The Wayne Bennett Super thread!

[ningnangnong]

I
This is a WB thread and both AP and myself were discussing WB. Why don't people simply ignore the posts and moderate other much more important issues. There was nothing offensive or controversial written.

Er no, you were discussing WB in a thread about Anthony Griffin. Your posts were moved to the relevant thread - this one.

You're more than welcome to continue discussing WB in this thread, because this thread is specifically about WB.

 

[Huge]

Re: Sack Griffin

The reality is the game has changed significantly in the last 5 years, particularly in the area of coaching. Like players, coaches have an identifiable style. bennett bases his 'game' on Jack Gibson, who was seen as a great innovator and the first 'supercoach'. Gibson's methodology was to ensure his teams conceded fewer penalties and mistakes than his opponents. by preying on mistakes, field poision and possession could be dominated and points could be accrued. he also was involved in the emergence of the modern player shape- players could play in a number of positions and fit the team mould. bennett has adopted this approach and has had success with it- grinding style, mistake free, simple plays with one central player who controls the plays. bennett also believed at one stage that the role of a creative organising player was redundant. Think of life after Alfie where he played a number of players without any great skill i n the 6 and 7 in the belief that th e machine would continue to role on. what has changed now is there are a number of coaches who exploit this play and don't offer the mistakes to halt their momentum. In other words, the aspects of play that the Bennett teams rely on, mistakes from others, has dried up. the basic plays served up are also less effective because there are ferer of them and therefore the grind and momentum dominance is less effective. The new breed is streets ahead of Wayne as he is unable to or willing to recognize the change. Bellamy is so effective because he has taken lots from the Bennett and Gibson styles and added some crucial variations. Unfortunately, Wayne has had his day- an amazing legacy and a great man, but now sadly out of touch with the modern game.

Your last line amazed me...! WB is out of touch with the modern game ! Exactly when did that happen ? Obviously it must have been in the last 24 to 30 months ! I was under the impression St George won in 2010 and that was a WB coached side. So this loss occurred just recently I take it. If that's the case then lots of other coaches are out of touch too. From memory that WB side were minor premiers.

Your reference to Gibson stated that WB 'based' his game on Gibson. Influenced would have been my choice of word. One of Gibsons great strengths , and something you yourself acknowledged was his ability to be a progressive thinker, he evolved and was well known for his innovative style. Somehow you believe WB missed this salient fact and thought he knew it all and needed no advice from anyone. Meanwhile the game passed him by and he became out of touch, all that in the last two years !

I believe WB understands very well the importance of innovation and I'm absolutely certain he is aware of all developments in the game.It is easy to adopt the line pedalled by some but the reality is very different.

 

[Huge]

My apologies . This is , as is pointed out a thread about sacking Griffin. My bad. Feel free to shift my posts to the appropriate place.

 

[ningnangnong]

No [MENTION=1992]COMPOUND FRACTURE[/MENTION], chillax, you're in the correct thread now!

All the irrelevant posts in the Griffin topic were moved HERE, TO THIS THREAD, which is the Wayne Bennett topic. :handshake:

 

[Huge]

Sweet as bro..:scared:

 

[Coxy]

And there's no drama talking about Bennett...but it has been done a thousand times. The inevitable result is that AP will argue Bennett was satan, you will argue he was a saint, and it will go around in circles.

What effect his departure and the manner of it has had on the club as it stands now is debatable. What's not debatable is that the club now, on the field, is worse now than it was at the end of 2008.

Whether that's the loss of Bennett or the loss of Lockyer is the question. I think it's both, but more so Lockyer. The succession planning for Lockyer's retirement was abysmal, and it centred on a mediocre redhead from NSW, and a kid with 2 first names who had all the praise heaped on him but never had the mental mettle to handle the position.

 

[LittleDavey]

Apologies if this is OT - but didn't succession planning for Locky fall apart well before PW and CN? I'm thinking back to Berrick Barnes (why oh why did we lose that kid...) and KHuntie...surely we would have been a different team with Berrick at #7, KHunt still being better than Slater at #1, then pushing up to 5/8th on Locky's retirement?

