Last year I would've been just as happy as anyone to see McGregor get the sack - he deserved it. Astonishingly however, the board saw fit to keep him. So at the start of the season I said if we get top 6 and play attacking good football I'd be happy. Not quite top 6, but definitely the brand has improved.
We were on track for a top 4 season until we lost our captain and 5/8 Widdop. Don't forget we are already playing this season with our second choice half (Hutch was first choice). So we lost 3 games on the trot against three sides expected to dominate the season; Roosters, sharks and Storm, all without our first choice halves - besides the storm game we could've won the other 2. After that we went through a dip that had real cause for concern, but it's now about how we finish the last 6 games, if Mary has truly learnt and improved as a coach we will see that with consistent results and good football, much like we saw at the start of season.
Lastly, we know he is no super coach, nor are most people a super coach from day 1. As I mentioned in another thread, Bellamy has one premiership in about 13 years of coaching (but is very good at getting his team to the business end). He didn't win his first until year 4 or5. Hasler didn't even make the finals his first year of coaching but did every year after that - however it also took him 5 years to win his first premiership. He has won 2 in total and he had a much better roster than Mary did when he took over.
Even look at Bennett who is a first class coach, but what did he achieve at Newcastle - 1 finals series appearance in 3 years, with much more resources available than Mary has.
The reality is it takes time for a coach to command respect and get results - especially from a club that had an average roster and really needed to rebuild.
