Its about time Brian Smith made a pact with the supporters

[Misty Bee]

Geez, HJ and Strider found me out. I was hiding last week, because I knew that everyone here would be engrossed in an orgy of Brian Smith praise after our last gasp fluke win over this years wooden spooners!!!!!

ParraPete, I'll stop blaming the coaches when he reproduces his form of the late nineties. You know, when the game plan was produced to win 2 points over some gun club. When was the last time a special coaching ploy was brought out of the hat? Where has our impregnable defensive line gone?

It's simple really. The coach employs the same core of players to do those things as he did 4-5 years ago. What has happened? have the players become duds? Well, Donald and Sciffo are tearing 'em up
elsewhere for example, and throw in Drew, Ian Hindy, PJ (when he's fit) Maguire and a few others that you don't want to see doing their thing against us.

Look, our 2004 is shaping up as better than the last 2 dismal years, that only Strider and his hairy girlfriend. I'm excited by our attack (if woried that it seems to revolve around Dykes and Morris, and wonder what it would be like if any of our professional 5/8s are given a run). BUt our defence is utterly woeful. Defence wins premierships. Hence our discontent.

We all know what the coach is capable of. Haven't seen it since 2001 though. While HJ, Strider, Mits etc are happy with mediocrity, the rest of us aint. Sorry for having an opinion, but freedom of speech or not, you 3 certainly are NOT qualified to question it.

 

[strider]

Do we have to go over this again???

Donald left cos he could get more money and a walk up start at Manly - at Parra he was 3rd choice winger behind Moodie (NSW Rep).

Schifcofske left because he was 2nd choice fullback to Hodgson - and I will call ANYONE who says Hodgson was not a better prospect at the time a complete bullshit artist.

PJ left cos he was pilfered before the June 30 deadline - he wanted to come back but his manger had pressured him to sign with the Warriors immediately.

Drew got 3 times as much money to play for Canberra - he came to Parra on chicken feed to get a go. Drew had one great yr with Parra - his second was patchy. I have no regrets that we have Morris instead.

Maguire....meh - who cares - nothing special really....if he was playing in blue and gold today you'd all be on his case - only great thing I've seen him do since going to the Broncos is deck Justin Hodges with an uppercut.

Ian Hindy - I'll give you that one Please come back Hindy - we miss you.


I also agree that our defense has more holes than swiss cheese - but I think we are improving....yet I don't understand how adding an attacking 5/8 will solve this problem???


Why am I not "qualified" to question your opinion? Are you qualified to question my opinion? Or qualified to question Parramatta's coaching?...nah I didn't think so....we want our team to win - we just don't have a grudge against someone else who is trying to help our team win.

 

[JessEel]

*edit*

 

[Misty Bee]

I'm not questioning your opinion, just why you have to bag off everyone who doesn't agree with it.

I see you are in the MITS/GoParra camp - ie that having a coach that is trying is good enough, regardless of the results.

All I can say to that is that Ron Hilditch tried bloody hard as well. Were you Smith disciples against his appointment in 1995? Either you were, which makes you hipocritical, or you were not, which makes you hypocritical!

Strider, I dunno if you have ever worked or not, but you get paid to 'do', and not merely 'try'.

Re Hodgeson - he was a half-5/8 at Wests. We made him a custodian. Schifcofske was, and still is, the best defensive fullback since Garry Jack in his prime. Whilst no one at the time questioned the selection, it resulted in us losing a wonderful player to the Raiders. may I ask you which one now has the best credibility?

Donald was third string maybe, but injuried gave him enough game time to impress, which he did. Manly bore the fruit of his work and learning at Parramatta, not us.

 

[parralight]

Glad to see that I have started some debate about this subject.
Thats the whole idea about this board isnt it ??? You know - where an opinion is placed before others who then either agree or disagree. Personal attacks aside.

Ok just a few things that I want to say and mainly its to Parra Pete, who no doubt is a fine follower of all things Rugby league but in my humble opinion probably has a rather inflated opinion of Brian Smith. Thats OK - Im on the other end of the spectrum... - Im not being personal to you but lets have a look at a few things you said .....

Lets start at the top. Yes I hate people who make outlandlish claims too and have no ability to back them up .. Like they invented the question mark... Oh done already eh - (sorry Austin)

I have conversed with three people (trainers and officials) from the club who were in the dressing room that night and heard the speech Brian gave the team prior to the 2001 Grand Final and what I said was accurate. If you can produce anyone who contradicts this please do so. MITS has contacts at the club and in this point he can back me up. As I said Im sure Brian regrets the tac he took - but thats life.

It is fine if you don't like him as a MAN.. But don't s**g off at his coaching ability

Thats the great thing about having the written word there Parra Pete cause you can check what you say.
At no time did I denegrate Smith as a man. Ive never met him although I have met many footballers and officials who have. So for the record I didnt say anything about him as a man.

