Sack Griffin

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I’m surprised it’s taken this long…and one extra year is pretty lousy given his excellent service to date.

Bbq gate, injuries and other issues had a massive impact on last season and he can hardly be blamed for that.

He didn’t have a full deck to play with and he had years of the sulking Mary to wipe away psychologically and in the form of perennial underachieving overpaid flips.

His challenge is to keep on this season, keep the blokes out of the trenches and on the attack for the 8.

I reckon it probably takes at least one full season for a coach to figure out where everything is at. Just finding his feet now, no emergency signings required!

He’s been terrific and I can assure you, you’re the envy of many a club.

 

[Dragon David]

I’m surprised it’s taken this long…and one extra year is pretty lousy given his excellent service to date.

Bbq gate, injuries and other issues had a massive impact on last season and he can hardly be blamed for that.

He didn’t have a full deck to play with and he had years of the sulking Mary to wipe away psychologically and in the form of perennial underachieving overpaid flips.

His challenge is to keep on this season, keep the blokes out of the trenches and on the attack for the 8.

I reckon it probably takes at least one full season for a coach to figure out where everything is at. Just finding his feet now, no emergency signings required!

He’s been terrific and I can assure you, you’re the envy of many a club.

What I see in Griffin is that he is building a team to excel. The players generally are "no names" so to speak in terms of brilliance. Several have played in representative football. Several have played in finals/grand finals. Several had top quality coaches tutor them apart from Griffin himself.

All coaches have ability, some with an over abundance of this and continue with success because of their ability to get players to do the little things right most of the time and on top of this to make the team work as one. You need team involvement in this sport and unless you can get the team fully committed and consistent, then it will not bring about success and we all know that for a club to attain success they must work hard throughout the year.

This is what Griffin has to continue to strive for and reach.

Extending his contract, with most probably some specific clauses in the clubs favour, for a further year is warranted in my opinion to enable him to fine tune what he is building towards.

 

[Dragon David]

I have obtained this from Foxsports News. Anthony Griffin speaks to Anasta and Kent on today's NRL 360 about our players and "rebuild". Its about a third of the way down.

‘Blow it up’: Kenty wants $3M bunker scrapped after latest controversies

‘Blow it up’: Kenty wants $3M bunker scrapped after latest controversies

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Gareth67]

The damn bunker ! Soooo many have said that the bluudy thing is nothing more than a box of snakes - some poisonous , some not . Either way theres a good chance that your team will be bitten ( unless your one of the money teams ) .

I agree with Kent , for the sake of the game get rid of the bluudy thing .

 

[denis preston]

I like Andrew Johns take on it. DON"T watch anything in slow motion. Take 2 or 3 replays from all angles in real time and then quickly make a decision, this will eliminate howlers which is why the bunker was enforced in the first place.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

I like Andrew Johns take on it. DON"T watch anything in slow motion. Take 2 or 3 replays from all angles in real time and then quickly make a decision, this will eliminate howlers which is why the bunker was enforced in the first place.

This is right! If the bunker has to watch it a dozen times in slow motion to make a decision, then it is NOT a howler, so go with the ref's decision and move on.

 

[thebigredv]

I have obtained this from Foxsports News. Anthony Griffin speaks to Anasta and Kent on today's NRL 360 about our players and "rebuild". Its about a third of the way down.

‘Blow it up’: Kenty wants $3M bunker scrapped after latest controversies

‘Blow it up’: Kenty wants $3M bunker scrapped after latest controversies

www.foxsports.com.au

I watched the interview. As always Griffin comes across as a nice guy with a patient attitude towards coaching and progressing the team. Probably too patient.

He gave some very unconvincing responses regarding the team in regards to recruitment and development . Kent asked him about what the future dragons looked like once all has progressed as planned and it completely stumped him.

Griffin feels we are not far off the top 4 teams. That reminds me of the last coach. Complete delusion.

Still feel we are on a road to nowhere and results reflect it. If we make the 8 I'll eat my words up.

