Though I feel a bit sorry for McLennan, this season was terrible for too many reasons. We appear to have disintegrated into a dysfunctional, unhappy rabble, a la 2004. Say what you will about Cleary, but he held everything together through the tough times.
If Folkes is available he'd be my choice, too. Besides his early success with the Bulldogs, he has a strength & conditioning background, so may be able to cast a different set of eyes over our training regime (although I suspect our habit of fading is largely a psychological thing). I can also remember reading an article where he talks about his defensive drills being heavily focused on communication, another area where we appear to be lacking. To counter the likes of the Dogs & Manly, an "Up & Decide" type defensive pattern would probably be the most effective, but we stand no chance of being able to carry this off effectively without a number of leaders on the park directing things. Kevin Locke in particular has to develop this side of his game.
Having said all this, however, the Dogs in 2008 were shocking defensively. So even if we did manage to snare Folkes, there's certainly no guarantees. Either way, I'm not disappointed that Bluey is no longer our coach.
