Sack Adam O'Brien

[aqua_duck]

I think that's a bit tough on Gardner. He has done what he can to upgrade us as a club each year IMO.

Hayden Knowles is touted as the best performance guy in league circles and we got him.

He acknowledged our on-field struggles last year said there would be review and changes. Andrew Johns and others came on board.

Then there's our performance centre, trying to get our reserves and youngsters up to scratch again.

We beat the Dragons next week (with a long turnaround, no excuses) then we'll see what spirits are like on this forum.

yep exactly, Gardner and Wests have provided resources that this club has never had even when Tinkler wasn't broke. Gardner and Wests have literally assembled an all star support staff including Hayden Knowles, Joey and Clint Zammitt, AOB has so far failed in his job to build a successful football team.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Aug 24 2019, I started a sack Obrien thread knowing this day would come.

Sacking Obrien now would be west tigersesque.

Obrien didnt drop the ball all first half against manly.

There are things I don't agree with but sacking OB now would be a mistake.

We’ve had the same coach for years flippy.

I think Browny screwed your roster and Ob got stuck with it.

 

[TooheysNew]

We’ve had the same coach for years flippy.

I think Browny screwed your roster and Ob got stuck with it.

Absolute rubbish

 

[ryan.a87]

I remember last year we had a really long turnaround between 2 games and got pumped…..the excuse used was the turnaround was too long and we were out of practise or some bs

might have been after a bye round or something

 

[Jono078]

I remember last year we had a really long turnaround between 2 games and got pumped…..the excuse used was the turnaround was too long and we were out of practise or some bs

might have been after a bye round or something

Incredible if true! The last two weeks he has used the excuse of a short turnaround (6 days).

 

[Loose Cannon]

I remember last year we had a really long turnaround between 2 games and got pumped…..the excuse used was the turnaround was too long and we were out of practise or some bs

might have been after a bye round or something

I find that line from AOB infuriating.

The “short turnaround” excuse is an insult. Not because it wouldn’t have an effect, but because a 6 day flip happens to half of the clubs every second week, only to balance out the following week or so.

We’ve gone 8,6,6,6, and next week will be 10 days between, followed by back to back 7’s.

The TV schedule means you have to prepare for 6 day turnarounds, and apart from the very rare 5 day shot, the other weeks need to be looked at as a bonus re prep.

Should we not expect some quality football in the coming weeks? Time will tell.

 

[Volcom6685]

The issue is we are using the fact we made the 8 for 2 years running as some sort of success criteria. It is not.

There’s a few fan bases who would be happy with that . And yes that is definitely success after not being able to do it consecutively since Joey Retired . You need to be ingrained in the 8 before stepping up into the top 4 .

 

[Volcom6685]

I would jump on Woolf. We'rent we linked with him before for the head job?

I know many people hate Flanagan but I personall like a redemption story. I would sell my soul for a premiership and success so...

Ciraldo seems to be next big thing. He was treated nicely here when he was a player right?

He was head coach at the knights for 2 games after browny was sacked in 2019

 

[Knight Tales]

Any decent coach that's confident in his own ability would seek to have the most experienced assistants available as his council.

That rookie coach AOB employs nuffies that wouldnt know what a Premiership looks like speaks volumes to his mindset.

Insecurity due to Flanno being a premiership winning coach perhaps? A bizarre call given he was an assistant under two multiple title winning coaches.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Personally I think we’re going off a little early if we’re calling for AOB to be sacked. Has he gotten everything right? No. But I think he’s done a reasonable job with what he’s had to work with over the 2 and a bit seasons he’s been head coach here. I also don’t believe getting a new coach in every 2-3 years is a good thing for long term development, just look at the Tigers. Every time a new coach comes in you’re hitting the reset button and the roster gets turned over again and again looking for the right formula in the short term rather than developing the roster long term.

A good example of a club backing a couch long term would be Brad Arthur at the Eels. His early results were pretty questionable and I don’t think he made the finals for the first 4-5 years of his head coaching career and even got the spoon a couple of times but Parra stuck with him and allowed him to make roster decisions that would benefit the club long term and they’ve become a consistent finals team and some would argue a serious premiership threat this year.

