same reason he removed Buderus. I see a lot of Smith in what the Tigers are doing at the moment, though - bringing through a lot of youth and there's some bargain buys in there too in Richards and Kev. Not paying overs for any particular player anymore, either... very moneyball-esque.
To be honest I think the truth about Smithy is that he's just a bit weird, might even be somewhere on the autism spectrum from the outside looking in. That would make sense to me for multiple reasons (autistic people oftentimes have great talent at certain things - in Smithys case possibly Rugby League knowledge). It would also explain why he has trouble relating to, or managing his players at times.
Brian Smith should have been our head of football instead of Hages, for mine. Would be the perfect role for him - have him manage the roster and steer the football side of things from a distance... but don't let him interact with the players more than absolutely necessary. I suspect his review at the Tigers will start to pay some dividends - although I doubt Farah would have been in Smithys plans. He would have said turf Farah - he's a threat to your authority over the team. Same reason he removed Buderus. I see a lot of Smith in what the Tigers are doing at the moment, though - bringing through a lot of youth and there's some bargain buys in there too in Richards and Kev. Not paying overs for any particular player anymore, either... very moneyball-esque.
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