Berrick Barnes and KHunt (IF he had've kept playing)...now THERE'S a halves pairing I'd give my left nut to have on board...

 

[Anonymous person]

Khunt in the halves....lol

I'd rather Wallace

 

[Kaz]

I'm thinking back to Berrick Barnes (why oh why did we lose that kid.

Because he was always a Union person.

 

[Coxy]

Yeah, Hunt wasn't in the picture as a halves option, but he was in the picture to be a leader of the backline from fullback. And he would've been great too. Imagine if we had his ability now on that 2nd man play? I know people bagged him when he was with us, but he was worth 2-3 tries a game working that play.

His loss was sad, but I think mostly self inflicted. He never got over the bagging he got for Toiletgate...and to be honest, he deserved it. Not in a legality sense, not even a moral sense (if you want to bang a chick with 2 other blokes, who am I to judge?) but the fact he and the others were out on a bender during the finals series. Just not good enough.

But I don't want this to derail into a debate about toiletgate, because again I think AP and CF will be at eachother.
My point is the aftermath of that criticism probably contributed to his decision to leave Rugby League. If there's a sport with a more vicious and destructive media I haven't seen it. If he was an AFL player (oh look, he is) and he got up to stuff like that, it'd only ever become news if it involved a teammate's wife.

Fact is, he was a key part of life after Locky, and we lost him.

 

[Kaz]

My point is the aftermath of that criticism probably contributed to his decision to leave Rugby League.

IMO: KHunt didn't think his own shit didn't stink & then the media had the hide to criticise his royal highness.

 

[Coxy]

IMO: KHunt didn't think his own **** didn't stink & then the media had the hide to ccriticise his royal highness.

No doubt. His ego is out of control.

 

[Dexter]

This thread will endure for years to come, WB will be back when he is finished at the Knights, hopefully to put in place his original plan.

 

[Anonymous person]

So we pushed Bennett out because we were boring predictable and full of nice guy nuffies?!? And how is that different to how we are now?

Read the last line of the post of mine that you quoted. That's your answer.

Bennett needed to be gone, we got rid of him, but then we replaced him with someone who had no clue, which is what started us down this path.

For funsies: http://www.leaguefreak.com/is-wayne...aste-of-money-in-rugby-league-right-now-4564/

"Is Wayne Bennett The Biggest Waste Of Money In Rugby League Right Now?"

 

[Dexter]

Like any whinge that only scratches the surface of what WB brings to a club. Personally, I have been a critic of his coaching style of probably the last 10 years but I am still a massive fan of his and always will be.

I tend to scoff at simplistic views like that one which only point out the negatives.

 

[Coxy]

Where Bennett is still head and shoulders above all other coaches, Bellamy included, is in getting the support and morale of the players. With a few exceptions (usually players who copped his wrath due to their poor attitude), you'd be hard pressed to find a player he's coached that doesn't name him as one of the best positive influences on their career.

But Dexter's right, tactically he's off track.

 

[tkday]

I honestly think WB had to go, his time was up. He was stale at the Broncos and our performances were reflecting that. What we didn't handle was his replacement and Coxy is right with Lockyer. That was the biggest mistake, to not replace him. We were right up in 2011 before Locky had his cheeckbone fracture (that was 2011 right?). He made up for what our coach lacked. Problem is, how do you replace someone like him? All I know is that the Broncos have shown how NOT to plan for when someone like Locky leaves a club. At this stage though, WB would still be a hell of a lot better than Griffin, but I still don't want him back.

 

[Coxy]

You simply can't "replace" someone like Lockyer. The Broncos went through that when Langer retired. There's no replacing him, it's a matter of getting the best player for the position that suits the rest of the players around them.

I think the Broncos tried to go down the path of setting up a generic player roster where most players could fit anywhere else in the team so they could chop and change and find the best combination. Unfortunately, the result is we've got a team full of jack of all trades but few specialists.

Gus raved about it in 2010 how we've got all these kids that are carbon copies and so we'll have a blueprint of a dynasty....3 years on, we've shown that's not the case. It doesn't help that we've tried to coach the things that differentiate the individuals out of them. eg Gillett's offloads.