We get it all wrong all the time.
In stating that we are up against it. We haven't had much success and because of that we become a joke. Then it becomes harder to recruit and retain talent.
How do you rate (or anyone) our squad this year. I reckon we have a quality team. Sure we have a couple of flaws but I think we should have won more games. We had the Galvin drama but I think he was massively overrated so I don't blame that situation for our shit record. If anything I think Latu coming in is a massive step up.
My point is that this club needs to start winning games. We just aren't getting the job done.
I think we're a long way off 05. When it comes to the Tigers I'm a natural pessimist though.
Looking through the team there's not too many players I wouldn't be looking to upgrade.
I'm still not sold on Bula. I compare him to an elite FB we developed in the Turd. After 2.5 of playing first grade Bula is light years away from where the Turd was at that time. I'm not saying he can't improve but he plays good footy almost exclusively on the right side and never supports up the middle. There's no use having a prop that off-loads 4 times a game if there's no one steaming onto the pass at retreating defenders. His defence is hot and cold. Some games he looks like a world beater, and others he gets shown up badly. I can't believe he'll be getting nearly $1 million a season next year.
The wingers have been good this year in getting us off our own line which is a nice change. It's rare now that we're stuck inside our 30 at the end of a set. Most times we'll be at the half or better. They are both suspect under the high ball and in defence in general. I won't really get into their finishing as the inside players haven't really created too much for them to capitalise on. I will say that they were better at the start of the year compared to now.
Centres - To'a needs to get as much ball in space as we can possibly give him. I think he's surprised us all this year. AD offers nothing aside from goal kicking. I await with baited breath to see what Makasini can offer when he gets a chance. I know a lot people are keen for him to be brought along slowly but the young players don't like it. I definitely think we should give him a taste and see how he goes. He may handle it with ease, like an old pro, right from the get go. You'd expect the coaching staff to be in contact with him constantly about how his body is handling it and how he's managing mentally. Give him some time off if and when needed.
The halves is something I'm excited about. We need to be patient with them until at least the end of the year, to see if this develops as well as I'm hoping it will. Latu is very hard to tackle and defenders seem to just bounce off him.
I think we've completely mismanaged the Api/TDS situation. It's only my opinion but I think we should have gone the young bloke long term at the expense of Api. We had an agreement locked in with them until the end of next year that TDS would be the apprentice. However, he wasn't always picked on the bench and other times was given very limited minutes. He also could have been trained up to do other things off the bench but this never happened. As long as young blokes are learning something and being tested they're happy. But now that we've decided to extend Api that agreement has been broken and TDS will be out the door.
Aside from May I reckon most of our forwards offer little and would struggle the make first grade in the top 8 teams. I'm not saying they're hopeless and dragging the team down. Just that we should be looking to upgrade. An area for improvement is our edges who don't appear to know how to run a line at a gap, or change direction before or after they've been given the ball. They are doing a damned sight better this year than in previous years though.
Looking at the players we have compared to successful teams we are way out of balance. I know all the players born in Australia are Australians and I'm talking purely from a heritage standpoint, but all the good teams have about a half / half blend of honkies and polynesians / indigenous / others. We have 1 honky. It's way out of balance.
As much as I hope Benji does well I can't see it. I said when the plan was first announced it wouldn't work because what made Marshall such a great player in his younger years was purely instinctual and can't be coached. I always thought he was a decent but not great half in the second part of his career. The fact that he's picked his mates as assistants, instead of people more knowledgable shows an insecurity I didn't think he had. There's still a long way to go with our defensive structures and execution and I don't think we have players in the team to achieve a top tier defence. Our attack is abysmal, especially in the red zone. I think other teams love us being in this area as we don't throw anything at them.
And last but certainly not least is our ownership. Without owners (or at least a 'chairman') that are fully committed to winning on the field, and doing everything it takes, legal and against the rules, to win, you have no chance of long term success. Our owners main priority is fleecing pensioners and migrants out of their money via the pokies.
So much has got to go right right for us to have long term success. I can't see how this is going to happen. I see us as a Leichester City / Western Bulldogs type club that comes out of nowhere and wins a comp once every 50 to 100 years, and then drops back down the bottom of the ladder again.
Sorry for the essay, but you asked and I had a spleen to vent.
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