Sack Adam O'Brien

[Johns Magic]

So, Kristian Woolf knocked back the Warriors head coaching gig.....

Talking to the Dogs isn’t he ?

 

[Old dog]

So he might be a Woolf in dogs clothingsorry bout dat

 

[Jono078]

We're finally back to 100% and have our full squad available.

AOB has less and less excuses moving forward. Keen to see how we finish the season.

 

[ryan.a87]

We're finally back to 100% and have our full squad available.

AOB has less and less excuses moving forward. Keen to see how we finish the season.

This weeks excuse will be missing origin players (even though Rabbitohs have more out)

 

[Knight Tales]

As easy as it would be to sack O’Brien the truth is the club’s level of expectation and success is not high enough to actually justify it. Emotion says we want him out as much as results. We have in many ways overachieved under him albeit by a bit of luck. So the results this year were more or less inevitable. The roster is very unbalanced. We have class players but they are so heavily marked due to the lack of threat across the park.
We are very lucky we have the developed a young winger who is looking like he will be elite if he keeps improving. Hopefully that is all O’Brien. My point being the players who let the joint down have hit their ceiling. His coaching them could be about conservation. He is fully aware he cannot improve them. They simply are not good enough for that. He knows his best bet is to play structured footy.
Now I understand the lack of player progression is very much his doing as well. A good coach will not consider one more minute on a player he knows has limitations which are glaring. That means a more gifted player stagnates. O’Brien has been for over a decade prior, surrounded by world class athletes who Only need so much coaching. Minimal. Then he comes to us believing it would work on anyone. I think his lessons this year have brought home the reality his roster are mostly average and his fullback has kept him in a job.
If we are here in the same spot next season he will be gone for sure. He is not going Between now and next season kickoff unless Gardner feels the bottom line is being affected big time by the results. Even then the accountant will be brought in to weigh the losses of the gate and merchandise versus his contract worth. That is just business. He won’t care a jot about public opinion until they vote by not turning up to games or his clubs in huge numbers.

 

[Loose Cannon]

As easy as it would be to sack O’Brien the truth is the club’s level of expectation and success is not high enough to actually justify it. Emotion says we want him out as much as results. We have in many ways overachieved under him albeit by a bit of luck. So the results this year were more or less inevitable. The roster is very unbalanced. We have class players but they are so heavily marked due to the lack of threat across the park.
We are very lucky we have the developed a young winger who is looking like he will be elite if he keeps improving. Hopefully that is all O’Brien. My point being the players who let the joint down have hit their ceiling. His coaching them could be about conservation. He is fully aware he cannot improve them. They simply are not good enough for that. He knows his best bet is to play structured footy.
Now I understand the lack of player progression is very much his doing as well. A good coach will not consider one more minute on a player he knows has limitations which are glaring. That means a more gifted player stagnates. O’Brien has been for over a decade prior, surrounded by world class athletes who Only need so much coaching. Minimal. Then he comes to us believing it would work on anyone. I think his lessons this year have brought home the reality his roster are mostly average and his fullback has kept him in a job.
If we are here in the same spot next season he will be gone for sure. He is not going Between now and next season kickoff unless Gardner feels the bottom line is being affected big time by the results. Even then the accountant will be brought in to weigh the losses of the gate and merchandise versus his contract worth. That is just business. He won’t care a jot about public opinion until they vote by not turning up to games or his clubs in huge numbers.

Well, he probably has some influence on which of these options have received new deals and the customary player options. That can’t be defended.

 

[Knight Tales]

Well, he probably has some influence on which of these options have received new deals and the customary player options. That can’t be defended.

what’s your thoughts on who ultimately makes contract calls? Is it O’Brien or Gardner? Cos after the Ponga fiasco it is no more clearer. The talk of deals being pulled then reinstated seems like a CEO move. O’Brien seems caught off guard by it. Like he had no idea until it was reported. That’s how I saw it anyway.

 

[Loose Cannon]

what’s your thoughts on who ultimately makes contract calls? Is it O’Brien or Gardner? Cos after the Ponga fiasco it is no more clearer. The talk of deals being pulled then reinstated seems like a CEO move. O’Brien seems caught off guard by it. Like he had no idea until it was reported. That’s how I saw it anyway.

I can’t disagree with any of that. It was a debacle, and if the coach doesn’t get the squad he wants, there is no reason for him to be there. I’m also suspicious of the heirachy making calls they aren’t qualified to judge, but that is what can happen under the club’s ownership structure.

 

[Still Nutty]

I think there is plenty of blame that you could hand around and many mentioned above have to take part of the blame.....BUT I think the player culture we have in this place just isn't up to standard and by that I mean holding each other accountable and not just on the field but in every aspect of their being.

I vividly remember watching a piece of footage at training a few years back when it was the hard pre-season slog and they'd just done a drill that had smashed them....2 or 3 of the young guys went to lay out on the ground, gassed and Aiden Guerra absolutely ripped into them. He told them to get up off the ground using words to the effect of ...'If you do it at training then you'll do it in the game...You NEVER lay down, you NEVER show the opposition you are hurting or tired, get up of the ground and $uck it up!'