 

[Lovemedragons]

I like Andrew Johns take on it. DON"T watch anything in slow motion. Take 2 or 3 replays from all angles in real time and then quickly make a decision, this will eliminate howlers which is why the bunker was enforced in the first place.

im sure his bosses in the media will be telling him to shut up, controversy = ratings

 

[True_Believer]

I watched the interview. As always Griffin comes across as a nice guy with a patient attitude towards coaching and progressing the team. Probably too patient.

He gave some very unconvincing responses regarding the team in regards to recruitment and development . Kent asked him about what the future dragons looked like once all has progressed as planned and it completely stumped him.

Griffin feels we are not far off the top 4 teams. That reminds me of the last coach. Complete delusion.

Still feel we are on a road to nowhere and results reflect it. If we make the 8 I'll eat my words up.

Unsure how you got that from those responses.

He said they had been focussed on tying up the young players to-date and were looking to go back to the market in the next month or so.

He also said that the focus of this year is get to a point of consistency (and he did say we are far too inconsistent at the moment) but he talked about his goal of building towards a more positive 2023 by getting the consistency and positive game play as the year progresses - build strongly towards the back end of the year.

I didn't hear him say anything about being far off the top 4 teams.

 

[thebigredv]

Unsure how you got that from those responses.

He said they had been focussed on tying up the young players to-date and were looking to go back to the market in the next month or so.

He also said that the focus of this year is get to a point of consistency (and he did say we are far too inconsistent at the moment) but he talked about his goal of building towards a more positive 2023 by getting the consistency and positive game play as the year progresses - build strongly towards the back end of the year.

I didn't hear him say anything about being far off the top 4 teams.

You might need to listen again. He said he doesn't believe we are far off the top 4 teams. I didn't see the link provided here but watched the whole thing on fox yesterday.

Of course he is going to say that but it doesn't match at all what we are seeing. Not a single person including our players would believe that I am sorry. He keeps referring to the panthers loss but no mention of the Storm or Parra game conveniently.

How long should it take a team to become consistent? This coach shuffles the team like a deck of cards and that isn't helping. He can't wait to rush McCullough back which is just another nail in our coffin and a detriment to our future.

 

[True_Believer]

You might need to listen again. He said he doesn't believe we are far off the top 4 teams. I didn't see the link provided here but watched the whole thing on fox yesterday.

Of course he is going to say that but it doesn't match at all what we are seeing. Not a single person including our players would believe that I am sorry. He keeps referring to the panthers loss but no mention of the Storm or Parra game conveniently.

How long should it take a team to become consistent? This coach shuffles the team like a deck of cards and that isn't helping. He can't wait to rush McCullough back which is just another nail in our coffin and a detriment to our future.

OK, well if he did say that I missed it - wasn't mentioned in the link. And I didn't hear him mention anything about any of the games.

But the rest of what I stated was clear as day - but you seemed to be able to take something completely different out of it.

Let me ask you - how long do you think it should take for a team to be consistent? Is there a set time frame for a team to become consistent? And if the team goes beyond that time frame then the coach has failed?

We only have 1 hooker in the team at the moment. Mbye and Bud are not full time hookers - fill ins from the bench at best. AM is. Is he the best in the comp? Far from it, but he's the only one we've got. I think everyone admits we're lacking in the hooker department, but unfortunately that's what we have to work with at the moment. That's not a nail in the coffin or a detriment to our future. It's a gap in our team at the moment - that's all it is.

 

[thebigredv]

OK, well if he did say that I missed it - wasn't mentioned in the link. And I didn't hear him mention anything about any of the games.

But the rest of what I stated was clear as day - but you seemed to be able to take something completely different out of it.

Let me ask you - how long do you think it should take for a team to be consistent? Is there a set time frame for a team to become consistent? And if the team goes beyond that time frame then the coach has failed?

