Rate the coach - week 2

[BennyV]

Interesting that Rein states in a recent article how they now have the new interchange process right in the last 2 games (here's a tip - we won the last 2 games).
I've read from eggspurts on here that Mary had it wrong. Maybe Mary does know what he's doing?
Week 4 - 7.9/10

Lol, the games where Mitch's only competition for his spot sat on the bench all game, rather than providing the spark and impact he was purchased for...that's where we got the interchange right?! Interesting...

Anywho, Week 4: 7/10. If not for Dugan's power running and Widdop's goal kicking, could easily have been 4-5/10.

 

[Jubileeboy]

Lol, the games where Mitch's only competition for his spot sat on the bench all game, rather than providing the spark and impact he was purchased for...that's where we got the interchange right?! Interesting...

Anywho, Week 4: 7/10. If not for Dugan's power running and Widdop's goal kicking, could easily have been 4-5/10.

Oh well...each to their own and the decision was Mary's, not mine.
Rein played his best game ever last weekend. I didn't see the need to replace him.
The history books will support this

 

[BennyV]

Oh well...each to their own and the decision was Mary's, not mine.
Rein played his best game ever last weekend. I didn't see the need to replace him.
The history books will support this

If we'd lost by 2 instead of winning by 2, would there be a need? Because it easily could have happened!

Look, I'm as happy with the win as anyone - to be perfectly honest, even when Penrith scored their last try, I had a feeling we'd bring it back! But that doesn't mean that all the right decisions were made through the game, and it doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

The Rein/Havili thing will be interesting throughout the season - my position is that if Rein CAN play 80 minutes, it doesn't always mean that he should. If we can get 20-30 minutes of impact by rotating him (or JDB - who CAN play 80 mins, but doesn't have to) with Havili, then it becomes a benefit for Rein to play 50-60 minutes. The flipside is that if Rein goes down in the first 5 minutes, we bring on a hooker with around 10 minutes game time in the last 3 weeks and we become vulnerable.

There are other things. The Marketo thing does my head in - Lui's defence is just as good, if not better, and he is more effective in attack, what's he done wrong? The fact that we burnt 3 interchanges in the first 25 minutes rotating our props is ludicrous - if you disagree, please explain what benefit it brings?! Other than "trust the coach".

There is LOTS of work to do to refine the interchange bench, I would say that Rein's comments are a mixture of supporting the coach and him being happy at the extra minutes he plays.

 

[Slippery Morris]

If a player is on fire like Rein was then leave him on I say. Why not? I agree with what Mary did on Sat. His confidence will grow and it will only benefit the team. Reins best game by a mile.

McCrone will be the backup half/hooker and Havilli will probably get dropped. This will cover Marshall and Rein. Havilli will get a chance one day.

 

[BennyV]

If a player is on fire like Rein was then leave him on I say. Why not? I agree with what Mary did on Sat. His confidence will grow and it will only benefit the team. Reins best game by a mile.

McCrone will be the backup half/hooker and Havilli will probably get dropped. This will cover Marshall and Rein. Havilli will get a chance one day.

You agree with it because Dugan managed to push his way over for a try. I highly doubt that, had we lost by 2, you'd be agreeing with any of it. As for the reason to sub him, its to add impact and spark to put us on the front foot. As I've said, there are massive benefits to a guy like Havili playing 25-30 mintes as impact, its part of playing to win (rather than playing to not-lose like we seem to).

Carrying a player on the bench with no intention of using him is stupid. All it does is take away game time from that player. If you don't want to use them, play them in Cutters and carry a 3 man banch. We've got enough versaility within our team to cover for injury if needed.

 

[Jubileeboy]

You agree with it because Dugan managed to push his way over for a try. I highly doubt that, had we lost by 2, you'd be agreeing with any of it. As for the reason to sub him, its to add impact and spark to put us on the front foot. As I've said, there are massive benefits to a guy like Havili playing 25-30 mintes as impact, its part of playing to win (rather than playing to not-lose like we seem to).

Carrying a player on the bench with no intention of using him is stupid. All it does is take away game time from that player. If you don't want to use them, play them in Cutters and carry a 3 man banch. We've got enough versaility within our team to cover for injury if needed.

But we didn't lose. Too many what if's !

 

[BennyV]

But we didn't lose. Too many what if's !

Its 1 what if. Hardly 'too many'.

We lost against Melbourne in similar circumstances.

Based on the last few years, we wont win every gritty grinding game we played. Eg, last year we scored ugly wins against Broncos and Roosters, yet were shown up by Penrith and Titans in the same manner.

The idea is that we aim to improve despite losing, so that we dont have to rely on that.

 

[denis preston]

Honestly this is a coach'es appraisal topic so if we win doesn't mean he had the perfect game , just the same as there can be a great effort in losing to a top side. The one dimensional attack and playing Markato over Havalli stand out as areas to me that Mary can improve on. There will also be challenges in the centre /wing area and perhaps this can be fixed by getting into our halves heads.

Mary has done a very good job and has won the first and most important battle : he has got the players playing for him. The next challenge is to show us he can really coach.

 

[BennyV]

Honestly this is a coach'es appraisal topic so if we win doesn't mean he had the perfect game , just the same as there can be a great effort in losing to a top side. The one dimensional attack and playing Markato over Havalli stand out as areas to me that Mary can improve on. There will also be challenges in the centre /wing area and perhaps this can be fixed by getting into our halves heads.

Mary has done a very good job and has won the first and most important battle : he has got the players playing for him. The next challenge is to show us he can really coach.

That's a pretty good summation. This year really is crunch time for him - playing with heart is no longer good enough, particularly with the talent and depth in our squad. If he can't take the next steps in proving his coaching ability, he will lose the team.