PARRA_FAN said:
Im disappointing, Im not blaming the week off, Im not blaming the Mcintyre system, Im blaming the players and coach for not turning up with the right attitude. I wasnt feeling confident, I wasnt talking about GF's cause yesterday was an important game. All preliminary finals are important and tough, no matter who you play. Forget about blaming referees, finals systems, week off, you've just got to turn up and play SEMI FINAL FOOTBALL.
Honour in defeat. Losing is a bitter pill to swallow at this end of the comp, and especially they way that the Dragons and Eels did it. Its too easy to point the fingers elsewhere, and I applaud your downright honesty in such a harsh time.
In regard to my mob, they just could not put it together. It was a worrying trend up from round 24 onward. I think the attitude was right on Saturday night but the cohesion was way off. The fundamentals of the game were forgotten in favour of trying to razzle & dazzle their way to a win. This was successful for them from midseason to rd 24, but after that we started to lose our way.
At 16-6 down I thought we were still well in it. All we had to do was hold the ball and get some field position and we would have a good chance. We got to see more ball in the 2nd half but the timing was still shocking. Additionally, the Tigers defence stifled our attack. The Tigers defence has been much maligned up until the semis, but in the last three games it has had no peer.
As for Parra, it was disappointing to see a side play like that after such a successful season. But rather than go into what they actually did wrong, I picked up on some worrying concerns in an interview with Brian Smith on ch9 just before kick off.
He was asked question along the lines of..."You are a somewhat nervous coach by your own admission, how are you feeling at the moment??" His answer was (again along the lines of..) "yes, I'm a bit nervous, as you would be leading into a semi final like this".
Of course its only natural that a coach, players, management etc would all be a bit nervous leading into a semi final, but for a coach to openly admit he is nervous at such an important time like this can only harm his sides chances, and increase the tension. If you are a leader of men (as a coach should be) - you have to breed and promote a sense of confidence throughout your team. Admitting nerves can only serve to unsettle your men. It would not have been the only reason for their performance yesterday, but in hindsight it was a haunting interview.
