The last 6 weeks of 2020.

[Old Timer]

Well here we are with the beginning of the post Mc Gregor era.

Hard to know exactly who did what in respect coaching, selection etc in the game against the Eels so hopefully from here on in we have real clarity as to who is who in the zoo.

As many have said good luck to Dean and the coaching staff and the playing group as well.

We will sit in anticipation of team list Tuesdays and then try to work out the why's and wherefor's as to those selections.

I think this place will be motivated towards being positive and I hope that the BOD do take into consideration the fan base and embrace some of the reasoning as to why they chose Bennett to head up coaching back at the end of 2008 and I don't necessarily mean that is who we should be looking at now, I am merely saying the logic then is applicable now if not even more so.

Our premiership win 2010 whilst long overdue was obtained in unusual circumstances as will the winning of this years premiership so hopefully from 2021 the game can move forward and some normality come back to the game.

In the next 6 weeks I hope for the following

1. Selection on a "you deserve your shot" basis i.e. form.
2. No favouritism in selection and no regard for how much your contract is worth.
3. Players effort and commitment to be properly gauged and used in selection process.
4. Players playing in their best and hopefully preferred positions.
5. Players with injuries to be stood down and not playing busted.
6. If we have players that we might let go on the basis of "we don't know if they can play at NRL level or not" being better assessed as to should they get a shot instead of those that we know are leaving or not being retained.
7. Not instantly drop players because of a mistake or 2 and be more inclined to stick with them and encourage them (relates more to the younger one's rather than the one's we know only too well)
8. Play in the big red v every week and install the culture and pride back into our club after all we do sing "oh when the saints" in the dressing sheds.
9. People give Dean the opportunity to get us to the end of the season without all the angst as he didn't create this situation nor did he ask for it, he just inherited it.
10. The club make an announcement asap as to whether we will try for an experienced coach for next year or advise if next year will be "caretaker mode" with a process to select a "senior" coach for 2022 and then stick by that and make it transparent.
11. Proper assessment of any results over the next 6 weeks and no rash decisions made on success especially against other basket case clubs.

Well I have 11 things there and if any way shape or form we could tick my off my 11 in a row I know I would be more than a happy fan.

Good luck to all as we move forward and and I look forward to next Tuesday and of course our 1st game of the new world as we know it.

 

[Brutalitops]

Good post OT. Exciting times ahead dare I say it I'm feeling positive. I've been feeling like our form since the selection committee has been sky high compared to those first 4 rounds and we can hopefully build on that.

I feel those recent 3 losses in a row will ultimately keep us from finals, I guess you could say we're unlucky as we were well in the mix in each of those matches, but alas here we are.

Norman remains an issue. The current spine is doing wonders with essentially 3 contributors. Would love to see how we went this year with a (healthy) Widdop.

 

[redv13]

Good post OT. Exciting times ahead dare I say it I'm feeling positive. I've been feeling like our form since the selection committee has been sky high compared to those first 4 rounds and we can hopefully build on that.

I feel those recent 3 losses in a row will ultimately keep us from finals, I guess you could say we're unlucky as we were well in the mix in each of those matches, but alas here we are.

Norman remains an issue. The current spine is doing wonders with essentially 3 contributors. Would love to see how we went this year with a (healthy) Widdop.

Yeah I think the Cronulla and Souths games will cost us in the end. Should have won both and those 4 pts will be the difference between 6th and 10/11

 

[getsmarty]

Yeah I think the Cronulla and Souths games will cost us in the end. Should have won both and those 4 pts will be the difference between 6th and 10/11

And we win those and unfortunately we are stuck with Mcgregor...Happy to move on...

 

[True_Believer]

1. Selection on a "you deserve your shot" basis i.e. form.
2. No favouritism in selection and no regard for how much your contract is worth.
3. Players effort and commitment to be properly gauged and used in selection process.

These are really irrelevant for the remainder of the season. Without a CC there's no form to compare against and can only be rated on training performance - which we are not privy to.

Given the season is pretty much over, I would only wish for them to go out and have fun. I'm not concerned with selection for the remainder of this season.

I hope our coach selection process doesn't take too long because I would rather a coach be selected early so they can start looking at recruitment for next year. The longer we leave that, the less chance we have of securing the players we need/want.

