Blue Vain wrote:
Soft, dumb, slack footballers?
I'm sure Sydney had similar come into their system. Mitch Morton meets most of those criteria yet he's now a premiership player.
Unfortunately the system doesnt allow you to throw talented players out the door and restock them with more talented players. Chris Yarran was viewed as a lazy footballer before we drafted him. In his favour, he was viewed by those in the know as the most talented footballer to attend the Clontarf academy. A huge rap considering the players that have walked through their doors.
What are we doing to instil urgency into him? What have we done to progress him as a footballer? We're talking about a 22 year old kid who finished top 10 in our B&F as a 20 year old. Not a bad achievement in a team that performed in the finals.
Instead of talking about throwing half our list onto the scrap heap, perhaps our coaches should take some responsibility and actually develop what we have into good footballers. The coaches role is to oversee a strong, successful development program. We're not paying Mick a million dollars to throw our talented players because its too hard for him. Lets see him actually get something out of them.
It's the old chicken vs the egg argument. Were these guys doomed from the start, or were bad habits allowed to fester within the system we had in place? Who knows. But in the end, some may just be beyond help. Personally, I'm sick of seeing frustrating players kept around purely on talent and reputation alone, and of hearing excuses for them. When do the players have to accept responsibility for themselves? We've all witnessed the most classic example of this first-hand, and the damage it can cause.
And again, using Sydney as the example, no-one would rate them as the most talented, but would sure as shit rate them as one of the most disciplined and hard-working. No way can we make this team Sydney'esque overnight, or even before many of our softer players have truly matured and/or peaked. But perhaps by being more ruthless and showing genuine consequences for not putting in, maybe those with some hope left might just wake up. This might mean seeing some of their highly-fancied mates get the boot.
I give Mick the benefit of the doubt this year for 2 reasons:
1) A proven track record of getting the best out of players, and surrounding himself with professional backup staff to implement his plans.
2) The fact that when he first joined he was stuck with dead-weight from the previous coaching hierarchy (both in terms of players and personnel), and thus unable to get the sort of people he would've genuinely wanted.
In 2014 he'll be more able to make this team what he wants it to be, without inheriting the burdens of previous dumb choices of the past. Thus, if we're still having these conversations in 12 months time, then I'll be the first in line throwing the questions. Until then, I want to see what he can do with this team/club with the shackles now off.
Login
Register
FAQ
