Mcgregor watch this!

[BennyV]

Mary doesn't need to watch games from 1979, he needs to watch some of the better recent defensive efforts of the modern teams. Dragons 2010 or Melbourne 2017 for example.
I just watched on Youtube the highlights of our first 12 games last year. We played some great footy, some outstanding attack and were top 4 material, for which you must give the credit to Mary. We lost Widdop for a bit and a few other hiccups and we went out with a whimper. In those first 12 games I saw just the one try scored under our posts, the rest were out wide and most of those by wingers in the corners. The games we lost, we lost out wide. You know where I'm going because you saw it all unfold yourselves, we had a huge problem and Mary had no answer. And we'll be without he of the miraculous try saves, Dugan this year too.
Our wingers and centres need to be completely re-schooled in defence and structures that work. How many times were they caught out last year - every game. Who's our defensive coach - is it Dean Young, whoever it is we need someone else in that role because Mary and Co. are part of the problem. Mary has us firing in attack, for which I'm grateful but he needs help with our defence. If we fix that we'll be top 4 for sure.

Correction - Mary *had* us firing in attack. But it wasn’t a complex plan, simply relied on dominance of forwards (which wouldn’t have happened without the addition of Vaughan and McInnes) and the brains of Widdop. It took 1 round of footy for Brad Arthur to realise that if the forwards can be matched, we’ve got nothing else, and by Round 12 all other teams had followed suit. This, combined with a horrible rotation of players and lack of ability to adapt game plan, are the reasons we fell apart and every one of them is attributed to the idiot in the coaches box.

 

[Spudd]

Steve Price is the worst thing that has happened to the club during the JV years, he was a disgrace.
How on earth do you take a club that had all the silverware there is to win in their trophy cabinet and turn them into wooden spoon favourites within one year?! I'm sorry, but that man was a blight on our team. I think calling him an assistant coach is way to complimentary for the glorified water boy that he was.

As for not having the old mates card, he played for St.George in the Super League era, so he was well and truely in the boys club to get the head coaching job and before we forget, 2015 Mary got us into the 8 with not a great team. I'm not saying that Mary's the greatest coach to ever live, far from it, but I think he's flaws are just due to the system he's been graded under, thrown in and try to swim, just like Nathan Brown was. Only difference is, Browny at least had some good coaches in his day as a player and was trainer for Origin under Gus, Mary had the likes of Andrew Farrah as a coach and Loz for Origin. What was Prices excuse?

What was Price’s excuse?
McGregor’s roster is way better than what Price had.

They’re both as useless as each other.

 

[2010]

Watching Morris and Trudget play I can hardly wait to see Hunt and Widdop play together.
Great to see the fox on the sideline smoking. He is one of our best coaches from the seventies.

 

[Slackboy72]

I wish this boring oversafe wanker would watch OLD vids of US!!! and get some damn ATTACK!!! take some risks like Harry Bath or Roy Masters coached teams....

Seeing as we had the third best for and against I don't think "ATTACK" or being "boring" was our problem.
Losing 5 close games we should have won was our problem. If you found 2017 to be "boring" then please stop watching all forms of sport.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Seeing as we had the third best for and against I don't think "ATTACK" or being "boring" was our problem.
Losing 5 close games we should have won was our problem. If you found 2017 to be "boring" then please stop watching all forms of sport.

Agree, attack wasn't our overall problem, we averaged 22 points per game. It only became boring when we missed the finals.
Burnout, incorrect player placement, poor use of the bench, reliance on "game veterans" and game watching were our problem. And all that rests solely on 1 person alone.

 

[kit66]

Seeing as we had the third best for and against I don't think "ATTACK" or being "boring" was our problem.
Losing 5 close games we should have won was our problem. If you found 2017 to be "boring" then please stop watching all forms of sport.

Correct. There's nothing boring about giving Manly not one but two hidings in the one year. More than half our wins were 13+ and 5 of those 21+, that's entertainment.
5 close games but we win just one of those, say a win on Anzac day in extra time instead of the Rorters and we finish in 7th place rather than 9th.
But we did finish 9th and while the buck stops with Mary, you can't blame him for all our losses - 14 errors in a 21-14 loss to Newcastle, the players did that and the capitulation to the Dogs in round 26, woeful.
Being without Widdop, Packer and Dugan for a few games each didn't help either.
Despite the doomsayers though, we're not a basket case, not even close. Hunt and Graham will both be huge for us as will Dufty at the back.
Hunt gives us a much improved kicking game, organization and support for Widdop we didn't have last year and Graham adds grunt to an already fearsome pack.
We shore up our defence out wide and use our bench more wisely and 2018 will be one to remember.

