Laurie's shot at Teflon

[Magpies Forever]

Bigger, faster, happy - Laurie the Panther takes swipe at Sheens

JOSH RAKIC

January 31, 2010
PANTHERS recruit Daine Laurie has taken a swipe at the club that discarded him, revealing he never felt welcome at the Wests Tigers.
''I feel so much more comfortable at Penrith - I know the coach is behind me 100 per cent,'' said the 25-year-old, who played just 10 games for the Tigers last season after coach Tim Sheens cut him for failing to show up to a mid-season training session when he was sick.
''Matt Elliott has helped me get my passion back - hell, yeah. It was nothing but negative at the Tigers.
''It's been really refreshing to have a coach support me and trust [me] like Matty has. He's a great bloke. He's the best coach I've had. Instead of giving me negative things, he's always giving me confidence and makes me want to work harder and put in for him. He doesn't tell me, 'You're doing this wrong, you're doing that wrong,' or get up me. He's really positive and says, 'You're doing this great, but just keep working on this and you'll get there.' ''
The Northern Rivers product fought tooth and nail for a release from the final year of his contract with the Tigers after he thought he had been poorly treated at the club. He has since proved his popularity in the NRL by being selected in the inaugural Indigenous All Stars team.
He has a new partner, a new address and a new attitude. The latter he credits to his coach.
''He's helped me big time off the field, too, just with advice and helping me to concentrate on things that matter rather than people trying to bring me down,'' Laurie said.
He was stood down by the Tigers in September after being charged with assaulting his former partner. The charge was dismissed.
''I'm heaps happier and settled off the field now and I'm loving footy. I'm calmer than I was last year and I'm more keen now to play footy than when I made my debut.
''It's such a welcoming environment. There are a heap of young boys and then guys like Petero [Civoniceva] to look up to. I'm very relaxed.''
The two-metre forward has been spending a lot of time in the gym, bulking up a big eight kilograms to tip the scales at 116kg. And, if anything, Laurie says he that has gained speed. Elliott believes Laurie is a representative star in the making.
''Geez, where do I start?'' he said. ''The guy has that much potential and he's been nothing but a dream to coach.
''He needs a little bit of extra attention, but some of the best players do. Luke Lewis is an international and he needs it, whereas someone like Matthew Bell, you could go the whole year without talking to him and he'd still turn up to training every day and put in 100 per cent.
''I've said it before. I don't think there are any limitations on Daine as far as rugby league goes. He's big, he's strong, he's got skills and he's that fast it's mind-blowing. If he keeps doing what he's doing, it could be a massive year for him and us.''
Laurie is expected to be sidelined for at least the next fortnight after breaking a toe during a beach training session at Cronulla last week, but hopes to return for the inaugural All Stars match on February 13.
''The toe's not really sore, it's just a touch unstable,'' he said
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ther-takes-swipe-at-sheens-20100130-n5du.html

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I have to say Laurie is not the first to confirm that once in Teflon's bad books you may as well leave WT. The comments I highlighted remind me of Matthew Head, Shannon Gallant- just to name a couple.................

 

[bubblesunlimited]

Let's see how positive Elliott is once Laurie goes AWOL again.

Then we will see.

If you are not gonna give us 100% the we don't want you.

 

[Magpies Forever]

Let's see how positive Elliott is once Laurie goes AWOL again.

Then we will see.

If you are not gonna give us 100% the we don't want you.

Bubbles- I'm not defending Laurie as I was also one of the one's here that said WT should not hold him if he wanted to go. But, his comment on Sheens attitude and his 'ability' to dwell on the negative rather than encourage is not the first time it has been commented on. Similar comments have been made by Gallant and Head to name just a couple. Youngquest is another that springs to mind.

It will be intersting this year who Sheens target may be this time- especially as Sheens will be under the microscope with the teams performance seeing as he wants a contract extension. I wonder who's fault things will be since its never Teflon's fault?

 

[westie]

They're both weirdos.

