Ivan walked into a time bomb when he joined the Panthers,it looked all happy days till 2 weeks prior to season kick off with the video incident then all the Gus situation and then as round 1 kicked off he is dumbfounded by what our high calibre players like Rcg Mansour Dwz Blake Whare Katoa etc were dishing out,another factor was kikau not being available at the start which didnt help Nathan's cause who trained limited offseason with being left edge wirh kiks.so Ivan makes a few decisions based on value for money and form allowing new blood from lower grades even some not in the top 30 which pays dividends,now lets not forget the video scandal and the need to say no more dickheads cost us May and Hetherington the latter having 1 drunk to many at times.Merrin and Chn depature when they were still on contract didnt help either,Gus was quoted as saying they both had better opportunities else where,I say bullshit to that because the Club comes first,they were under contract.If anything Ivan to me seems like someone who enjoys giving kids who work hard a go and to me thats a good quality in a coach,some coaches has a hard time doing this.Ivan said its not my team in a recent interview with that big headed Mr Kent,what he probably means is not only the players but coaching staff aswell.Wallace got the attack coaching gig 30 seconds into retirement was he ready I don't know.This attack in the 20 bullshit starts at dummy half when they spend too much time trying to get front rowers into a hole,maybe just shuffle it two wide and bit more room on the edges where in a game of league 80% of tries are created.I will hold judgement on both Cleary's till I see if we are fixing things 1 step at a time.
I find it very exciting when kids get a debut so Cheers guys we have 3 this round,all the best to them and may they bring us fans bundles of joy in years to come.Go The Panthers
You highlight some very important things. I think Gus was totally gobsmacked and horrifed about the sex tapes. That a group of kids he loved like his own kids decided that sharing videos of theselves having one on one sex or group sex was a good idea. That I believe broke Gus's heart.
Gus leaving, well he was always going to go sometime. It just happened to be when the boys were playing CRAP.
Someone else has mentioned that both Griffin and Cleary are average coaches. Both have strengths and weaknesses. The only outstanding coach is Bellamy. Bennett (in my opinion) is a bit of a myth too.
Blake, DWZ both seem to be floundering in 2019. I could add Reg to that too. All were on contracts with factored in POTENTIAL.
Dallin's comment about the dogs players compared to Riff showed me why he was moved on. The cap I'm told was an issue for 2020, it was tighter than a growing teenage girl's trainer bra.
Blake at times seems to coast through on pure talent. Whether another coach can light the fire in his belly who knows.
Reg I have no idea about where he is or about.
Do we make the finals. I have no idea. Do we win tonight? I believe we are capable of winning, will we ? that is the great unknown.