We only have 1 hooker in the team at the moment. Mbye and Bud are not full time hookers - fill ins from the bench at best. AM is. Is he the best in the comp? Far from it, but he's the only one we've got. I think everyone admits we're lacking in the hooker department, but unfortunately that's what we have to work with at the moment. That's not a nail in the coffin or a detriment to our future. It's a gap in our team at the moment - that's all it is.

The same arguments were out there this time last year. We've improved but we honestly can't be sure what our spine looks like and that's deplorable. It's utterly sad and unacceptable.

Could have signed a hooker by now, if not for this season than for '23. That's on the coach too. AM is Hook's man. He'll be around for as long as possible. You think the Storm or Panthers would persist this long with him as our hooker?

We aren't consistent and it's been two off seasons and a season and a half of footy. I'd expect a lot more cohesion with the squad than we are seeing. Forwards, halves, fullback....nothing consistent about the selections made there or their performances. Don't mind the coach is trying new things but isn't it a worry we haven't landed on something that works by now?

 

[redVinme]

The same arguments were out there this time last year. We've improved but we honestly can't be sure what our spine looks like and that's deplorable. It's utterly sad and unacceptable.

Could have signed a hooker by now, if not for this season than for '23. That's on the coach too. AM is Hook's man. He'll be around for as long as possible. You think the Storm or Panthers would persist this long with him as our hooker?

We aren't consistent and it's been two off seasons and a season and a half of footy. I'd expect a lot more cohesion with the squad than we are seeing. Forwards, halves, fullback....nothing consistent about the selections made there or their performances. Don't mind the coach is trying new things but isn't it a worry we haven't landed on something that works by now?

Just gonna hijack this and say I agree 100%

Imagine telling your boss/board/owners Well guys by the end of the year I'm hoping we can be proficient. Ya know consistent.

Well right now we are consistently shit.



Now if the question was how long till we should demand that they look like a first grade side and not a park football team. Well the answer should be from round 1.. We still don't and that's a massive red flag. Can we honestly say watching us that we are a well drilled side? That we are well coached?



Too flat

Too passive in defence. Avg like +40 missed tackles a game..

Too error prone and poor discipline.

Can't buy a try to boot.

These are things our coaching dept are responsible for but we get tossed up trash every week and are supposed to be OK with it.

The kids showed we can play eyes and and the most frustrating thing of the last few years is that time and time. Again we have shown we have points when we play off the cuff. But next game we just come out doing the same plodder shit.

What is the timeline was a great question though. What's the time line before we are top 4 and winning a comp? Do they even care if we do?



Cause 12 years in the wilderness is a long time. No plan, no communication to the supporters and no signs of changing.



The hooker thing I agree with also



That's on hook. Its not like it's his first year. He also has f all runs on the board and is performing at Mary levels statistically and in the dumb dumb dept. we signed a busted hooker on a long term deal who is already becoming a road block. We never learn with recruitment and we sure as hell never learn when it comes to hanging on to a dud coach.

The best coaches evolve and survive everyone else is replaced by a newer model with fresh ideas

 

[Dragon David]

Just gonna hijack this and say I agree 100%

Imagine telling your boss/board/owners Well guys by the end of the year I'm hoping we can be proficient. Ya know consistent.

Well right now we are consistently shit.



Now if the question was how long till we should demand that they look like a first grade side and not a park football team. Well the answer should be from round 1.. We still don't and that's a massive red flag. Can we honestly say watching us that we are a well drilled side? That we are well coached?



Too flat

Too passive in defence. Avg like +40 missed tackles a game..

Too error prone and poor discipline.

Can't buy a try to boot.

These are things our coaching dept are responsible for but we get tossed up trash every week and are supposed to be OK with it.

The kids showed we can play eyes and and the most frustrating thing of the last few years is that time and time. Again we have shown we have points when we play off the cuff. But next game we just come out doing the same plodder shit.

What is the timeline was a great question though. What's the time line before we are top 4 and winning a comp? Do they even care if we do?



Cause 12 years in the wilderness is a long time. No plan, no communication to the supporters and no signs of changing.



