everythingsharks
Juniors
- Messages
- 17
Let me first start this by saying that I am a former season ticket holder (moved in 2008 to QLD),am a current leagues and football club member,buy merchandise and travel to home and away games in 2010.
Now,the following I hope is something all of us pays very close attention to and helps make up our minds on what the hell is really going on here @ The Sharks.
There has been alot of ppl in the media of late claiming that our problems lie in the fact we have little or no money to spend on good players and that we have a young team.Likewise I have started to hear Rick Stuart claim the same thing and only since we notched up 5 or so loses in 2010.
FACT 1.
We have never had any money to buy the best players in the competition.
FACT 2.
We recieve just like every other NRL club almost 85% of the salary cap funds to spend on players. The rest comes from our own piggy bank.
FACT 3.
Since when has playing young guns in the modern game been an excuse as to why games are lost? Like it or not,this is a young man's game now and not the same as the 80's where to play a guy under 25 was seen as extreme. Funny how many other " young " players excel at other clubs in first grade while at the same time @ Cronulla,it's used as an excuse all of a sudden for losing by the same guy who picks the team and is in charge or recruitment and retention of players at our club.
I was one who thought that Rick Stuart was a good appointment in the early days when he arrived in the Shire,he came with the promise of success,winning cultures,an increase in sponsorships/revenue due to his pulling power with the big end of town and his connections...well none of those to any serious degree has ever eventuated.Just like Chris Anderson,we have had only one season of success under Ricky Stuart and nothing but heartache since.
I firmly believe that Rick Stuart is perhaps the hardest working coach in the NRL.the most passionate and supportive of his team,I have no doubt he probably gives 110% effort in everything he does for the Sharks but it's all for nothing in the overall scheme of things relating to the success of our club on and off the field.Sometimes in Rugby League,effort,passion and hard work just isn't enough to win you footy games.
Our club, make no mistake, is controlled by Ricky Stuart when it comes to " on the field " decisions,all of them are made by him and so at what point does he publicly take responsibility for the loses the team endures week after week.Let's face it,we are not talking about a bad patch here,the past few years have been woeful on the field and in the front office.The Sharks have the same financial grants each and every year as any other NRL club does and yet the best we can come up with is 2 wins since June 2009? Don't blame the players,they play because they're chosen and recruited or retained in the club.They try their best and perhaps @ The Sharks their best just isn't good enough for the big league.See my point is that it's obviously not enough but Ricky Stuart decides the following in our club:
1. Who Plays?
2. Where they play?
3. What style they play
4. What position they play
5. How much game time they recieve
Friends of Ricky in the media @ ABC radio and 2GB are reluctant to ever lay any of the blame for our results on the coach and that is a disgrace. Can anyone here on this forum please show me an example of where Alan Fitzgibbon,Arthur Beetson,John Lang,Chris Anderson or Stuart Raper had it any easier as a coach than Ricky Stuart at our club?
FACT 4.
When John Lang arrived at the Sharks this club was almost on it's knees financially and results on the field were not good. Our playing roster was not that of a top 5 team and so our results reflected that. John Lang developed a team of local juniors over time,recruited cast-offs from other clubs that he could see potential in and that the club could afford and in a short space of time grew our team/club into one of the most consistent success stories in Rugby League.We made semi-finals regularly,we were minor premiers and yet at that stage WE STILL WERE NOT A WEALTHY CLUB - WE NEVER HAVE BEEN. A player like Chris McKenna was bought by the club and developed into a terrific performer long after the Broncos showed him the door,someone like Brett Howland was almost unheard of and yet became a sensation on the wing at the Sharks under John Lang.We had one superstar in those days and that was ET,Mat Rogers was developed over time and played great football with ET.Players like Nick Graham,Dean Treister,Andrew Pierce etc were not bought with big money from other clubs,they were developed by the coach and formed part of a great team and club for many years.Chris Anderson gave us one successful year in which we nearly made a grand final but stumbled at the last hurdle.Anderson's recruitment though was some of the best I have ever seen at the Sharks where the likes of Greg Bird,Paul Franze and Matthew Reick were recruited to the club by Anderson as head coach and all of those guys played first grade in his first year with us and almost got us all the way. My point is this...Ricky Stuart has had the same opportunities as those coaches before him (even allowing for the lack of resources and off field funds) and yet the results are very different.Ricky has now started making excuses for our loses using the club's financial status and the age of our team as excuses for our loses.If the players we have at our club aren't good enough,who's fault is that? I'd day the guy who hired them is at fault ultimately.
I'm not saying the players don't try their guts out because they do and you feel for them,the coach too is trying his best each and every week too but at the end of the day,the results are the same and the way we play as a team is identical to the way we have been going for years now.Ricky Stuart has been in control all that time and the same results keep coming up,effort or not. Our long term future depends on the success our team has on the field,without a successful team at least competing every week for a win,our club is doomed to fail off the field where the bills need to be payed. That is the cold reality of sport and the business of Rugby League these days.Like it or not.
Rick Stuart I thank you sincerely for the effort and hard work you have put in to our club,the commitment you showed last year and for your dedication to your players.....BUT I honestly believe that the time has come to set aside your pride and gain even more respect from all Sharks fans by moving on and allowing for change to happen in the coaching department.No matter the amount of effort on your part or your best intentions for success at my club,I no longer believe that you are the man who can deliver what we so desperately need now. I think it's fairly obvious to all that we probably have the hardest working team in the NRL in terms of sheer effort each week but the it's just not happening and it hasn't been for a very long time under your control at the Sharks.