It was pretty powerful to witness and part of what Brown did right in trying to bring that culture in with the senior players he attracted to the club. But now we do not have any sort of leadership culture that I can see, which is peer driven and genuinely holding each other to account...and that is a key ingredient of what sets the elite clubs apart from the also rans.

When AOB talks about the ingrained issues in this club, I think this is a big part of what he sees and for me this is definitely one of the biggest cultural challenges we face. I've said before that we no longer have any true leadership in this playing group...the last of it left with Pearce.

I think he had that culture from the Roosters and did drive some of that behaviour while he was here. And while not the only reason, it is also potentially part of why he did have a falling out with many of the players at the back end of his time here, especially those that didn't want to get out of their comfort zone and buy in to this cultural shift.

Part of people's talking about the Joey era culture, outside of his ability, was how he was prepared to call anybody out and didn't let anybody get away with anything other than perfection and their best for themselves and each other at this club - it was a mindset and culture that everybody was driven to buy into and we had it back then.


Until we can get this established in 100% of the playing group, we are never going to be a competitive club because they are all too ready to give each other a pat on the back for mediocrity and let that be the pass mark for doing your best. The only bloke I think comes close to this in his mindset is Klemmer - he has the attitude and personality to show it in himself but he does not have the capacity lead it and drive it in the rest of the playing group.

This will be a slow ship to turn around but it is one of the most important things we collectively need to build, with no short cuts, to really start being a long term competitive side.

 

[Jono078]

Well said.

This is why I think we need to revisit the Brian Smith era. Need someone here to shake things up who is capable of turning over a roster and then getting the best out of who they recruit, even if they're not superstars.

Easier said than done. Fingers crossed AOB and Dobson turn out to be a magic duo, we get some injury luck and recruit a couple more nice pieces and we'll see what happens.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

what’s your thoughts on who ultimately makes contract calls? Is it O’Brien or Gardner? Cos after the Ponga fiasco it is no more clearer. The talk of deals being pulled then reinstated seems like a CEO move. O’Brien seems caught off guard by it. Like he had no idea until it was reported. That’s how I saw it anyway.

O'Brien often refers to "they" regarding contracts.
He mentioned "they" had made a good decision bringing in an experienced half at the back end with Milf.
Plenty of other indicators.
He might have some say but I reckon it's Gardner and the recruitment team that do most of it with Gardner having the last say.

 

[Jono078]

O'Brien often refers to "they" regarding contracts.
He mentioned "they" had made a good decision bringing in an experienced half at the back end with Milf.
Plenty of other indicators.
He might have some say but I reckon it's Gardner and the recruitment team that do most of it with Gardner having the last say.

Yeah I think I’ve noticed that but I’d still think he has a target list and then he refers to they as whoever gets the deal done. If he doesn’t have a big say in who he wants then that’s a big problem.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Guess Who:

“Come on, guys!

What can I do about it?”

 

[Jono078]

I'm playing catch-up and just watched his PGC.

AOB just suggested that the players may have thought it'd be an easy night based on Souths missing some players.

Fair dinkum how does that happen when you're having a shit season?

 

[aqua_duck]

Does AOB not realise the issues around mentality and preparation are literally things he's paid to get right. I really have to ask what does AOB actually do or what does he think his position entails, apparently Gardner and Zammit look after recruitment and roster management, Peters and Joey the attack, and AOB has kind of absolved himself of blame for attitude issues, weak mentality and preparation.

 

[slotmachine]

That's an easy one, AOB is responsible for anything that goes right, and someone else is responsible for anything that goes wrong.

 

[Jono078]

Does AOB not realise the issues around mentality and preparation are literally things he's paid to get right. I really have to ask what does AOB actually do or what does he think his position entails, apparently Gardner and Zammit look after recruitment and roster management, Peters and Joey the attack, and AOB has kind of absolved himself of blame for attitude issues, weak mentality and preparation.

He did say it’s something he has to figure out but kind of blamed the toxic culture again. Basically he’s aware of it and is saying it’s not an easy fix because it’s ingrained in us.

 

[Reflector]

That's an easy one, AOB is responsible for anything that goes right, and someone else is responsible for anything that goes wrong.

A career in politics awaits him

 

[Sir Galahad]

He did say it’s something he has to figure out but kind of blamed the toxic culture again. Basically he’s aware of it and is saying it’s not an easy fix because it’s ingrained in us.

we are a completely different club, new owners, new staff and new roster built over the last 6 years. AOB is feeling the pressure.

 

[Jono078]

we are a completely different club, new owners, new staff and new roster built over the last 6 years. AOB is feeling the pressure.

Yeah I thought if he can't turn it around, are the players not responding to him?

First it was the off-season admission and then he's mentioned a few times about our attitude of taking opponents lightly.

These are alarm bells to me that he's not getting the reaction or buy-in from players that he should be. What could he possibly do to change this? Time will tell but I think he'll be out the door before he can turn it around.