Have you seen Newcatle play the last 5 weeks?
did you see them play the first 15 weeks?
did you see the broncos play last year or the first 10 weeks of this year?
And yet you don't criticise Griffin? Can you honestly tell me there is a difference.?
im not criticising him because hes only in his second year, we were 1 game short of the grand final last year, and have had a horrible run with injuries and origin representation this year, along with a hugely noticable drop in form from our halves the last 6-8 weeks.
could we be playing better? definitely. is it all the coaches fault? nope, hes not the one getting tackled with the ball on 5th tackle every second set, and you can be damn sure hes not telling wallace/norman to get tackled with it on 5th. hes not the one missing easy tackles and not putting his hand up to take a hitup.
there is a huge difference because in our 2 years without bennett we have shown more promise in attack and defence than we did from 2001-2008, excluding about a 6 game period at the end of 2006. thats with a lineup FAR younger and more inexperienced, and lockyer in the dying stages of his career. with bennett it was the same old come out flying up top of the ladder, lost 10 games in a row mid season, win a few, then get bundled out of the finals. it was the same thing every single year. griffin hasnt even remotely shown that that is going to happen with him.
if we just continue this slide and miss the finals or just get bundled out without a fight then yes, there might be cause for concern. but you have to remember that this is the first time in, well, ever that the broncos havent had probably the best player in the game in their team. lewis, langer, lockyer.....wallace? we were ALWAYS going to struggle, new coach or 30+ year coach, and it was remarkable that we even made it this far in the top 4.