Widdop seeks release

[Old Timer]

No doubt Widdop's departure will mean that many posters will try to find ways to dump on him or discredit him and his performances.
It seems to be a time honoured tradition in this place that those that leave need to have such treatment regardless of any logic that may be applied as to the reason for their departure or the quality of their service to the club.
Widdop has been a great servant of this club and I can't remember a game where he hasn't tried his best to get the right result for the team & the fans.
His highlight reel will show some truly inspiring pieces of play not only in attack but also defence and some of those moments are as good as any you will see from even the most gifted.
In his time at the club he has conducted himself in an exemplary manner, highly articulate, highly approachable and never a bad word for anyone nor a bad word about him.
His career has been hampered by poor coaching, poor recruitment, poor game strategy but in amongst all of that no criticism or slighting just professionalism.
Sure he had his faults as do all players but usually the good players faults are somewhat masked by the high competency levels of the players around them and such was not the case for Widdop as he endured plenty of mediocrity within the teams he led.
It is time for us to wish him well in the next stage of his career and we should do so knowing that we as a club and a fan base have been far better off by having Gareth Widdop don the Big Red V and giving us some great moments to cheer in what has been a very dark period of our club.
Without him the torture chamber our shambolic leadership make us endure would have seen no light at all, at least Gareth managed to keep the flame alight and give us some hope and rest assured next year will be extremely tough without him.
Well played Gareth Widdop you are indeed a Saint to be remembered along with other greats of our club.

 

[Dragon David]

No doubt Widdop's departure will mean that many posters will try to find ways to dump on him or discredit him and his performances.
It seems to be a time honoured tradition in this place that those that leave need to have such treatment regardless of any logic that may be applied as to the reason for their departure or the quality of their service to the club.
Widdop has been a great servant of this club and I can't remember a game where he hasn't tried his best to get the right result for the team & the fans.
His highlight reel will show some truly inspiring pieces of play not only in attack but also defence and some of those moments are as good as any you will see from even the most gifted.
In his time at the club he has conducted himself in an exemplary manner, highly articulate, highly approachable and never a bad word for anyone nor a bad word about him.
His career has been hampered by poor coaching, poor recruitment, poor game strategy but in amongst all of that no criticism or slighting just professionalism.
Sure he had his faults as do all players but usually the good players faults are somewhat masked by the high competency levels of the players around them and such was not the case for Widdop as he endured plenty of mediocrity within the teams he led.
It is time for us to wish him well in the next stage of his career and we should do so knowing that we as a club and a fan base have been far better off by having Gareth Widdop don the Big Red V and giving us some great moments to cheer in what has been a very dark period of our club.
Without him the torture chamber our shambolic leadership make us endure would have seen no light at all, at least Gareth managed to keep the flame alight and give us some hope and rest assured next year will be extremely tough without him.
Well played Gareth Widdop you are indeed a Saint to be remembered along with other greats of our club.

Well put Old Timer. Nicely summarised. Most players would cop criticism and praise during their careers in the NRL whomever they might be.

I convey my thanks to Gareth Widdop for his time with our club and wish him all the very best for several seasons at Warrington. Would be very interested to see what he can achieve in the ESL.

Cheers

 

[giboz71]

My 2 cents on Widdop.
He’s clearly been our best player over this dark period since 2012. Only Friz and in recent years, McInnes come close.
Should never have been appointed captain.
Really only had 1 stable year with a decent halves parter, 2018 which showed how criminal it was to have him paired with both an over the hill Benji and a woefully poor McCrone prior to that.
Like all recent Dragons players, he’s not footy smart. Brilliant player, but rarely took the smartest option out on the field. Short kicking game could be diabolical. Lost count of how many times he kicked directly into an opponents legs close to the try line when there were smarter options.
I’m convinced that even if Widdop wasn’t injured earlier in the season, we win at most maybe 3 extra games in 2019. Having Widdop in the team all year doesn’t fix the glaringly inept coaching, defensive deficiencies and mental weakness the team suffered from this year.

Pretty fair assessment.

He's a very good player, maybe a touch short of being elite. But in a McGregor led system, he was never going to excel, in a our one dimensional, safety first forward dominated game plan. Only forwards will excel, hence Vaughan, Friz, JDB and Tariq etc will look better than average.

Hunt and Norman will go the same way and won't reach any great heights until McGregor is gone.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Just as your post is a rationalization of your opinion.

At least I've tried to give examples and ask questions to provide an alternative to your opinions. The "you can rationalize anything" response seems like a copout given I'm offering you the opportunity to expand on that.

My bad though. I probably shouldn't have expected anything different.

