Even this early in the season it looks as though the same old miriad of excuses is about to be trundled out about how one sided and predictable League is, how it's so f**king unfair after enduring a shitty off-season why a few teams sit on the hill like generals while the troops slog it out in the trenches. This is where you'd expect this old fart to soapbox the superiority of coaching over players. Watching Seagles/Tigers you should realise that is only partly true.
Toovey is still only an enigma, not yet proven, but Manly never looked like losing despite their lackadaisical start to the game, albeit in difficult conditions. Maguire definitely exudes the 'great coach' vibes but Souths are still vulnerable and the Dogs should be dishevelled but are extremely comfortable. We don't need the professor, may he rest in piece, to understand 'why is it so?'
Two of the top teams have had it since their inauguration, Manly and Melbourne, and another has had it thrust upon them, Canterbury Bankstown, by a coach who is brainwashed by it. It's a syndrome known colloquially as 'Us Against Them' and is a huge advantage to these three teams. Broncos, for instance never needed it before now and the Sharks may have propagated it with the help of ASADA.
Roosters tried to embody it with the ritualistic penalty count against them but it is only a Claytons' version. The real reason there are only three teams that people imagine can only be beaten if they have an off day is their will to win. They will invariably patiently wait for the opposition to shoot itself in the foot, if not they will change up another gear and when they rarely get beaten dismiss it as a misdemeanor.
The remedy for uncertainty and depair of the rest is forget about poaching, throwing coaches and players out with the bathwater, just look at the clear cut recipe before them and emulate it. Hasler has proved it is transferable.