 

[LINESPEED]

His persistence with McCrone cost us 2017 - end of story

 

[LINESPEED]

There was something troubling about JDB's "mentally weak" comment.
It's been a real issue with this club for years.
We have a mentally very weak coach I'm afraid - preceded by Price who could look no one in the eye. Mary can't hang two words together that make sense

Gould used to call it our propensity to 'gift' teams opportunities

Graham may well be the antichoke and the catalyst

March 8 team selection will tell the story of what's ahead in the water boy derby

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Nope. The game has progressed significantly..

Size, fitness, skills..

Nostalgia is great (still not as good as it used to be) but let’s be honest, if McGregor trained us to play like a 1970’s team we’d get lapped..

Well, McGregor didn't train the '79 side...the 'Old Fox' did.

And given Bath was a far superior coach than McGregor could ever hope to be, I reckon (hypothetically, of course) that he could've come up with a suitable game plan to beat Melbourne.

The '79 side had the three assets you've mentioned in abundance, notwithstanding aggression. The likes of Rod Reddy would've belt the stuffing out of Smith and co.

 

[kit66]

Well, McGregor didn't train the '79 side...the 'Old Fox' did.

And given Bath was a far superior coach than McGregor could ever hope to be, I reckon (hypothetically, of course) that he could've come up with a suitable game plan to beat Melbourne.

The '79 side had the three assets you've mentioned in abundance, notwithstanding aggression. The likes of Rod Reddy would've belt the stuffing out of Smith and co.

To be fair we lost 6 tries to 5 against Melbourne with no Widdop. That's McCrone and Mann vs Cronk and Munster, not to mention Smith and Slater and Melbourne ( 2016 Grand Finalists ) going on to win the Minor Premiership by some margin and then flogging NQ in the Grand Final. The legendary Mr Bath would've had the same cattle vs the Big 3 and the Super Coach, don't know that he'd have done much better.

 

[BennyV]

Correct. There's nothing boring about giving Manly not one but two hidings in the one year. More than half our wins were 13+ and 5 of those 21+, that's entertainment.
5 close games but we win just one of those, say a win on Anzac day in extra time instead of the Rorters and we finish in 7th place rather than 9th.
But we did finish 9th and while the buck stops with Mary, you can't blame him for all our losses - 14 errors in a 21-14 loss to Newcastle, the players did that and the capitulation to the Dogs in round 26, woeful.
Being without Widdop, Packer and Dugan for a few games each didn't help either.
Despite the doomsayers though, we're not a basket case, not even close. Hunt and Graham will both be huge for us as will Dufty at the back.
Hunt gives us a much improved kicking game, organization and support for Widdop we didn't have last year and Graham adds grunt to an already fearsome pack.
We shore up our defence out wide and use our bench more wisely and 2018 will be one to remember.

Disagree, the errors and capitulation against the Knights/Dogs (not to mention other games) rest largely with McGregor. He has instilled a culture throughout the club that near enough is good enough, as well as showing that it’s acceptable to thrust blame in every direction and take on oneself. Hell, the amount of times the guy states that his target is to win 50% of games, or ‘win x games to make the 8’, the way he trumpets ‘we did well in the stats’ and his ridiculous referral to tries off kicks and barge over tries as if they don’t matter are an embarrassment to this club! And this poor excuse for leadership is reflected in the way the players take the field.

All on him.

 

[kit66]

Disagree, the errors and capitulation against the Knights/Dogs (not to mention other games) rest largely with McGregor. He has instilled a culture throughout the club that near enough is good enough, as well as showing that it’s acceptable to thrust blame in every direction and take on oneself. Hell, the amount of times the guy states that his target is to win 50% of games, or ‘win x games to make the 8’, the way he trumpets ‘we did well in the stats’ and his ridiculous referral to tries off kicks and barge over tries as if they don’t matter are an embarrassment to this club! And this poor excuse for leadership is reflected in the way the players take the field.

All on him.

Yeah but guess what......he's our coach for 2018....OMG we're all gonna die !

 

[giboz71]

There was something troubling about JDB's "mentally weak" comment.
It's been a real issue with this club for years.
We have a mentally very weak coach I'm afraid - preceded by Price who could look no one in the eye. Mary can't hang two words together that make sense

Gould used to call it our propensity to 'gift' teams opportunities

Graham may well be the antichoke and the catalyst

March 8 team selection will tell the story of what's ahead in the water boy derby

Agree we’ve been mentally weak for a while. On field leadership has been lacking, first with Creagh as captain, now with Widdop. Close losses to the Dogs, Knights, Souths and Raiders all glaring examples. Thats 8 points that went begging.

