Open letter from Shane Flannagan

[Since 73]

Dear Phlanno,

What comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Or, what comes first, the wins or the crowd?

See Shane, it's a partnership - the team and the supporters.

Does the team winning bring a big crowd?...or, does a big crowd bring about a win?

Just keep up your end of the deal and win a game. And the other side will look after themselves.

And maybe write another letter - this one to your fullback - and draw some lines he might like to run off the 5/8. Maybe off his inside pass or bob up beside a centre to create an extra man. Tell him to pull his socks as well. He'll run faster.

Yours Sincerely,

S73

 

[Windy70]

Saying the Kick went 10 but both off side calls were wrong.

http://www.nrl.com/-official-view-ball-travelled-10-metres/tabid/10874/newsid/68957/default.aspx

 

[bluey]

Like fuggly the kick went 10

 

[carcharias]

of course it didnt go 10.

fuggen thing bounced inside the line and then went over the sideline.

but none of that matters
the merkins were in front of the kicker to start with.

 

[ghoti]

I don't like this reliance on blaming the referees though. The kick and the offsides might have been a refereeing error, but we still didn't deal with it well enough...we f**ked up golden point AGAIN. We should have won and lost on account of the referees, but we shouldn't have lost either, and we lost because we can't put teams away. Blaming the referees isn't good enough, and it won't get us a premiership.

 

[Miller Lite]

An Open Letter to all Sharks fans from Shane Flanagan;

We probably should have been good enough to defend one set to close out the game

Regards,
Shane Flanagan
Sharks NRL Head Coach

 

[Card Shark]

An Open Letter to all Sharks fans from Shane Flanagan;

We probably should have been good enough to defend one set to close out the game

Regards,
Shane Flanagan
Sharks NRL Head Coach

Sauce?

 

[tom of poland]

The letter confirms to me that we have now officially been dudded 4 competition points this year through incorrect refereeing decisions, or incompetent adjudication. Bah !!! humbug !!!

The letter says to me come to the Souths game to abuse the shyte out of Inglis.

 

[Ronnie Dobbs]

What a dope. Just win you whingeing westie.

Be down the swamp for the Souffs game, backing up off the Coogee Dolphins sportsmans lunch on the Friday. Be about a dozen of us in the Burns stand. Two Sharks, Two Bunnys, Eight running amok.

Come say g'day before we get escorted from the premises an hour before kick off.

Do we get leeway of we are in corporate seating?

 

[newman]

Dear Phlanno,

What comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Or, what comes first, the wins or the crowd?

See Shane, it's a partnership - the team and the supporters.

Does the team winning bring a big crowd?...or, does a big crowd bring about a win?

Just keep up your end of the deal and win a game. And the other side will look after themselves.

And maybe write another letter - this one to your fullback - and draw some lines he might like to run off the 5/8. Maybe off his inside pass or bob up beside a centre to create an extra man. Tell him to pull his socks as well. He'll run faster.

Yours Sincerely,

S73

We are in the 8 for f**ks sake. Stop being so precious. 7k on a clear night is a disgraceful effort and the club has a right to feel nervous about being well outnumbered by toothless souths supporters.

 

[Frailty]

We are in the 8 for f**ks sake. Stop being so precious. 7k on a clear night is a disgraceful effort and the club has a right to feel nervous about being well outnumbered by toothless souths supporters.

A top 8 side that hasn't won in a month, despite the fact we had played 4 sides that weren't in the top 8.

 

[blacktip-reefy]

A top 8 side that hasn't won in a month, despite the fact we had played 4 sides that weren't in the top 8.

Storm 1st
Broncos 2nd
Sharks 3rd

Agree wtih Newman. It is a disgraceful effort, but it is the Shire. Imagine if the team was coming bottom of the ladder & didnt have players like Gallen & Carney?
People on the Gold Coast are doing it very tough financially, but those fans have encouraged their team from last into the top 8.

 

[newman]

A top 8 side that hasn't won in a month, despite the fact we had played 4 sides that weren't in the top 8.

How quickly we change. We've endured two years of rubbish. We get a good team on the park playing well and they have a bit of a wobble due to injuries and fatigue and the supporter base feels vindicted and justified in deserting them? But we will all turn around when something goes wrong and say that the NRL has it in for us?!

 

[SharkShocked]

Newman - How do you change the supporter base?

Realistically it's up to the club to ensure people turn up. I turn up every week irrespective of whether they are playing good or bad and endure it or lap it up. But not all supporters are as mad as all of us on this forum.