The hooker thing I agree with also



That's on hook. Its not like it's his first year. He also has f all runs on the board and is performing at Mary levels statistically and in the dumb dumb dept. we signed a busted hooker on a long term deal who is already becoming a road block. We never learn with recruitment and we sure as hell never learn when it comes to hanging on to a dud coach.

The best coaches evolve and survive everyone else is replaced by a newer model with fresh ideas

A lot of us have said much the same as you RedVinme over a very long time as you know and it is like a needle stuck in the same groove of a long playing album. From 2012 to now it is the same thing over and over but with changes to staff personnel and players. It remains the same old stories said in different ways but the messages are the same. How we turn things around when we keep getting stuck is one big question that at this stage of our club's existence doesn't seem to be an easy fix.

But Hook is trying his hardest to get things right, just like Mary tried and Steve Price tried. We keep hoping that we will see success of the scale that Penrith has now reached. It is still a long way to go I'm afraid to say.

 

[True_Believer]

The same arguments were out there this time last year. We've improved but we honestly can't be sure what our spine looks like and that's deplorable. It's utterly sad and unacceptable.

Could have signed a hooker by now, if not for this season than for '23. That's on the coach too. AM is Hook's man. He'll be around for as long as possible. You think the Storm or Panthers would persist this long with him as our hooker?

We aren't consistent and it's been two off seasons and a season and a half of footy. I'd expect a lot more cohesion with the squad than we are seeing. Forwards, halves, fullback....nothing consistent about the selections made there or their performances. Don't mind the coach is trying new things but isn't it a worry we haven't landed on something that works by now?

So 10 games into his first year of coaching us the same arguments were out there? I disagree. We had a lot of players that weren't first grade and we struggled to recruit. This is the first year we've seen any quality recruitment for the team. And we're still building. It's going to take time.

Which Hooker could we have signed? I mean seriously - who? And for all we know we may have tried to sign another hooker but haven't been able to.

And you can't compare us to the Storm or Panthers. Storm have been consistent for years now and just patch a team when players leave - they find it easy to attract and keep players. Panthers were building for years and now are in a good position. We've been wandering aimlessly for years with Mary and now, after a season and a bit, you expect Hook to have pulled us out of the mire with a first class team of players ready to challenge the title? I mean seriously, that's delusional.

And that last statement, you quite obviously did not want to listen to what Hook was saying. He essentially, in not so many words, sees the young players as the future, but has been trying to ease them into the team and the game.

 

[True_Believer]

But Hook is trying his hardest to get things right, just like Mary tried and Steve Price tried. We keep hoping that we will see success of the scale that Penrith has now reached. It is still a long way to go I'm afraid to say.

This is exactly it - it's not going to turn around in a year and a bit. It's going to take time. It astounds me that people believe that we would be world beaters by this point in time. Especially when we've got so many young players coming through.

I mean hell, the club can't win. You bring in new players and you're "blocking pathways". If the fans don't think they are good players the club isn't "bringing the youth through". Then when you do and they don't perform, you are either "ruining their confidence" or "not bringing them through properly".

 

[thebigredv]

A lot of us have said much the same as you RedVinme over a very long time as you know and it is like a needle stuck in the same groove of a long playing album. From 2012 to now it is the same thing over and over but with changes to staff personnel and players. It remains the same old stories said in different ways but the messages are the same. How we turn things around when we keep getting stuck is one big question that at this stage of our club's existence doesn't seem to be an easy fix.

But Hook is trying his hardest to get things right, just like Mary tried and Steve Price tried. We keep hoping that we will see success of the scale that Penrith has now reached. It is still a long way to go I'm afraid to say.

The truth is - and it's just the elephant in the room - Hook isn't the answer. Nor are a lot of other available coaches the answer. The idea of a premiership won't even be on the table during his tenure and I don't even think that is the goal hence why he couldn't answer Kent's question on 360. Like many other teams we are just the extras in a movie that give context to the main characters, the actual contenders. The chasm is wide. Payten and Fitzgibbon have gone some ways to close it. Griffin doesn't even look like achieving this if the last 18 months are anything to go by but I get he took a tough gig.