I never have confidence with the game on the line with 15 to go as we have no inspiring leader to get us home.

This is where I hope guys like Graham and Hunt will add the most value.

 

[BennyV]

Yeah but guess what......he's our coach for 2018....OMG we're all gonna die !

Die, no.

Fail, almost certainly.

 

[Old Timer]

To be fair we lost 6 tries to 5 against Melbourne with no Widdop. That's McCrone and Mann vs Cronk and Munster, not to mention Smith and Slater and Melbourne ( 2016 Grand Finalists ) going on to win the Minor Premiership by some margin and then flogging NQ in the Grand Final. The legendary Mr Bath would've had the same cattle vs the Big 3 and the Super Coach, don't know that he'd have done much better.

Honestly?
Storm put the cue in the rack after 60 minutes and we got 2 late consolation tries.
We were lucky they didn't give us a complete bath (excuse the play on words).
Far too many fans look at the score line without realising many close scores were in actual fact games we were never going to win as the opposition switched off.
The games we lost to teams below us tell the real story and I'm sure Mr Bath would have better strategies in that area.

 

[Saints Forever]

Graham and Hunt will provide on field leadership and will

To be fair we lost 6 tries to 5 against Melbourne with no Widdop. That's McCrone and Mann vs Cronk and Munster, not to mention Smith and Slater and Melbourne ( 2016 Grand Finalists ) going on to win the Minor Premiership by some margin and then flogging NQ in the Grand Final. The legendary Mr Bath would've had the same cattle vs the Big 3 and the Super Coach, don't know that he'd have done much better.

The old fox Harry Bath should not be mentioned in the same breath as Paul McGregor.

McGregor is a one trick pony.

When the power game falters there is no plan B. He doesn't have the capacity to adjust the game plan when things go sour.

Paul sets low expectations, in the hope of "overachieving."

Harry took a group of kids to 2 grand final victories after Langlands and Smith had retired.

Its like comparing Phar Lap to a donkey !

 

[Old Timer]

Graham and Hunt will provide on field leadership and will


The old fox Harry Bath should not be mentioned in the same breath as Paul McGregor.

McGregor is a one trick pony.

When the power game falters there is no plan B. He doesn't have the capacity to adjust the game plan when things go sour.

Paul sets low expectations, in the hope of "overachieving."

Harry took a group of kids to 2 grand final victories after Langlands and Smith had retired.

Its like comparing Phar Lap to a donkey !

Not a donkey and Ass

 

[muzby]

Well, McGregor didn't train the '79 side...the 'Old Fox' did.

And given Bath was a far superior coach than McGregor could ever hope to be, I reckon (hypothetically, of course) that he could've come up with a suitable game plan to beat Melbourne.

The '79 side had the three assets you've mentioned in abundance, notwithstanding aggression. The likes of Rod Reddy would've belt the stuffing out of Smith and co.

Completely disagree.

You line any side from 1979, size, skill and gameplay as per the era, up against any team from 2017 and the modern day sides will win every match.

Even with a leather ball.

 

[nontime111]

its the ATTITUDE of the 79 players we need and so badly lack. dont you get it? over payed soft cock poonces....

 

[kit66]

Honestly?
Storm put the cue in the rack after 60 minutes and we got 2 late consolation tries.
We were lucky they didn't give us a complete bath (excuse the play on words).
Far too many fans look at the score line without realising many close scores were in actual fact games we were never going to win as the opposition switched off.
The games we lost to teams below us tell the real story and I'm sure Mr Bath would have better strategies in that area.

Cue in the rack ? Switched off ? Is that what happened. What a luxury that must be to be so supremely confident against a team that's 2nd on the ladder and have won 6 from 8 ( One loss in golden point ).
Maybe you mean they got a bit tired, I don't think Bellyache or Smith do "cue in the rack".
It wasn't 2 late consolation tries after the 60 minute mark, it was 4, 3 tries in 12 minutes from the 60th minute then a late try on the bell. I'm more inclined to think it was our forwards winning their battle and a 60/40 possession to us that did it, but unfortunately too late. With Widdop we could have done a lot better considering he was carving it up before his injury and would have stepped up against his old team.
The better team won - actually they lost just 4 games from 27 last year.