 

[gronkathon]

Amazing though that Sheens has used this methodology throughout his coaching careers. For the good players it is exactly what they need. Fo rthe average players or prima donnas it seems to backfire.

I can state categorically that Laurie has missed 4 training sessions with the Panthers and has not been reprimanded even though no notice or reason was given.

It's no suprise he is enjoying it so much there

 

[gronkathon]

Oh and LOL at Youngquest.

Useless merkin spent more time abusing touch judges than playing the game. When a State Cup coach refuses to have you back you are a failure

 

[super_coach]

Sheens has always been a coach that has one rule,one game plan, one selection policy etc He has alway been very rigid in his thinking and to be fair it has got him a few holy grails.

Gould said when coaching Andrew Walker he let him do his own thing when it came to training and playing. He said it was pointless trying to get him to conform and he was a such a freak of a football player. Now big Daine is no freak of a footballer but maybe he needs some leeway to blossom into a top line player and that was never going to happen under Sheens, rightly or wrongly

 

[aids]

Fitzhenry, Ryan, Makasini Ritcher, Ahmed Bajouri, Corey Pearson and Trent Runciman all would've been able able to take that pass from Ellis in the 2nd match against the storm.
if we won that, then we would've made the semi's

f**k that guy.

 

[N.C.]

Yes, but f**k Sheens too, eh?

 

[gronkathon]

Laurie has done what I thought impossible. Take less responsibility for his actions than Sheens does his results.

Agree. f**k that guy

 

[Mr_Raditch]

We'll see if Elliot is still backing Laurie after they have just lost their 4th game in a row because he is continuously being caught in no mans land in defence.

 

[westie]

Sheens' fault really for bringing him into grade too early.

 

[Mr_Raditch]

Sheens' fault really for bringing him into grade too early.

What a load of BS. Was obviously too lazy to get back into the line & defend. When he was pulled out of first grade to work on his weaknesses he got the dirts & wouldnt put in the hard yards on the training paddock. I'll give it to Sheens over a lot of issues, this however is not one of them.

 

[DanOz]

I agree with Elliott - Laurie has all the potential in the world, and if he can get his head in the right place he could be devistating. I was and still am sorry to see him go, and think it could come back to bite us in a big way. Time will tell. If I'm wrong I will be happy.

 

[westie]

What a load of BS. Was obviously too lazy to get back into the line & defend. When he was pulled out of first grade to work on his weaknesses he got the dirts & wouldnt put in the hard yards on the training paddock. I'll give it to Sheens over a lot of issues, this however is not one of them.

1. He wasn't ready for FG from a footy perspective. You've mentioned that in this post.

2. And most importantly, he wasn't ready from a mental perspective. He was working really hard until he got to FG. Once he got there and was rightly expected to keep improving, he cracked sh*ts. You've mentioned that too.

Sheens himself said in the press he was a talented player who was "raw" - not up to the standards, physical and mental of FG. He threw him in for a quick advantage when we sucked, just as he always does.

Sounds like, in actual fact, you yourself have made strong points as to why he should have been held back.

 

[innsaneink]

What do you do though with a player that wont or cant realise hes not ready for FG, but wont be patient in reggies either, spitting the dummy and skipping training?

Elliotts teams have never eally been known for their defense, will this help Laurie- doubt it.

 

[murraymob]

Amazing though that Sheens has used this methodology throughout his coaching careers. For the good players it is exactly what they need. Fo rthe average players or prima donnas it seems to backfire.

I can state categorically that Laurie has missed 4 training sessions with the Panthers and has not been reprimanded even though no notice or reason was given.

It's no suprise he is enjoying it so much there

he missed 4 training sessions with permision of the club

 

[alien]

he missed 4 training sessions with permision of the club

Why did he get permission?

 

[gronkathon]

Those four must be in addition to the ones I am talking about.

My source within the Panters admin is very strong. I will ask him for clarification though just to be sure when I see him Thursday afternoon

 

[Eddie.]

The Panthers are probably one of the few clubs above us when it comes to ineptitude and mediocrity. He might go well initially but I envisage the same problems he had at the Tigers down the road.