As for his coaching ability and my right to analyse or put under scrutiny his record I believe I have every right.

Why?

Well that, my good fellow is the crux of the whole post !

As I suggested - Brian should be treated like the boss of a major corporation. He has the ability to do or buy or try anything he wants without the club breathing down his neck.

Therefore he must be judged by his results. AND like the boss of a major corporation he should fall on his sword when he cannot deliver.

But I suppose the main point you are asking is this - who are we to question Brian Smith when he is the demi god of Rugby league coaches and have influenced so many etc etc etc .

The reason is this - we as fans are just like shareholders in this company, but we invest much more than money in the results - we invest our heart and souls.
If you cant understand this particular point then Im afraid you really need to get into your footy more and become a parra tragic like the rest of us.

For me, my heart and soul is important. Im morose after a loss and upbeat after a win. The team means so much to me. You can have my money just let me keep my team.

Therefore Parra Pete - yes we are in a position to demand more from the coach and in a position to demand his resignation.

I for one cant understand your wholehearted support of Brian. I have read most of your posts and in the main you seem to say intelligent worthwhile things but if someone suggests anything bad about Brian - you leap to his defence.

Mate - your not Brian Smith are you ?? :lol: :lol:

Sorry mate - I merely suggested that Brian take responsibilty

Think before you write sh*t.

you are SO cruel :lol: :lol:

 

[strider]

I'm not questioning your opinion, just why you have to s**g off everyone who doesn't agree with it.

Me bag off?....I don't bag people off - YOU are the one who gets personal and tries to put everyone down with your "I have been a Parra supporter longer then you" crap.

Strider, I dunno if you have ever worked or not, but you get paid to 'do', and not merely 'try'.

Once again getting personal - questioning if I have ever worked....you always seem to have to resort to some personal attack when you want to argue a point - Why? Got nothing of substance in your arguement or do you just like to try to put people down?

Re Hodgeson - he was a half-5/8 at Wests. We made him a custodian. Schifcofske was, and still is, the best defensive fullback since Garry Jack in his prime. Whilst no one at the time questioned the selection, it resulted in us losing a wonderful player to the Raiders. may I ask you which one now has the best credibility?

Hodgson had played plenty of fullback and wing also at Wests - but he never succeeded as a half so fullback seemed like his best position. And boy didn't he excel there for Parra - he developed into a SOO class fullback....he was given the fullback spot cos he was the best - Clinton wanted to be a FB and left cos of that - Clinton was always on of my favourite players, I hated when he left Parra but I knew Hodgson was better at the time.

Hind-sight is a wonderful thing isn't it....thats what all the super-coaches who post here use.....they are experts in identifying things that went wrong after they happen and think Brian Smith should have had a crystal ball and seen it all coming.



Us "Smith Lovers", as you call us, DO NOT AND NEVER HAVE stated that Brian Smith has no responsibilty for what happens in terms of Parramatta winning or losing....we simply believe it is NOT ALL HIS FAULT as you experts seem to think.....we see a whole range of issues that have seen the team fall since 2001......and we desperately want Parra to win a GF.

 

[Suitman]

Hind-sight is a wonderful thing isn't it....thats what all the super-coaches who post here use.....they are experts in identifying things that went wrong after they happen and think Brian Smith should have had a crystal ball and seen it all coming. .

No, not really experts. But after 7 years, you'd think that their might be SOME light at the end of the tunnel.

Us "Smith Lovers", as you call us, DO NOT AND NEVER HAVE stated that Brian Smith has no responsibilty for what happens in terms of Parramatta winning or losing.....

Actually, a lot of the Smith lovers HAVE said that. Your'e just not one of them.

By the way, I don't think Smith should be sacked. But, something needs to happen fast, cause I see us as a club going no where.

Suity

 

[The Colonel]

Re Hodgeson - he was a half-5/8 at Wests. We made him a custodian. Schifcofske was, and still is, the best defensive fullback since Garry Jack in his prime. Whilst no one at the time questioned the selection, it resulted in us losing a wonderful player to the Raiders. may I ask you which one now has the best credibility?

Both of them seem to be playing good football at the moment. However on your point of us turning him into a custodian - please go to the back of the class. You will find that piece of brilliance belongs to one person and one only - Tommy Raudonikis. Tommy believed he was too small at the time to play in the halves so he moved him to the wing and then into fullback to at least have him protected but on the field as he was a creative player.

 

[NthCronullaLocal]

From an outsider looking in i dont think Parra are in bad shape this year. Except for your first up performance against the Dogs you have gone alright.
You are in the top 8 how bad is that.
You are 2 wins from the lead and it coud have been only one win off the lead except you were extremely unlucky against Cronulla on the weekend.
Injuries are starting to take their toll but that happens to any club. You should eventually get your team back I just hope its not when you play the Sharks!
Although he has made some questionable decision in regards to player recruitment/retention your playing roster looks ok this year and Brian Smith doesnt deserve to be death ridden. Judgements on him should be reserved till the end of the season at least. It is only round 8!
Good luck for the rest of the year!

