The reason I hold little hope for next year is, not the players, but Des.
I read an article that explained that Craig Fitzgibbon got everyone in the whole organisation to be a part of the club when he started. Players who'd never even met the front office staff now are on first name terms. They have bbqs etc for everyone in the organisation.
If it was like that at Manly, the jersey debacle wouldn't have happened for a start because there would actually be communication between everybody. It would also prevent a lot of arrogance and the forming of factions. You can see the Sharks are all on the same page by the way they play. A long time before the debacle I'd expressed my doubts on here about players from Polynesian backgrounds and players from the beaches being able to understand each other's cultures let alone play instinctively together.
So much time needs to be spent on making a team a team, look at what Todd Payten's done with the Cowboys. And Bellamy and Robinson.
I don't believe that Des is the guy to unite such a disparate team. He has always had his favourites, often to the point of damaging the team. His refusal to promote young talent is baffling. Where would Dylan Brown be if he'd been given the Josh Schuster treatment?
And I think he's lost his passion.
I read an article that explained that Craig Fitzgibbon got everyone in the whole organisation to be a part of the club when he started. Players who'd never even met the front office staff now are on first name terms. They have bbqs etc for everyone in the organisation.
If it was like that at Manly, the jersey debacle wouldn't have happened for a start because there would actually be communication between everybody. It would also prevent a lot of arrogance and the forming of factions. You can see the Sharks are all on the same page by the way they play. A long time before the debacle I'd expressed my doubts on here about players from Polynesian backgrounds and players from the beaches being able to understand each other's cultures let alone play instinctively together.
So much time needs to be spent on making a team a team, look at what Todd Payten's done with the Cowboys. And Bellamy and Robinson.
I don't believe that Des is the guy to unite such a disparate team. He has always had his favourites, often to the point of damaging the team. His refusal to promote young talent is baffling. Where would Dylan Brown be if he'd been given the Josh Schuster treatment?
And I think he's lost his passion.