You seem determined to be confrontational and if you want examples of Widdop's performances which weren't so flash, I am happy to go into the detail.
There were plenty I can assure you.
You have to remember that despite his status in our team as a marquee player, our results were crap during his time at St. George.
He must share in that responsibility shouldn't he?
I am tired of listening to statements like "he carried the whole team on his back" and "he never had a decent halves partner".
Just look back and check the stats for run metres by our forwards over the last 5 years except for 2019.
Our forwards mostly dominated that stat in every game they played. Even the really poor years like 2016.
They laid a platform for our halves to win lots of games and make us a premiership force but that didn't happen.
All I am saying is that Widdop was an integral part of a team that was poorly coached and has underperformed, year after year.
Is that not fact?
Why do you take exception to the statement "you can rationalize anything"?
That goes for everyone including me. It's just a statement that shouldn't get you all fired up.
I love and respect people's differing opinions including yours.
That doesn't mean I can't disagree with them.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

My 2 cents on Widdop.
He’s clearly been our best player over this dark period since 2012. Only Friz and in recent years, McInnes come close.
Should never have been appointed captain.
Really only had 1 stable year with a decent halves parter, 2018 which showed how criminal it was to have him paired with both an over the hill Benji and a woefully poor McCrone prior to that.
Like all recent Dragons players, he’s not footy smart. Brilliant player, but rarely took the smartest option out on the field. Short kicking game could be diabolical. Lost count of how many times he kicked directly into an opponents legs close to the try line when there were smarter options.
I’m convinced that even if Widdop wasn’t injured earlier in the season, we win at most maybe 3 extra games in 2019. Having Widdop in the team all year doesn’t fix the glaringly inept coaching, defensive deficiencies and mental weakness the team suffered from this year.

I think that is a pretty fair assessment.
You forgot crabbing cross field but that had more to do with our coaching.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

I

Let’s see if you have that opinion this time next year. Mann now only plays from the bench at Newcastle and Norman, well is Norman, maybe one good game in five. Every Parra supporter I know says getting rid of him was the best thing the club ever did. Look at Moses this year compared to last year and Parra twice winning the wooden spoon under Corey’s on field guidance. He is an overrated, lazy player. But we will see, maybe I will be the one to eat my words next year, but I doubt it.

hope you're wrong but it is looking that way with Norman.

 

[True_Believer]

You seem determined to be confrontational and if you want examples of Widdop's performances which weren't so flash, I am happy to go into the detail.
There were plenty I can assure you.
You have to remember that despite his status in our team as a marquee player, our results were crap during his time at St. George.
He must share in that responsibility shouldn't he?
I am tired of listening to statements like "he carried the whole team on his back" and "he never had a decent halves partner".
Just look back and check the stats for run metres by our forwards over the last 5 years except for 2019.
Our forwards mostly dominated that stat in every game they played. Even the really poor years like 2016.
They laid a platform for our halves to win lots of games and make us a premiership force but that didn't happen.
All I am saying is that Widdop was an integral part of a team that was poorly coached and has underperformed, year after year.
Is that not fact?
Why do you take exception to the statement "you can rationalize anything"?
That goes for everyone including me. It's just a statement that shouldn't get you all fired up.
I love and respect people's differing opinions including yours.
That doesn't mean I can't disagree with them.

As I said, I shouldn’t have expected anything different.

 

[TruSaint]

No doubt Widdop's departure will mean that many posters will try to find ways to dump on him or discredit him and his performances.
It seems to be a time honoured tradition in this place that those that leave need to have such treatment regardless of any logic that may be applied as to the reason for their departure or the quality of their service to the club.
Widdop has been a great servant of this club and I can't remember a game where he hasn't tried his best to get the right result for the team & the fans.
His highlight reel will show some truly inspiring pieces of play not only in attack but also defence and some of those moments are as good as any you will see from even the most gifted.
In his time at the club he has conducted himself in an exemplary manner, highly articulate, highly approachable and never a bad word for anyone nor a bad word about him.
His career has been hampered by poor coaching, poor recruitment, poor game strategy but in amongst all of that no criticism or slighting just professionalism.
Sure he had his faults as do all players but usually the good players faults are somewhat masked by the high competency levels of the players around them and such was not the case for Widdop as he endured plenty of mediocrity within the teams he led.
It is time for us to wish him well in the next stage of his career and we should do so knowing that we as a club and a fan base have been far better off by having Gareth Widdop don the Big Red V and giving us some great moments to cheer in what has been a very dark period of our club.
Without him the torture chamber our shambolic leadership make us endure would have seen no light at all, at least Gareth managed to keep the flame alight and give us some hope and rest assured next year will be extremely tough without him.
Well played Gareth Widdop you are indeed a Saint to be remembered along with other greats of our club.

Excellent analysis OT.
I wish Gaz all the best in the ESL, and thank him for his leadership on and off the field.

Hope he kills it there.

 

[Dragons 09]

No doubt Widdop's departure will mean that many posters will try to find ways to dump on him or discredit him and his performances.
It seems to be a time honoured tradition in this place that those that leave need to have such treatment regardless of any logic that may be applied as to the reason for their departure or the quality of their service to the club.
Widdop has been a great servant of this club and I can't remember a game where he hasn't tried his best to get the right result for the team & the fans.
His highlight reel will show some truly inspiring pieces of play not only in attack but also defence and some of those moments are as good as any you will see from even the most gifted.
In his time at the club he has conducted himself in an exemplary manner, highly articulate, highly approachable and never a bad word for anyone nor a bad word about him.
His career has been hampered by poor coaching, poor recruitment, poor game strategy but in amongst all of that no criticism or slighting just professionalism.
Sure he had his faults as do all players but usually the good players faults are somewhat masked by the high competency levels of the players around them and such was not the case for Widdop as he endured plenty of mediocrity within the teams he led.
It is time for us to wish him well in the next stage of his career and we should do so knowing that we as a club and a fan base have been far better off by having Gareth Widdop don the Big Red V and giving us some great moments to cheer in what has been a very dark period of our club.
Without him the torture chamber our shambolic leadership make us endure would have seen no light at all, at least Gareth managed to keep the flame alight and give us some hope and rest assured next year will be extremely tough without him.
Well played Gareth Widdop you are indeed a Saint to be remembered along with other greats of our club.