But how do you turn the semi supporter or the apathetic supporter into a passionate supporter.

Evidently it isn't just about winning and being in the top 8 otherwise that 7K crowd logically should have been higher. We were playing for a spot in the top 4, irrespective of whether or not we have lost a few matches people should have been getting there in droves.

And I won't cop excuses about players being out, because I turn up to each match whether or not we have our best team on the park. Clearly aware of our chances in the match.

I'm not sure how you go about changing the culture of the supporters but it's an area that if the club want it to improve, they will need to put a fair amount of resources into. They haven't been in the position to do this for a long time, once the pressure is off with the development, hopefully this is an area that they can target.

Establishing change in people is very difficult.

 

[newman]

Newman - How do you change the supporter base?

Realistically it's up to the club to ensure people turn up. I turn up every week irrespective of whether they are playing good or bad and endure it or lap it up. But not all supporters are as mad as all of us on this forum.

But how do you turn the semi supporter or the apathetic supporter into a passionate supporter.

Evidently it isn't just about winning and being in the top 8 otherwise that 7K crowd logically should have been higher. We were playing for a spot in the top 4, irrespective of whether or not we have lost a few matches people should have been getting there in droves.

And I won't cop excuses about players being out, because I turn up to each match whether or not we have our best team on the park. Clearly aware of our chances in the match.

I'm not sure how you go about changing the culture of the supporters but it's an area that if the club want it to improve, they will need to put a fair amount of resources into. They haven't been in the position to do this for a long time, once the pressure is off with the development, hopefully this is an area that they can target.

Establishing change in people is very difficult.

All fair points. My issue is with the people who seemed offended by Flanos letter. The general concensus was that he had no right to question why the crowd was low because we had lost a couple on the trot (despite 2012 having one of our best home records EVER). These same people will then turn around whenver something goes wrong and blame the NRL.

 

[carcharias]

Foxtel is partly too blame .

Too many lazy fuggers staying at home sucking on a drop of red instead of going to
the game and getting arse f**ked $27 for 4 VB's in a plastic tray.

 

[wolverine]

Not that it is an excuse, but I think people were very put off by what they saw against the Raiders. I was there and felt like it was one of the worst performances I have seen from the boys in years. Was I put off coming to the game v Penrith? Yes I was, because I like many other Sharks fans, have seen this time and time again.

It's very easy for Sharks fans to get disillusioned and apathetic about a team that has hurt us so many times before.

 

[SharkShocked]

All fair points. My issue is with the people who seemed offended by Flanos letter. The general concensus was that he had no right to question why the crowd was low because we had lost a couple on the trot (despite 2012 having one of our best home records EVER). These same people will then turn around whenver something goes wrong and blame the NRL.

I can understand the people that turn up each week could potentially take it to heart as they feel they are doing their bit, but in reality they should really be pointing the fingers at casual sharks fans who don't turn up week in week out (not that it's always that easy for people).

Foxtel is partly too blame .

Too many lazy fuggers staying at home sucking on a drop of red instead of going to
the game and getting arse f**ked $27 for 4 VB's in a plastic tray.

This is why I believe that it is up to the clubs to give people a reason to come to the footy.

Not that it is an excuse, but I think people were very put off by what they saw against the Raiders. I was there and felt like it was one of the worst performances I have seen from the boys in years. Was I put off coming to the game v Penrith? Yes I was, because I like many other Sharks fans, have seen this time and time again.

It's very easy for Sharks fans to get disillusioned and apathetic about a team that has hurt us so many times before.

This is the same culture that needs to be stamped out. How do we stamp it out? I'm not sure.

I feel disillusioned with the club and apathetic about them in swinging moods probably every day, but I still renew my season ticket, get to every game I can and buy as much merchandise as I can afford to.

How do you change attitudes of people that are so ingrained? When they start to slide people turn off. I'm not sure what the answer is, but my theory is even if we won a competition the year after people would still disappear after a 4 game losing streak.

Needs to be changed, not sure how.

 

[Miller was a legend]

In my opinion it all comes down to game day experience. If we had the dollars, making game day a fun day, night out for the family may assist in getting crowds to the ground. The Titans do this well. It's not just about the footy, they put on a good time out. I know manly supporters on the coast that take the family there on game day, even though personally they only have a passing interest in the Titans, being locals.

 

[tom of poland]

I'm not offended by Flanno's letter, I try to make as many games as I can, when family commitments dont stand in the way, whatever the team's form, whatever the weather.

One of the key differences to me is that I feel like drinking more and dont mind paying the ground prices when we play well and win.