Nashy, I know you say some really astounding things at time but now you're just being silly. Ivan has shown he is a good coach by leading a young team with respectable results on and off the field.
Of course Lockyer is a huge help no one doubts that but when we lose will you be the first to come out and say we are failing because Lockyer isn't leading the team well enough?
Or will Ivan cop it when we lose but when we win it's the senior players?
I'm not saying we could win lots of games without Lockyer but Ivan is THE coach, he's the one making the selections, deciding tactics, player management, training preparation, managing work load to prevent burnout, making training fun so the players enjoy it and in general providing a good environment for the players, etc.
There is far more to coaching then just on-field tactics and selecting the team on Tuesday. It's a difficult job which time and time again has had people unable to handle it for more than a year, some 6 weeks. Ivan has handled it and produced good results at a club where the expectations are enormous which would no doubt increase the pressure on Ivan to get it right. We have come out of origin this year for the best in a long time.
Last year was the first year in a while we looked like a threatening team instead of just making up the numbers and if not for Wallace getting injured, IMO we could have made the GF. We managed to keep and sign virtually every player we have wanted since he has come on as well. You can make a million excuses for that but a coach is a key factor in making a club enjoyable and players wanting to play for it and based on what we've seen you would have to say he's done a damn good job of it.
The only time this year we have been true rubbish was towards the start where we had so many players missing but since that injury frenzy has passed we have been solid since and this is a team which pre-season most were predicting would not come close to the finals because we have a massive lack of experience. Even off the field, I can't even remember us having an off-field incident this year that's also a credit to Ivan. Clinton, Sims, Micheals, three massively overpaid players who are now gone, you can bet Henjak was a key component in those releases eventuating.
Seriously Lockyer is good, really good but as good as he is, he is just a player, not the coach. Give Ivan some credit, he deserves it. Also saying "If it's who we praise for direction on the field. I'm praising Lockyer." is very misleading. Success off the field breeds success on the field, you only need to look at the best and most successful clubs and see how they are performing off the field. A good fun environment yields good results and a coach is arguably the most important factor in off field team management.
Just to make it clear I do believe Lockyer is a huge factor in our success on and off the field, his leadership around the club is truly priceless but as good as he is if the coach has no idea on how to coach/manage then it wouldn't matter who you had in the team.
