What a load of bollocks. I've never seen anywhere or heard anything about Bennett sending a message down to the players in that grand final saying ( shut up shop boys, 20 mins to go ). Show me some proof of that please.
If Hunt didnt spear tackle Linnett about 5 mins from the end they dont get back field position. If Hunt has better ball security he doesnt get stripped one on one which lead to their try in the last minute. If Hunt doesnt drop a basic catch from a kick off, they dont get field position to score. Hunt derped it up as much as Macca did. Even after Macca missing parker, we should still have won. We were in a winning position. That was all down to Hunt.
Good post, mate.
I don't want to re-open old wounds or derail the post game discussion but the myth that Bennett told us to shut up shop in the 2015 decider needs to be corrected.
Here's Corey Parker reflecting on the game:
'Wayne was cool at halftime, because he knew there was a good game of footy going on. There was just some little things he wanted us to tidy up, but he told us to keep playing footy and to keep doing what we were doing.'
He goes on to say:
'We were criticised after the game for shutting down in the second half, but all we were doing was backing our defence, which had been solid all year and one of the reasons we had made the grand final.'
He seem more dirty on himself for failing to put JT on the ground in the final play than anything Bennett did or said.
Here is Sam Thaiday's take on it:
'The mood in the locker room was overwhelmingly positive. There was a lot of belief in this team. We knew the Cowboys would hit back hard in the second half but we were confident we could win the arm wrestle.'
Over the Christmas break I dug up an old issue of Big League from 2003. It's funny that even back then Wayne was too old, out of touch, doesn't understand the modern game etc.
This all actually hints at something I'm starting to think is true - that the coach has very little, if any, power over what happens when the players actually run onto the field.
The obsession of the fans over who coaches their teams is sometimes really puzzling to me.
Seibold looked impressive giving directions in the box but what did it amount to?
For me, it was just same old, same old.
There were some positives for sure. We broke the Storm easily when Oates scored his first try. It goes without saying the Melbourne Storm are very strong defensively but that was a bit too easy. If we can tidy up the penalties and loose carries we'll be tough for teams to hold out.
Sources:
Iron Man by Corey Parker with Stuart Honeysett
Tries, Lies & Meat Pies: The Sam Thaiday Story by Sam Thaiday with James Colley