Well said OT and all the very best to Gareth for his future. However, at times over the last 5 years, i kind of wished he wasn't at the club. Through individual talent and his efforts, Gareth has masked McGregor's coaching incompetence and has no doubt been a considerable factor in McGregor's longevity in the top job.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

My 2 cents on Widdop.
He’s clearly been our best player over this dark period since 2012. Only Friz and in recent years, McInnes come close.
Should never have been appointed captain.
Really only had 1 stable year with a decent halves parter, 2018 which showed how criminal it was to have him paired with both an over the hill Benji and a woefully poor McCrone prior to that.
Like all recent Dragons players, he’s not footy smart. Brilliant player, but rarely took the smartest option out on the field. Short kicking game could be diabolical. Lost count of how many times he kicked directly into an opponents legs close to the try line when there were smarter options.
I’m convinced that even if Widdop wasn’t injured earlier in the season, we win at most maybe 3 extra games in 2019. Having Widdop in the team all year doesn’t fix the glaringly inept coaching, defensive deficiencies and mental weakness the team suffered from this year.

You’ve forgotten to mention Michael Witt. Yes, he was Widdop’s first halves partner in 2014.

That’s only five years, although it seems a lifetime ago.

I disagree with you re: being named captain, SGI is not unlike the current Australian Test cricket team.

Both are short on experience.

If only “Gaz” had the luxury of a Ben Hunt since day one, I’m confident we’d all be describing him as one of the best acquisitions from the past 30 years...if not the best ever. Sadly, his potential (and career) have suffered because of horribly, inept coaching and administration. Let’s not mention the terrible decision to experiment him at fullback.

One final point: given I’ve been in Manchester for the past week, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Widdop playing for another NRL club particularly if Warrington does well. Only 20 minutes away by car, the weather will be atrocious for a young family.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

I gotta say that Widdop is a great player but objectively speaking, he was part of the problem.
He came to St.George with the promise of being the club's chief playmaker whereas at Melbourne, his role in the team was as a link man. Not as the chief playmaker.
Bellamy played him there for good reason which ultimately resulted in a premiership.
Now once he came to us with an iron clad guarantee that he was going to be our key playmaker, that in itself was problematic and stifled any possibility of a change of philosophy that may have worked better.
As for McCrone, he was hand picked by Widdop and was under instructions to focus on a very simple support role that included doing his extra share of tackling.
The two flaws in Widdop's game (which I realize is subjective) are:
1. His inability to close out tight games. If your chief playmaker can't ice a big percentage of those games, you are going to struggle to get to the finals let alone win a premiership.
2. IMO Widdop was the wrong choice as captain of our team.
Great player but not an inspirational leader.
Finally McGregor idolizing of players like Widdop (Gaz) and DeBelin has greatly harmed our club and it is reflected in our performances on the field.
That is not how you build premiership winning teams.
Ask Bellamy and the other real coaches in our game.

Tight games? Have there been many during the Price-McIdiot era? I cannot recall any. Instead, horrible memories of being flogged by lowly sides such as Canterbury and Parramatta regularly flood my mind

You’re too harsh on Widdop One man can only do so much, and there are many attributes in his game which greatly outweighs the negatives.

His absence next year will be bemoaned as Norman continues to flounder.

His captaincy shouldn’t be questionable. In a squad lacking finals experience, Widdop was an obvious choice.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

I

Tight games? Have there been many during the Price-McIdiot era? I cannot recall any. Instead, horrible memories of being flogged by lowly sides such as Canterbury and Parramatta regularly flood my mind

You’re too harsh on Widdop One man can only do so much, and there are many attributes in his game which greatly outweighs the negatives.

His absence will be bemoaned as Norman continues to flounder.

His captaincy shouldn’t be questionable, in a squad lacking finals experience, Widdop was an obvious choice.

I respect your point of view and realize that you represent the majority of opinion on Widdop's time at St. George.
Once again I am trying to be objective and put forward my own point of view.
I had no doubt that most on the forum would disagree.

 

[2010]

All the very best over there Garath, we won’t know how much we will miss till he has gone.
He is going to blitz it over there,

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

I

I respect your point of view and realize that you represent the majority of opinion on Widdop's time at St. George.
Once again I am trying to be objective and put forward my own point of view.
I had no doubt that most on the forum would disagree.

You don’t believe that I (including the majority of opinion) am objective?

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

You don’t believe that I (including the majority of opinion) am objective?

I don't post things I don't believe.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

I don't post things I don't believe.

Ditto.