Souths WILL improve in 2007. After 3 wins and 21 losses they have no choice but to. Shaun McRae, as nice a bloke as he was, lacked the discipline needed IMO to bring Souths off the bottom. We need a bloke with balls that will make the tough decisions, and I believe Jason Taylor can do that - he has the respect of the players and that's a big start.
If any hard-core fans have been down to Erskinville Oval in the past to watch Souths train will know of the atrocious conditions the team has had to deal with. No joke, your local Under 16's club had better facilities. Gym benchs with metal bits sticking out, having training scour the field for needles/glass before every skills session, etc etc. It has been improved dramatically and is now up to NRL standard. It's only for one year when our $19.5m upgrade to Redfern Oval is complete.
Front office, what can you say, has been a disgrace. Peter Holmes a Court has made more inroads the past 6 months that Souths have in the last 60 years. As one board member put it earlier this year, he opens doors Souths could never even knock on before. Sponsorship, merchandising, membership, coaching staff, training staff all improved.
The platform is there for J.T. and the players to perform - and I believe we have a squad of about 20 that can do just that. In my opinion our best team will resemble something like:
1. David Peachey
2. Nathan Merrit
3. Nigel Vagana
4. Yileen Gordon
5. Shannon Hegarty
6. Beau Champion
7. Joe Williams
8. Peter Cusack
9. Stuart Webb
10. Roy Asotasi
11. David Kidwell
12. David Fa'alogo
13. John Sutton
Interchange:
14. Scott Geddes
15. Dean Widders
16. Joe Galuvao
17. Luke Stuart
Still lacking in the halves, but that forward pack and bench will match it with almost every pack in the NRL, giving the halves the chance to show their wares.
As far as depth goes, we're still lacking compared to other clubs but that top 17 does exclude some handy players like Manase Manuokafoa, Reece Simmonds, Ben Rogers, Jeremy Smith, Germaine Paulson, etc.
Oh and to the guy who said we're not putting our faith in our juniors clearly has no idea what he/she is talking about. Beau Champion, Manase Manuokafoa, John Sutton, Yileen Gordon, Nathan Merritt, Shannan McPherson, all juniors who have made the step up to the NRL. Every player in our S.G. Ball Grand Final side who we wanted to keep has been kept. Watch out for Sam Huihaha and Eddy Pettybourne in particular. We have a nice mike of experience and youth in our 2007 side.
Oh and ask any Bulldogs supporter, Asotasi deadset carried the Dogs in the back half of 2005 when SBW, Mason, etc were all injured.
Souths have no excuses, they must improve, and I believe they will. Not enough to make the 8, but enough to set a platform for a finals push in 2008.