 

[Old Timer]

These are really irrelevant for the remainder of the season. Without a CC there's no form to compare against and can only be rated on training performance - which we are not privy to.

Given the season is pretty much over, I would only wish for them to go out and have fun. I'm not concerned with selection for the remainder of this season.

I hope our coach selection process doesn't take too long because I would rather a coach be selected early so they can start looking at recruitment for next year. The longer we leave that, the less chance we have of securing the players we need/want.

So you obviously believe there is little to be gained or learnt over the next 6 weeks.

You are obviously also happy to not find out what qualities some players have that we are not privy to prior to resigning or clearing them out.

Might as well have kept Mc Fookknuckle eh?

 

[denis preston]

These are really irrelevant for the remainder of the season. Without a CC there's no form to compare against and can only be rated on training performance - which we are not privy to.

Given the season is pretty much over, I would only wish for them to go out and have fun. I'm not concerned with selection for the remainder of this season.

I hope our coach selection process doesn't take too long because I would rather a coach be selected early so they can start looking at recruitment for next year. The longer we leave that, the less chance we have of securing the players we need/want.

Webbie would be aware of that ( notice i didn't say Board ! )

 

[Dragonslayer]

Well here we are with the beginning of the post Mc Gregor era.

Hard to know exactly who did what in respect coaching, selection etc in the game against the Eels so hopefully from here on in we have real clarity as to who is who in the zoo.

As many have said good luck to Dean and the coaching staff and the playing group as well.

We will sit in anticipation of team list Tuesdays and then try to work out the why's and wherefor's as to those selections.

I think this place will be motivated towards being positive and I hope that the BOD do take into consideration the fan base and embrace some of the reasoning as to why they chose Bennett to head up coaching back at the end of 2008 and I don't necessarily mean that is who we should be looking at now, I am merely saying the logic then is applicable now if not even more so.

Our premiership win 2010 whilst long overdue was obtained in unusual circumstances as will the winning of this years premiership so hopefully from 2021 the game can move forward and some normality come back to the game.

In the next 6 weeks I hope for the following

1. Selection on a "you deserve your shot" basis i.e. form.
2. No favouritism in selection and no regard for how much your contract is worth.
3. Players effort and commitment to be properly gauged and used in selection process.
4. Players playing in their best and hopefully preferred positions.
5. Players with injuries to be stood down and not playing busted.
6. If we have players that we might let go on the basis of "we don't know if they can play at NRL level or not" being better assessed as to should they get a shot instead of those that we know are leaving or not being retained.
7. Not instantly drop players because of a mistake or 2 and be more inclined to stick with them and encourage them (relates more to the younger one's rather than the one's we know only too well)
8. Play in the big red v every week and install the culture and pride back into our club after all we do sing "oh when the saints" in the dressing sheds.
9. People give Dean the opportunity to get us to the end of the season without all the angst as he didn't create this situation nor did he ask for it, he just inherited it.
10. The club make an announcement asap as to whether we will try for an experienced coach for next year or advise if next year will be "caretaker mode" with a process to select a "senior" coach for 2022 and then stick by that and make it transparent.
11. Proper assessment of any results over the next 6 weeks and no rash decisions made on success especially against other basket case clubs.

Well I have 11 things there and if any way shape or form we could tick my off my 11 in a row I know I would be more than a happy fan.

Good luck to all as we move forward and and I look forward to next Tuesday and of course our 1st game of the new world as we know it.

Agree wirh this OT.

I do think point 10 is the most important. The quicker we announce who will coach in 2021, imo, the rest of the points you made will fall into place. I cant accept going past the end of the season, then into Nov before announcing who will coach us. This ultimately has a decisive impact on our retention and recruitement.

I hope a couple of youngsters get a taste during the next 6 weeks and ultimately to see if players were really tanking recently.

 

[redv13]

And we win those and unfortunately we are stuck with Mcgregor...Happy to move on...

Ha ha yep your right. Semi’s next year

 

[Dragonssupporter]

Old Timer is right-we need to start selecting and trialling for next year now.In my opinion no more Aitken or Friz or Norman. Sailor into 5/8, start trying new centers, and bring up some more forwards. If the club has already accepted we cant make the finals then lets work on next years team. No point wasting valuable time with people who are leaving

 

[True_Believer]

So you obviously believe there is little to be gained or learnt over the next 6 weeks.