I can fault Griffin. We all can but that isn't my real frustration. I don't actually feel agitation towards Hook aside from some of his woeful selections. I feel a real sense of anger and frustration, now to the point of apathy, that our club is so content with us being a team that makes up the numbers.

 

[thebigredv]

Just gonna hijack this and say I agree 100%

Imagine telling your boss/board/owners Well guys by the end of the year I'm hoping we can be proficient. Ya know consistent.

Well right now we are consistently shit.



Now if the question was how long till we should demand that they look like a first grade side and not a park football team. Well the answer should be from round 1.. We still don't and that's a massive red flag. Can we honestly say watching us that we are a well drilled side? That we are well coached?



Too flat

Too passive in defence. Avg like +40 missed tackles a game..

Too error prone and poor discipline.

Can't buy a try to boot.

These are things our coaching dept are responsible for but we get tossed up trash every week and are supposed to be OK with it.

The kids showed we can play eyes and and the most frustrating thing of the last few years is that time and time. Again we have shown we have points when we play off the cuff. But next game we just come out doing the same plodder shit.

What is the timeline was a great question though. What's the time line before we are top 4 and winning a comp? Do they even care if we do?



Cause 12 years in the wilderness is a long time. No plan, no communication to the supporters and no signs of changing.



The hooker thing I agree with also



That's on hook. Its not like it's his first year. He also has f all runs on the board and is performing at Mary levels statistically and in the dumb dumb dept. we signed a busted hooker on a long term deal who is already becoming a road block. We never learn with recruitment and we sure as hell never learn when it comes to hanging on to a dud coach.

The best coaches evolve and survive everyone else is replaced by a newer model with fresh ideas

Exactly. As ridiculous as the Bulldogs situation is, and it's pretty embarrassing, I still envy the fact that there's a sense that they aren't going to leave any stone unturned to get something better.

We are a club with a richer history and are happy to accept sub-medicrity if it means the fans are still going to keep handing over their hard earned.

We are extremely consistent, I agree.

 

[thebigredv]

So 10 games into his first year of coaching us the same arguments were out there? I disagree. We had a lot of players that weren't first grade and we struggled to recruit. This is the first year we've seen any quality recruitment for the team. And we're still building. It's going to take time.

Which Hooker could we have signed? I mean seriously - who? And for all we know we may have tried to sign another hooker but haven't been able to.

And you can't compare us to the Storm or Panthers. Storm have been consistent for years now and just patch a team when players leave - they find it easy to attract and keep players. Panthers were building for years and now are in a good position. We've been wandering aimlessly for years with Mary and now, after a season and a bit, you expect Hook to have pulled us out of the mire with a first class team of players ready to challenge the title? I mean seriously, that's delusional.

And that last statement, you quite obviously did not want to listen to what Hook was saying. He essentially, in not so many words, sees the young players as the future, but has been trying to ease them into the team and the game.

Let me put it back on you. How long should we have to give the coach to put out there a competitive and reliable performing team?

As far as I am concerned, if by Sunday afternoon Hook's boys haven't picked apart the last-placed, coach-less Dogs and given them the flogging they deserve then it's the best example of a fail.

We are stable, have the youth and experience the coach wanted, can't blame injuries, the weather or anything else especially in contrast to the opposition. If we are half decent we will deliver the dogs a blow that is befitting for a team like us apparently on the rise. We couldn't manage beating them last time ...but let's forget that...almost a year on it will be different right? When will it be ok for me to expect the mighty dragons can trounce the spooners? When do I get your permission?

 

[thebigredv]

Which Hooker could we have signed? I mean seriously - who? And for all we know we may have tried to sign another hooker but haven't been able to.

Mahoney and B Smith were both on the market. Two dynamic, game changing players. Let's not forget Wishart was let go. Hodgson from Raiders would have been a huge step up from AM.