The thing that surprises me is that after the hat trick of wooden spoons and the subsequent rebuild everyone is then disappointed that we finished 7th the last two years. I realise the football hasn’t been pretty at times but we’ve figured out how to win in different ways rather than just playing flashy and we’ve also had arguably the worst injury toll in the NRL over the last few seasons. How many games have we actually had since AOB started where our first choice spine was available? And most of the time we’ve only had 2/4 of the spine available or worse. Now look at this year. It’s only round 5 and we’ve already got 4 or 5 regular starters on the sidelines.

The biggest problem does seem to be depth because the guys coming into the team are reserve graders rather than ready made first graders so this needs to improve. But I’m in the camp where I think we all just need to be a bit more patient and trust in the long term plan.

 

[Sir Galahad]

everyone is then disappointed that we finished 7th the last two years

I'll never be happy with winning half the time. Not in my DNA.

 

[Knight76]

I remember last year we had a really long turnaround between 2 games and got pumped…..the excuse used was the turnaround was too long and we were out of practise or some bs

might have been after a bye round or something

That one he gave the players some time off within the long turnaround and he thought that contributed to the flat performance.

 

[Jono078]

That one he gave the players some time off within the long turnaround and he thought that contributed to the flat performance.

He has a lot of preparation excuses which for a head coach is probably the worst thing you can say..

As I've said previously as well.. If he keeps pulling out these preparation excuses he starts ingraining it into the players that if their preparation isn't perfect then they have an excuse or out, during the game.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Absolute rubbish

Maguire has been coaching the Tigers since 2019 Coby, that’s not exactly a turnstile scenario.

And in my view, OB wasnt exactly presented with a marquee side, a big budget to splurge on with etc.

Takes a few years and some scheming to get a roster that looks remotely what he’d like to field.

Deserves the benefit of the doubt, especially with the start this year. Superb.

 

[Burwood]

Yeah, we were coming off a 6 day turnaround, but Manly were coming off a 5 day turnaround...

The club needs to decide what style of footy they want to play and then put the systems in place from junior teams to NRL level to make that happen. Head coach isn't performing as they should? No worries, get another coach in who will fit with the club and its systems and go from there. It's crazy to sack a coach every handful of years and then put another guy in charge who wants it to be chopped and changed to suit their own style. Never ending cycle of rebuilding.

 

[Sir Galahad]

He has a lot of preparation excuses which for a head coach is probably the worst thing you can say..

As I've said previously as well.. If he keeps pulling out these preparation excuses he starts ingraining it into the players that if their preparation isn't perfect then they have an excuse or out, during the game.

Rather than accountability for poor performances the players are offered an out.

Rather than being on edge about being selected to play there are no repercussions and selection is automatic.

Not exactly a receipe for success

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I'll never be happy with winning half the time. Not in my DNA.

I get what you’re saying but surely the last couple of years have shown that it’s a stepping stone for bigger and better things. Of course I’d like us to win every week and win the comp every year but we have to be realistic about where we’ve been as a club over the last 15-20 years and what getting back into the finals regularly would mean. That’s what I was getting at.

 

[Yosh]

My biggest issue with AOB is his lack of standards. Everything is acceptable and everything has an excuse. Cut that out, demand only the best from the players and go out to win and dominate every game, regardless of the end result.

 

[ryan.a87]

I think we are blowing this all out of proportion

We are missing about 5 of our 6 starting fowards

We have a pair of halves who have have individually only played less than 60 games and have only combined for 5.

we are only spending about 90% of our cap atm

ponga is obviously in a form slump because of contract distractions or a bung knee

in about 3 weeks we should get Klemmer and and barney back….then fitz not long after that….I think we will be a much much better side

 

[Jono078]

I think we are blowing this all out of proportion

We are missing about 5 of our 6 starting towards

We have a pair of halves who have have individually only played less than 60 games and have only combined for 5.

we are only spring about 90% of our cap atm

ponga is obviously in a form slump because of contract distractions or a bung knee

in about 3 weeks we should get Klemmer and and barney back….then fitz not long after that….I think we will be a much much better side

All of what you said is true. However where it falls apart is we were actually in the game against Manly and could have easily been in the lead for the last quarter.

One of the problems that night was not only some of our average or below-average players getting too much time, it was the players on big money not pulling their weight - I mostly think of the Saifiti's when saying that.

This is where AOB should have them firing and playing their best no matter what. Everything you said is true but we also don't want to create excuses when the game was well and truly in the balance for us.