 

[parra pete]

Hodgson is a turnstile in defence. Was like a ****** in 2002/2003 in for one and out for four. Hasn't been the same player since Tallis rag dolled him in the SOO

 

[strider]

Maybe we should recruit some cronulla supporters.....at least they have a good opinion of our team :roll:

 

[MarkInTheStands]

Misty Bee, I accept you have an opinion,

But in My Opinion, your Opinion that we should be back to 2001 is a little far feached. But the late 90's isn't a bad IDEA, and I have stated that in the past.

But just on Defence being Woeful.

Here is a little list of our last 7 games

For and Against

Last Week against the Sharks we let in 18 points which is as good as our performance against the Broncos in round 2.

4 Tries were scored against us, 2 were stoppable, 2 were from fatigue 2 came off the back of "Interesting" Decisions from the Ref. One of those was highlighted on NRL on FoX.
Now I have a few sharkies friends at work and they agree with me that the first try they didn't know what happened.

The Ref blow the whistle, then saw the sharks had the ball, then called Play on. On the next play they scored.

That is a big please explain, even if we were to get a penalty against us for passing after held or if it was a scrum feed to Cronulla for dropping the ball after the tackle was complete, the eels would have had a set line. When you call play on and get a fast play the ball, you can’t have a set line especially if every is looking to form up for a scrum.

Last week I don't think anyone on this Board Praised Brian Smith. I think we praised the players like Armit, Peek, Cayless, Hindmarsh and Moi Moi. But now we have lost (with our lowest against score yet) and the knives are out. I am sorry but in my opinion that is not a fair cop.

 

[El Diablo]

Last week I don't think anyone on this Board Praised Brian Smith. I think we praised the players like Armit, Peek, Cayless, Hindmarsh and Moi Moi. But now we have lost (with our lowest against score yet) and the knives are out. I am sorry but in my opinion that is not a fair cop.

Most weeks when we lose we hear "it wasn't Smith who missed the tackles" etc etc so this is no different. It all equals out.

 

[Misty Bee]

MITS, did Smith deserve praise after last weeks nailbiter v the spoon contenders?

Our defence is the third worst in the NRL. That detracts directly from our attack (which is third best). So we have high scoring nailbiters. Even V Souths our score blew out late in the game.

What we dont have is the control of a match that the big gunbs have to have. The Canberra game was a case in point: They never let us in the game, always maintained control of the game.

 

[fish eel]

MITS, did Smith deserve praise after last weeks nailbiter v the spoon contenders?

Given what happened in Round 1 and the days following....does Smith deserve any credit for the way in which the guys have pulled together, showed some real ticker a jagged four wins despite not playing well?

 

[The Worm]

I reckon if Parra don't win the GF, then Brian has to buy us all an ice cream.

 

[NthCronullaLocal]

Cronulla are not spoon contenders :evil: . Granted they loss to Tigers, Souths and Nth Qld but you will not see any other performances like that again this year from them. They just lost to the Bulldogs (which they were the better team), and beat Canberra (which you lost to). They have turned the corner and are doing all right. Dont put them in that category

Manly or souths have that covered this year.

 

[Avenger]

Realistically we should have been in the GF in 98 and 99. We choked in the semis. The buck stops with the coach. In 2001 Brian decided to treat the GF like any other game. So what did he do? He and the players took the piss in Wollongong for a week before the GF. His contract runs out in Oct 2005. I for one cannot wait. Only a GF win this year will save him. Coaches are judged on their successes. He has had none in terms of premierships. Yes I admit we are better now then pre-Brian but we did not sign him for over $400,000 a year to better ourselves, we signed him to win premierships, and to this date he has failed.

 

[Maroubra Eel]

Realistically we should have been in the GF in 98 and 99. We choked in the semis. The buck stops with the coach. In 2001 Brian decided to treat the GF like any other game. So what did he do? He and the players took the piss in Wollongong for a week before the GF. His contract runs out in Oct 2005. I for one cannot wait. Only a GF win this year will save him. Coaches are judged on their successes. He has had none in terms of premierships. Yes I admit we are better now then pre-Brian but we did not sign him for over $400,000 a year to better ourselves, we signed him to win premierships, and to this date he has failed.

But he seems to be quite a nice bloke Avenger. 8)

 

[parralight]

Actually MITS I did praise Brian last week for his recruitment of big men for this year.

The original post was only to pose the question and this question remains - Should Brian be held responsible for the success or failure of the team for the last couple of years (like any other boss) or should we just say - well done Brian you did your best ?

IMHO Brian, who is wiling to accept unlimited support from the club, a free hand in everything he does , who signs for the club and a large pay cheque has to accept that if it doesnt work then he has to take responsibilty.

Its not a case of hating Brian or not supporting him, its a business decision.