Poola said:
Sorry guys the players on the park are picked by the coach. We had no forward impact, yet we kept the same forward pack week in week out. Our winger was proven to struggle , 2v keeps him going. We are constantly in trouble out wide, however we keep jamming in. Our enthusiasm is shot and the same team gets rewarded. No repercussion for under performing. Sorry 2v you're the boss. Take some blame for your actions/ team choice.
Nothing new.
I've heard all this before when Des was coach. Des would have done the same, just like he kept T-Rex on the park even though he was awful for the Dogs last year.
Des copped a bunch when he picked players that won't make today's bench.
Guys like Bryant (who's guaranteed to drop one or two balls a game), Willo (slow, non-dynamic player), Shane Neumann (possibly the worst ever to pull on the maroon and white), etc.
I don't think Des was a better coach than Tooves. Des has his crazy picks and he was lucky. He also garnered loyalty from certain players he favours.
Unfortunately, Des forced out Beaver when Beaver was still playing well and would have been cheap to stay on. He also forced out Chad Randall whom I thought is better than what Des rated him.
In 2004, Des stuck with Andrew Walker at fullback (who kept dropping bombs) and we lost 6 straight games, whilst I was screaming for Snake to be brought up to play first grade. In Round 9 that season, when he relented and let Snake play, we finally had a win.
Tooves has to juggle player confidence (this late in the season) and players with Finals experience. It just didn't pay off to keep Jorge on the wing.
I was hoping since my last post that Gutho would replace Jorge and Cheyse to be on the bench. I had half my wish. I also asked for Littlejohn to be looked at for hooker. Looks like that may happen, since our season is over.
Tonight's game, Souths strategy was simple. Their forwards are massive and they play simple footy. They kept punching the middle and compressing our defence. All they have to do after that was to go wide and score. If they can't go around, they kick for Jorge and it was easy lottery.
Hmmm... I should be coach (but I still hold Tooves in high regards).
Was Epalahame Lauaki training on the field before kick off?
I thought I saw a lot of hair.. and I meant a LOT.