ShadesOfTheSun
Juniors
- Messages
- 646
We should have won four comps
Willie Mason | November 18, 2007
I have totally lost all respect for Steve Folkes. When I did my press conferences on Thursday, I made sure I didn't say a bad word against the Bulldogs. Not one bad word against the coach. On my part, I believe I showed loyalty in sticking with the club for 10 years.
I took pay cuts and deferred payments with every single contract to help them with the salary cap. I could have come out and bagged the Bulldogs but I have too much respect for the club and the players.
I do not have respect for Folkes. I can't believe he came out and bagged me on Friday. He had the chance to shut his big mouth but he didn't because he's obviously dirty on me.
The one thing that I've got that he'll never have is the support of the players.
What he says doesn't really matter because he'll be out of a job at the end of next year. The only reason he's there is because Malcolm Noad signed him up - and now Folksey's trying to keep sweet with Noad.
I didn't want to play this game, but if Folkes wants to play hardball, I'll give it to him.
I thought he was a bigger man than that but he couldn't just help himself - he had to give me a serve. I gave everything for that club and I shouldn't have to deal with this. How dare he slam me.
I've had calls from lots of leading coaches in recent weeks asking about how I was coping. I didn't get one missed call from him.
He is a poor coach. I never learnt anything from him in 10 years - other than to catch and pass. He had the best roster in the game for six or seven years and we only won one comp - the only reason we won was because of the players, not him.
The coach had nothing to do with it, it was all about the players. We did it for us, not him. We should have won four comps in that time, not one. If we had a decent coach like Brad Fittler, Ricky Stuart or Craig Bellamy, I'd be sitting back with four premiership rings, not one.
I can't believe he called me a bad influence on the younger players - I've been a good influence on those kids. He wouldn't have half the team there if it wasn't for me. We'll see what influence he has when half his team leaves next year. Then you'll see what type of influence I had over the club. Nobody wants to be coached by him because he's the most unapproachable, boring man I've ever met.
A few of the boys have rung me during the week and said going to training was like going to a funeral. It's terrible. There's nothing there, none of the boys know each other. That bond that we had for five or six years together is gone.
I'm very disappointed in him, as a man, to come out like this. If he had something to say, he could have rung me. He could have called me into his office and said, "What's going on?". But he didn't. That's why no one gets along with him.
Ask him if he's got one mate in the whole world. Even guys who played with him in the 1980s say he has no personality.
The only reason I became a better player was because I dealt with great coaches like Wayne Bennett and Ricky Stuart at rep level. That's the only time I learned anything.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the Bulldogs. I love the players and what the club is all about. But what Folkes has done is below the belt.
I could have unloaded at him at the press conference and hammered him about how I didn't learn a thing off him in 10 years.
There were reports that the players wanted him gone - those reports are true. Almost all the players don't want him there. At the end of the season, he was saying to the players, "Am I the problem? Am I the reason we haven't achieved?".
Of course, he's the problem! He reckons that I'm the guy who ratted him out to the media and said he's the problem. Nobody did. He's just paranoid about his job. I was the one who stood up with him in front of the board and this is how he repays me.
I'm sorry I wasn't one of Folksey's clones. He just wants little monkeys to coach, but I'm a bit out of the box.
I'd been there for 10 years and not once did he have the balls to bag me to my face. Now that I'm gone he couldn't wait to rip into me. It was very disappointing on my behalf, because I didn't want things to end this way.
Source: SMH - http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/willie-mason/folkes-taught-me-nothing/2007/11/17/1194767030538.html
Willie Mason | November 18, 2007
I have totally lost all respect for Steve Folkes. When I did my press conferences on Thursday, I made sure I didn't say a bad word against the Bulldogs. Not one bad word against the coach. On my part, I believe I showed loyalty in sticking with the club for 10 years.
I took pay cuts and deferred payments with every single contract to help them with the salary cap. I could have come out and bagged the Bulldogs but I have too much respect for the club and the players.
I do not have respect for Folkes. I can't believe he came out and bagged me on Friday. He had the chance to shut his big mouth but he didn't because he's obviously dirty on me.
The one thing that I've got that he'll never have is the support of the players.
What he says doesn't really matter because he'll be out of a job at the end of next year. The only reason he's there is because Malcolm Noad signed him up - and now Folksey's trying to keep sweet with Noad.
I didn't want to play this game, but if Folkes wants to play hardball, I'll give it to him.
I thought he was a bigger man than that but he couldn't just help himself - he had to give me a serve. I gave everything for that club and I shouldn't have to deal with this. How dare he slam me.
I've had calls from lots of leading coaches in recent weeks asking about how I was coping. I didn't get one missed call from him.
He is a poor coach. I never learnt anything from him in 10 years - other than to catch and pass. He had the best roster in the game for six or seven years and we only won one comp - the only reason we won was because of the players, not him.
The coach had nothing to do with it, it was all about the players. We did it for us, not him. We should have won four comps in that time, not one. If we had a decent coach like Brad Fittler, Ricky Stuart or Craig Bellamy, I'd be sitting back with four premiership rings, not one.
I can't believe he called me a bad influence on the younger players - I've been a good influence on those kids. He wouldn't have half the team there if it wasn't for me. We'll see what influence he has when half his team leaves next year. Then you'll see what type of influence I had over the club. Nobody wants to be coached by him because he's the most unapproachable, boring man I've ever met.
A few of the boys have rung me during the week and said going to training was like going to a funeral. It's terrible. There's nothing there, none of the boys know each other. That bond that we had for five or six years together is gone.
I'm very disappointed in him, as a man, to come out like this. If he had something to say, he could have rung me. He could have called me into his office and said, "What's going on?". But he didn't. That's why no one gets along with him.
Ask him if he's got one mate in the whole world. Even guys who played with him in the 1980s say he has no personality.
The only reason I became a better player was because I dealt with great coaches like Wayne Bennett and Ricky Stuart at rep level. That's the only time I learned anything.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the Bulldogs. I love the players and what the club is all about. But what Folkes has done is below the belt.
I could have unloaded at him at the press conference and hammered him about how I didn't learn a thing off him in 10 years.
There were reports that the players wanted him gone - those reports are true. Almost all the players don't want him there. At the end of the season, he was saying to the players, "Am I the problem? Am I the reason we haven't achieved?".
Of course, he's the problem! He reckons that I'm the guy who ratted him out to the media and said he's the problem. Nobody did. He's just paranoid about his job. I was the one who stood up with him in front of the board and this is how he repays me.
I'm sorry I wasn't one of Folksey's clones. He just wants little monkeys to coach, but I'm a bit out of the box.
I'd been there for 10 years and not once did he have the balls to bag me to my face. Now that I'm gone he couldn't wait to rip into me. It was very disappointing on my behalf, because I didn't want things to end this way.
Source: SMH - http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/willie-mason/folkes-taught-me-nothing/2007/11/17/1194767030538.html
