Hey
@Ryan can you tell us what you think of Des Hasler?
I think Des was an elite coach. One of his best traits is that he can extract performance out of a fringe first grader, and get them to excel (Hall, Rose, Bryant, Cuthbertson and many others).
Another positive trait is he definitely demands respect from those around him (from his teaching days I guess). You don't hear about much infighting or disharmony between the board and him (generally). So that's great too.
He's very thorough (with the first grade squad), and his players know exactly what is expected of them.
He's loyal to a fault. If a player is out of form, they literally have to crap the bed to lose their spots in the team.
Now, on the flipside, he's very old school. This is just my opinion, but he has a system and gameplan and he sticks to that. I'm a firm believer that the best modern coaches adapt to the opposition , and it doesn't appear we do that well, particularly defensively. A holding defensive line that doesn't pressure their kickers gives the opposition both time and momentum (hence the oft point of difference in the metres gained vs. the opposition)
I'm not sure if it's through lack of players available, but team selections (to me) are mystifying , but apparently if I comment on that I'm a cheap seat. But more so , Des bench utilisation. My GOD it's poor.
We are playing a system that was outstanding a few years ago, and it still gets the lesser teams. But the good teams, who've adapted to 2022 NRL standards have us covered and then some (hence the no beating a top 4 team in 2.5 years).
Our recruitment / retention in questionable. I understand that there's a team around that, but it's Des that rubber stamps this stuff. Releasing of certain players has been questionable to me, but that's just me (i.e. I'd 100% have had Cust in there instead.of Croker).
Des is too proud and headstrong to have a coaching Director. A person from outside that can share best practices about the finer points of the modern game. How to inspire the Millennials from week to week to get up and perform (hence the rocks and diamonds performances of our forwards).
These aspects lead me to believe while Des was absolutely quality in his time (and he's by FAR not the worst coach), the games past him by, and he either needs help, or we need a change in direction.
I do think the players are feeling this too, which is why we are seeing what appears to be disharmony among the group and through the media.
But that's just me, so fire away mate.