You are obviously also happy to not find out what qualities some players have that we are not privy to prior to resigning or clearing them out.

Might as well have kept Mc Fookknuckle eh?

Seriously? I have no idea how you got any of that out of what I posted.

What's the point in doing all of what you are saying other than for the fans benefit? A new coach will make his own determinations when he comes on board so all of what you have said amounts to nothing at this point in time.

 

[Old Timer]

Seriously? I have no idea how you got any of that out of what I posted.

What's the point in doing all of what you are saying other than for the fans benefit? A new coach will make his own determinations when he comes on board so all of what you have said amounts to nothing at this point in time.

Millward is in charge of recruitment and retrenchment and it is my belief he will carry on those duties until such times as the "if & when" scenario of a new coach is resolved.

Unless the situation is already resolved that Young is caretaker for 21 and Flanno takes over in 22 and they are already embarking on their preferred roster & recruitment then I believe that decisions who we keep and who we let go will be made regardless of who is coming.

Considering those decisions will be made then I believe it is incumbent upon the club to ensure it knows as much about those that it will be letting go as possible before we make that decision.

Over the past number of years our youth has been given limited opportunities, had its confidence dented, many have played out of position, many have played too many positions so surely the next 6 weeks gives us a golden opportunity to make some truly informed decisions rather than those types of decisions that have hampered us for the last 6- 7 years.

Of course if a new coach was to be announced well before the end of the season it renders my thoughts invalid although I would hope a new coach would see some of them as being valid.

There is a lot to be undone from our recent history and it will take some time to do so however it doesn't mean to say we shouldn't start that process well before the new coach arrives and takes up the reins.

 

[SBD82]

Can I get a tldr for this thread?

 

[redv13]

Old Timer is right-we need to start selecting and trialling for next year now.In my opinion no more Aitken or Friz or Norman. Sailor into 5/8, start trying new centers, and bring up some more forwards. If the club has already accepted we cant make the finals then lets work on next years team. No point wasting valuable time with people who are leaving

Maybe they can spend the next 6 games getting in Frizzel’s ear about pulling out of the Newcastle deal now that mcballsack is gone!!

 

[Old Timer]

Can I get a tldr for this thread?

Can't read or attention span too small?

 

[True_Believer]

Millward is in charge of recruitment and retrenchment and it is my belief he will carry on those duties until such times as the "if & when" scenario of a new coach is resolved.

Unless the situation is already resolved that Young is caretaker for 21 and Flanno takes over in 22 and they are already embarking on their preferred roster & recruitment then I believe that decisions who we keep and who we let go will be made regardless of who is coming.

Considering those decisions will be made then I believe it is incumbent upon the club to ensure it knows as much about those that it will be letting go as possible before we make that decision.

Over the past number of years our youth has been given limited opportunities, had its confidence dented, many have played out of position, many have played too many positions so surely the next 6 weeks gives us a golden opportunity to make some truly informed decisions rather than those types of decisions that have hampered us for the last 6- 7 years.

Of course if a new coach was to be announced well before the end of the season it renders my thoughts invalid although I would hope a new coach would see some of them as being valid.

There is a lot to be undone from our recent history and it will take some time to do so however it doesn't mean to say we shouldn't start that process well before the new coach arrives and takes up the reins.

Millward will indeed carry on in the role however I'd be surprised if we were to continue on our merry way with releasing and purchasing players independent of a new coach coming on board. What would be the point of that? That makes no sense. Additionally, it would be silly for the club to be making decisions on who stays and who goes when a coach hasn't been appointed. It would be best left to the new coach to indicate who he wants to keep, recruit and let go - afterall he's the one that needs to work with them and feel confident he has a team he can go forward with. Unless we are already in talks with players or in the process of releasing them, I'm going suggest we most likely won't be in the market for the remainder of the year. I'd also be surprised if players are willing to jump ship without knowing who the coach is.

Based on your comments, the only people being able to make informed decisions are the fans. And I don't think that adds any value.

Ryan has said they will go into an interview process that he intimated will take some time - they have stated that Young will be the caretaker for the remainder of the year. He's mentioned that we'll appoint someone by the end of the year giving them an opportunity to have a full pre-season to build and work with his team.

