Sheridan Stand
Juniors
- Messages
- 427
Exactly right.The Nines is fine. It's a good introduction for the young guys with not a lot at stake.
But the key thing is we need a coach who can identify which guys are ready and which are not. Cleary and Bird for instance were ready from the get go and have benefitted immensely from FG experience.
Yet a guy like Cherry Evans spent a whole season in Qld cup before leading Manly to the premiership his rookie year. Every player's development is different and it's up to the coaching staff to manage it correctly.
A great coach and staff can identify and blood talent in a careful and staged approach that keeps a kid developing and not leave them wanting to leave. Bennet brought the whole bronco junior pathway system to saints and since he left, well surprise surprise but we inevitably screwed it all up - because a system (just like a great machine) is only as good as its operator.
That aspect of smithy and browny we miss as they are both strong in that aspect of coaching.
MCGregor is very strong, to be fair, at deflection. He is the best deflector in the business.