Lay off the players. JDB is on track to be a superstar. Creagh used to be at the very top and is still young enough to get there again. What’s missing is a game plan to bring out the best in these and the rest of our roster.
Sure, Fein, Soward, Stanley, Hunt, Creagh and a few others aren't playing to their full potential. What we need is someone to gee them up and give them the confidence to get up there again. We need a coach that can identify there stengths and their weaknesses and devise a plan to get the best out of them.
Just go back to the time when most of you played footy - even if it was school footy. Remember how you felt when you performed well on the field and made a difference to the team performance. Remember how at training the coach pulled you aside and helped you fix up some of the things you were doing wrong and maybe how he devised a plan for you to exceed.
I can remember such things and I remember how proud I felt after some games when I was told after the game that I played well and that my contribution was significant - even during times when I still was seeing stars.
I'm sure the players regularly go out there with instructions and a game plan that they don't believe in. I am sure they are asked to do things that don't suit their style or talants and after a short time when nothing is going to plan, they begin to question the merit of the plan/instructions.
It's not the players, it's the coaching staff. Our Club has made a grave mistake, stuffed up, got it totally wrong. Let's just fix the problem and move on.
So my advice is to:
1. Address the coaching problem right now.
2. Forget about the finals again this year.
3. Blood our youngsters in preparation for a tilt at the top four next year.
4. Recruit/promote a first grade 7 and/or 6 if necessary.
5. Spend the rest of the season preparing for next year.