I have no doubt that the role of Millward will change going forward. Generally a new coach will want as much control over the roster as possible so leaving the negotiations to someone else would not be on the cards. Even if that turns out to be Young or Flanagan.

All I can say from a coach perspective is that I don't want Young as head coach (no matter how they perform for the remainder of the season). He might be promising, but I'd like to see someone from the outside get the gig.

 

[SBD82]

Can't read or attention span too small?

Thanks OT.

Now can you summarise everyone else’s posts too?

 

[Old Timer]

Millward will indeed carry on in the role however I'd be surprised if we were to continue on our merry way with releasing and purchasing players independent of a new coach coming on board. What would be the point of that? That makes no sense. Additionally, it would be silly for the club to be making decisions on who stays and who goes when a coach hasn't been appointed. It would be best left to the new coach to indicate who he wants to keep, recruit and let go - afterall he's the one that needs to work with them and feel confident he has a team he can go forward with. Unless we are already in talks with players or in the process of releasing them, I'm going suggest we most likely won't be in the market for the remainder of the year. I'd also be surprised if players are willing to jump ship without knowing who the coach is.

Based on your comments, the only people being able to make informed decisions are the fans. And I don't think that adds any value.

Ryan has said they will go into an interview process that he intimated will take some time - they have stated that Young will be the caretaker for the remainder of the year. He's mentioned that we'll appoint someone by the end of the year giving them an opportunity to have a full pre-season to build and work with his team.

I have no doubt that the role of Millward will change going forward. Generally a new coach will want as much control over the roster as possible so leaving the negotiations to someone else would not be on the cards. Even if that turns out to be Young or Flanagan.

All I can say from a coach perspective is that I don't want Young as head coach (no matter how they perform for the remainder of the season). He might be promising, but I'd like to see someone from the outside get the gig.

The key as we both agree is the new coach and when.

If that doesn't resolve relatively quickly and the decisions is to not go with Flanno in 2022 (also my preference) then I still maintain we need to make informed decisions on who we let go and as Millward until further notice is the ring master then he should have as much knowledge as possible.

It is truly my hope that an announcement is forthcoming and after watching Webb over the recent week I have much more faith that will be the case but the little man on my shoulder whispering in my ear should not necessarily be ignored.

 

[possm]

These are really irrelevant for the remainder of the season. Without a CC there's no form to compare against and can only be rated on training performance - which we are not privy to.

Given the season is pretty much over, I would only wish for them to go out and have fun. I'm not concerned with selection for the remainder of this season.

I hope our coach selection process doesn't take too long because I would rather a coach be selected early so they can start looking at recruitment for next year. The longer we leave that, the less chance we have of securing the players we need/want.

Most know how well Norman plays, Aitken plays and Pereira plays. What we don't know is if Sailor is a suitable replacement for norman and if the Feagai brothers can handle first grade. What a great opportunity to find this out against some good opposition. For example, we may be able to off-load Norman if we are comfortable with Sailor as his replacement and, we may forget about chasing a left side centre and winger if the Feagai brothers can do the job fine.

The Ravalawa/Lomax combination is working fine and so I do not see the club chasing a right side winger to replace Ravalawa.

The only two negatives that I took out of the game against the Eels was:

• Pereira's lack of speed - he did play to the best of his ability.
• Dufty's defensive and positioning skills.

In my opinion Pereira would be one of the best backup wingers in the competition and given his size, Dufty would be of more value at five-eighth than he is at fullback. So one step at a time. Test Sailor and the Feagai brothers in the next 3 rounds and if it does not work out well, test Ramsey at fullback and Dufty at five-eigtht for the final 3 rounds.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Alas, I feel we are going to suffer the curse of the interim coach.

Young, will want to make an impression with several wins under his belt. Will that happen with debutants in the team? Or, does he stay with the tried and true, given they are now free of the shackles that bound them?

I just cant see him making wholesale changes, although imo he should it would show him not to be a clone of our previous coach, albeit gradually.

The dynamic that was the selection committee would have been fascinating, particularly if the vote was 3 to 1 with Young part of the 3 against McGregor. Unfortunately, we may never know.

If Young is seriously being considered full time, he would have to show some enterprise and 'balls' to make decisions, tough ones at that, just to seperste himself from McGregors influence.

The elephant in the room will be Flanagan.