Prodigiousman
Juniors
- Messages
- 933
a post at the other forum discussed how Stuart and Finch were getting hammered by Roosters fans at the Wall, which inevitably led to Finch being targeted for criticism for the rest of that thread. Well I've had enough... here's something I put together that may or may not make sense but I'm going to post it anyway.
See I can't agree with the hammering of Brett Finch. He's a great player and is the one kid I couldn't believe we were losing at the end of 2002. Not because he left but because of all the talent coming through our ranks he was the one with the skills to be a future rep star. But at the same time I do not hold his decision against him he went to where he could further his career quicker and play under one of the greatest halfbacks the game has seen. It wasn't exactly the money or the box no matter how much you love your club. What irks me the most about the slamming of him - even now 3 years after his departure is you ensure he'll never come back when who knows after the Roosters started to struggle (as time will do when you play at such an intense level for so long) he might've come back to a club where he might've taken us to another level. The point I'm making is Finch was grilled beyond what was a realistic reaction, I was shattered when he left because I believed he was a on the verge of stardom. But to mercilessly hammer away at his integrity as a person on top of his footballing and CAREER decision is unwarranted.
What frustrates me also is the fact the tendancy to hammer players while they are STILL with the club even though they plan to leave. How quickly fans ignorethe good times in this case and go on the offensive yet are more than willing to reflect warmly on the past glory years as a reason why we shouldn't accept poor form now. You can't have it both ways - either you give credit where it is due for one players past performances/dealings as a member of the club or you start focusing on what is happening now within the club - its playing roster and stop criticising them based on the fact we were an all conquering team 10-15 years ago. At the end of the day I'm not saying you have to love every player (heck I don't exactly have Jason Bulgarelli on my Christmas Card list) but to essentially drag a players name and reputation through the mud at EVERY opportunity is just pathetic. Have you ever thought to think that the stories the likes of Brett Finch and Joel Monaghan tell fellow players about how they were sent off in Canberra might affect how players view the captial as a future playing destination? I doubt it and yet we complain that we can't get any players to sign here and its all the Raiders managements fault... Of course on the other hand we're just fans who listens to us but the fact remains that if someone came up to you in your workplace and told you where to shove it because you were OR were rumoured to be going elsewhere you wouldn't exactly call that a positive experience and it wouldn't help you give that company a glowing endorsement if a future colleague asked you about working there.
There is a difference between being passionate about your club and being fanatical about your club. Sadly reason hardly makes an impact on the fanatical fan because as far as they are concerned all that matters is how THEY view the club and if its not done to their liking then 'off with their heads!'. What the fanatical fan fails to realise is the club is run by the same flesh and blood as the fan and that incredibly flesh and blood does make mistakes from time to time - but they also are just as capable of making magic happen from time to fime - the type of magic that no fanatical fan can dream of implementing or following through on. At the end of the day the fan is entitled to rise and fall with their side but I can't see why those same fans deem it their right to speed up the falling of the people within the club. I love my Raiders have since that glorious 1989 season but I have no right to make any attempt to attack those running the club or playing in the uniform. Its often been said that playing sport is a time of release for the individual a chance to get out onto the field and leave their real life troubles behind and take it out on their opposition (ok maybe I reworked something that sounded like that) but to give those individuals anything less than our support and gratitude for getting out there and putting their careers on the line for a measley 2 points every week is a very poor way of carrying out your role as a fan of a club.
I have no idea where the above came from but I do know this - the above applies to all of us (myself included) whether its right, wrong or indifferent but it just annoys me no end to see such a great supporter base (and those not online) lose sight of the fact we can gain so much out of being a passionate supporter of our team but lose even more if we let that passion become fanatacism.
Over the next 6 weeks we as the Canberra Raiders fan base, owe the ENTIRE club our unconditional support as they try and qualify for a fourth straight Finals appearance.
GO YOU RAIDERS!
See I can't agree with the hammering of Brett Finch. He's a great player and is the one kid I couldn't believe we were losing at the end of 2002. Not because he left but because of all the talent coming through our ranks he was the one with the skills to be a future rep star. But at the same time I do not hold his decision against him he went to where he could further his career quicker and play under one of the greatest halfbacks the game has seen. It wasn't exactly the money or the box no matter how much you love your club. What irks me the most about the slamming of him - even now 3 years after his departure is you ensure he'll never come back when who knows after the Roosters started to struggle (as time will do when you play at such an intense level for so long) he might've come back to a club where he might've taken us to another level. The point I'm making is Finch was grilled beyond what was a realistic reaction, I was shattered when he left because I believed he was a on the verge of stardom. But to mercilessly hammer away at his integrity as a person on top of his footballing and CAREER decision is unwarranted.
What frustrates me also is the fact the tendancy to hammer players while they are STILL with the club even though they plan to leave. How quickly fans ignorethe good times in this case and go on the offensive yet are more than willing to reflect warmly on the past glory years as a reason why we shouldn't accept poor form now. You can't have it both ways - either you give credit where it is due for one players past performances/dealings as a member of the club or you start focusing on what is happening now within the club - its playing roster and stop criticising them based on the fact we were an all conquering team 10-15 years ago. At the end of the day I'm not saying you have to love every player (heck I don't exactly have Jason Bulgarelli on my Christmas Card list) but to essentially drag a players name and reputation through the mud at EVERY opportunity is just pathetic. Have you ever thought to think that the stories the likes of Brett Finch and Joel Monaghan tell fellow players about how they were sent off in Canberra might affect how players view the captial as a future playing destination? I doubt it and yet we complain that we can't get any players to sign here and its all the Raiders managements fault... Of course on the other hand we're just fans who listens to us but the fact remains that if someone came up to you in your workplace and told you where to shove it because you were OR were rumoured to be going elsewhere you wouldn't exactly call that a positive experience and it wouldn't help you give that company a glowing endorsement if a future colleague asked you about working there.
There is a difference between being passionate about your club and being fanatical about your club. Sadly reason hardly makes an impact on the fanatical fan because as far as they are concerned all that matters is how THEY view the club and if its not done to their liking then 'off with their heads!'. What the fanatical fan fails to realise is the club is run by the same flesh and blood as the fan and that incredibly flesh and blood does make mistakes from time to time - but they also are just as capable of making magic happen from time to fime - the type of magic that no fanatical fan can dream of implementing or following through on. At the end of the day the fan is entitled to rise and fall with their side but I can't see why those same fans deem it their right to speed up the falling of the people within the club. I love my Raiders have since that glorious 1989 season but I have no right to make any attempt to attack those running the club or playing in the uniform. Its often been said that playing sport is a time of release for the individual a chance to get out onto the field and leave their real life troubles behind and take it out on their opposition (ok maybe I reworked something that sounded like that) but to give those individuals anything less than our support and gratitude for getting out there and putting their careers on the line for a measley 2 points every week is a very poor way of carrying out your role as a fan of a club.
I have no idea where the above came from but I do know this - the above applies to all of us (myself included) whether its right, wrong or indifferent but it just annoys me no end to see such a great supporter base (and those not online) lose sight of the fact we can gain so much out of being a passionate supporter of our team but lose even more if we let that passion become fanatacism.
Over the next 6 weeks we as the Canberra Raiders fan base, owe the ENTIRE club our unconditional support as they try and qualify for a fourth straight Finals appearance.
GO YOU RAIDERS!
