Your argument about coaches strategies/tactics is what wins games does not really make sense if you look at Des Hasler as a perfect example. Surely he has the tactics to beat any side but hasn't this year and you cannot give me this cattle crap because he has plenty of rep players at his disposal and many more than most teams.
It comes down to players just as much as the coach and the games Saints lost to Souths, Shark, Raiders and Knights came down to players not Mary. They had the right game plan but wrong execution. Mental attitude is what killed them and that is why Graham will be a good signing. He would not let them take their eye off the ball that is for sure.
Then is if you blame team selection you can also look at Des again. Chase Stanley at 6 or 7 ahead of Mbye? That is something Price would do. Wait a sec, he did. Based on Des's selections, I am sure he would also be on the McCrone band wagon if he was there.
I am picking on Des here because there are a lot of people on this forum that would prefer him to Mary.
I get the "
players are as much to blame" slant on things but it doesn't really hold water.
Quite simply our stats are
way better than last year. In fact we have a positive for and against of nearly 100 and
we are still not in the eight!
By stark comparison, Parramatta are 4th and have a positive for and against of only 15.
In fact 6 out of the 8 clubs sitting in the top eight have
worse for and against stats than us.
Add to that the fact that we are the 3rd highest point scorers (in stark contrast to 2016) and have the 6th best defensive stats.
And yet...we are outside the eight fighting for survival against a red hot Brisbane outfit, a desperate Penrith that has everything to play for and a Canterbury outfit that would love nothing more than to put our finals aspirations to sleep.
How do you explain that? It's not even subjective any more.
Can you really stand there and blame the players for our predicament?
Of course they have a huge responsibility but they do not select themselves, they do not devise game plans, they do not decide how to use the bench on game day and they can only look to the coach for know how, leadership, inspiration and direction.
I don't know what you've been seeing when you watch us play, but the effort is nearly always there.
We fade in and out of games and many times look confused and disorganized.
We give up big leads and lose close games.
The weight of responsibility lies fairly and squarely on the coach's shoulders.
As for Des, you can say what you want about him but he sure knows how to beat us.
Other posters have already pointed out that Des has a coaching pedigree whereas our bloke is still in nappies. No comparison.
