Still no word from the pro camp? Long nite at the office?
Very, but a good one!
Primarily, I am pro Cleary because of his obvious emphasis on the basics. People often throw the term 'razzle dazzle' around as though it were a time of nothing but wins, large crowds, and abundant wealth for the club; this is just so wrong. 02 and 03 were so special, but so rare. Our other 'razzle dazzle' years saw us consistently miss the finals. For every 50 point victory, there were three 50 point defeats, and the Warriors often played to less than 8k whilst being the butt of every joke and making the finals only once.
When looking at where the GF winner placed at regular season's end, one thing is clear - you need to be top 6. Since Cleary began we have been thereabouts come season's end (4,5,8,9 (-4 points salary cap infringement thanks Mick Watson), bar one horrible, tragic year (14) which in my opinion, the coach and players can be excused for. In the toughest comp going we are consistently competitive, i.e. we are consistently tough. I like that about our team. I like how calm he is, and how he stresses things like defense, ball control, set completion, kick/chase, and the fact that if we do it often enough, we have a great chance to win. On top of that, he seems capable of recognising where we lack, and goes after the player to fill the hole. He is still a young coach, and IMO has transformed us from an erratic team to one intent on being in the frame. I think the game now is tougher than it was when he started in 06 - for him to keep competitive he has to improve - I think he is improving.