Ricky - it is time.
Now,the following I hope is something all of us pays very close attention to and helps make up our minds on what the hell is really going on here @ The Sharks.
There has been alot of ppl in the media of late claiming that our problems lie in the fact we have little or no money to spend on good players and that we have a young team.Likewise I have started to hear Rick Stuart claim the same thing and only since we notched up 5 or so loses in 2010.
FACT 1.
We have never had any money to buy the best players in the competition.
FACT 2.
We recieve just like every other NRL club almost 85% of the salary cap funds to spend on players. The rest comes from our own piggy bank.
FACT 3.
Since when has playing young guns in the modern game been an excuse as to why games are lost? Like it or not,this is a young man's game now and not the same as the 80's where to play a guy under 25 was seen as extreme. Funny how many other " young " players excel at other clubs in first grade while at the same time @ Cronulla,it's used as an excuse all of a sudden for losing by the same guy who picks the team and is in charge or recruitment and retention of players at our club.
I was one who thought that Rick Stuart was a good appointment in the early days when he arrived in the Shire,he came with the promise of success,winning cultures,an increase in sponsorships/revenue due to his pulling power with the big end of town and his connections...well none of those to any serious degree has ever eventuated.Just like Chris Anderson,we have had only one season of success under Ricky Stuart and nothing but heartache since.
I firmly believe that Rick Stuart is perhaps the hardest working coach in the NRL.the most passionate and supportive of his team,I have no doubt he probably gives 110% effort in everything he does for the Sharks but it's all for nothing in the overall scheme of things relating to the success of our club on and off the field.Sometimes in Rugby League,effort,passion and hard work just isn't enough to win you footy games.
Our club, make no mistake, is controlled by Ricky Stuart when it comes to " on the field " decisions,all of them are made by him and so at what point does he publicly take responsibility for the loses the team endures week after week.Let's face it,we are not talking about a bad patch here,the past few years have been woeful on the field and in the front office.The Sharks have the same financial grants each and every year as any other NRL club does and yet the best we can come up with is 2 wins since June 2009? Don't blame the players,they play because they're chosen and recruited or retained in the club.They try their best and perhaps @ The Sharks their best just isn't good enough for the big league.See my point is that it's obviously not enough but Ricky Stuart decides the following in our club:
1. Who Plays?
2. Where they play?
3. What style they play
4. What position they play
5. How much game time they recieve
Friends of Ricky in the media @ ABC radio and 2GB are reluctant to ever lay any of the blame for our results on the coach and that is a disgrace. Can anyone here on this forum please show me an example of where Alan Fitzgibbon,Arthur Beetson,John Lang,Chris Anderson or Stuart Raper had it any easier as a coach than Ricky Stuart at our club?
FACT 4.
When John Lang arrived at the Sharks this club was almost on it's knees financially and results on the field were not good. Our playing roster was not that of a top 5 team and so our results reflected that. John Lang developed a team of local juniors over time,recruited cast-offs from other clubs that he could see potential in and that the club could afford and in a short space of time grew our team/club into one of the most consistent success stories in Rugby League.We made semi-finals regularly,we were minor premiers and yet at that stage WE STILL WERE NOT A WEALTHY CLUB - WE NEVER HAVE BEEN. A player like Chris McKenna was bought by the club and developed into a terrific performer long after the Broncos showed him the door,someone like Brett Howland was almost unheard of and yet became a sensation on the wing at the Sharks under John Lang.We had one superstar in those days and that was ET,Mat Rogers was developed over time and played great football with ET.Players like Nick Graham,Dean Treister,Andrew Pierce etc were not bought with big money from other clubs,they were developed by the coach and formed part of a great team and club for many years.Chris Anderson gave us one successful year in which we nearly made a grand final but stumbled at the last hurdle.Anderson's recruitment though was some of the best I have ever seen at the Sharks where the likes of Greg Bird,Paul Franze and Matthew Reick were recruited to the club by Anderson as head coach and all of those guys played first grade in his first year with us and almost got us all the way. My point is this...Ricky Stuart has had the same opportunities as those coaches before him (even allowing for the lack of resources and off field funds) and yet the results are very different.Ricky has now started making excuses for our loses using the club's financial status and the age of our team as excuses for our loses.If the players we have at our club aren't good enough,who's fault is that? I'd day the guy who hired them is at fault ultimately.
I'm not saying the players don't try their guts out because they do and you feel for them,the coach too is trying his best each and every week too but at the end of the day,the results are the same and the way we play as a team is identical to the way we have been going for years now.Ricky Stuart has been in control all that time and the same results keep coming up,effort or not. Our long term future depends on the success our team has on the field,without a successful team at least competing every week for a win,our club is doomed to fail off the field where the bills need to be payed. That is the cold reality of sport and the business of Rugby League these days.Like it or not.
Rick Stuart I thank you sincerely for the effort and hard work you have put in to our club,the commitment you showed last year and for your dedication to your players.....BUT I honestly believe that the time has come to set aside your pride and gain even more respect from all Sharks fans by moving on and allowing for change to happen in the coaching department.No matter the amount of effort on your part or your best intentions for success at my club,I no longer believe that you are the man who can deliver what we so desperately need now. I think it's fairly obvious to all that we probably have the hardest working team in the NRL in terms of sheer effort each week but the it's just not happening and it hasn't been for a very long time under your control at the Sharks.
Ricky - it is time.