Wayne's World No Longer Relevant

[Thelmus]

Wayne's downfall was putting his trust in Hunt. He flicked Taylor and told Ben that he was our HB for the foreseeable future only for him to play like rubbish and then run off to a huge contract. Hindsight is 20/20, but he should have cut Hunt instantly after 2015 and gone with Taylor.

It also doesn't help that Taylor virtually lied to us about coming back only to sign a kamikaze deal with the GC. I say kamikaze because it not only fucked our future up, but it also guaranteed that the tits will be outside of the 8 for the duration of Taylor's contract.

Edit: On the dragons. They have this year to win the comp. With Hunt on 1.2 mil and their pack playing like men possessed their squad is going to get torn apart after this season. They aren't really setting themselves up for a Storm like legacy IMO.



What I want to know is how clubs like the Dragons, Titans, and Knights can pay extreme overs for blokes and still sign players/ have decent squads? At least with the Roosters and Storm they pay big for a core group of good players and then use jrs/ journeymen.

Let me get this straight. You'd have sacked one of the best players in our team and replaced him with an untried half, yet to play one game of nrl, based on a dropped ball.
I do wish I had your prescience , but us mere mortals (wb included) don't have that ability. Shame.
If you said that one of our untested halves should be given a go now I'd agree with you, but in 2015: no chance.

 

[WASSHHH]

That's the catch .22 it seems with Bennett - a lot of these young players are coming because they want to play under him, but as a side we are like a car with cylinder issues (and i'm not even a car guy!).

if we get rid of him, sure we might run on all cylinders, but will those players stick around? Even if we move him upstairs, they won't be coached by him anymore so will that be enough to have them look elsewhere? I'm not saying we should hang onto him at all costs because we don't want to lose players, but at some point there has to be a trade off.

Whoa!

Things are dire, but there’s no need to start talking about having him bumped off...

:porthozthinksthisishot::porthozthinksthisishot::porthozthinksthisishot:

 

[I bleed Maroon]

So he should have cut the halfback who lead the team to within 5 seconds of the premiership for a rookie that had done literally nothing (and FTR has still done nothing 2 years later) ...

are you fucking serious

Ummm, that's nice and all, but that doesn't change the fact that we ended up with neither of them.

I feel like a broken record about this at this point but I must keep on saying it as a vent to stop myself from punching my wall: our recruitment and retention over the past 2 or so years has been fucking AWFUL, and I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that it is half the reason why we find ourselves in this shithouse position on field and won't be fixed until we're back in the off season with......oh, a mostly used chequebook.

 

[Slippin Jimmy]

Spurious comparison
in 2006 after 10 games:

for 238
against 178
total F/A +60
6 games scored 30+

7-3 record

as opposed to a current f/a of -46 after 10 rounds, having not hit 30 points once.

5-5 record

plus we also had a significantly better side with hunt, tate, hodges, berrigan, lockyer, webcke, civo, thorn, carroll.

just because something happened in the past, under completely different circumstances and with completely different personnel, doesn't mean it has any correlation at all to present day.

(i was also here in 2006 under the same pseudonym, most of us thought we were a chance depending on how we 1) got through origin and 2) how we went post origin, as in 03, 04 and 05 we had terrible post origin slumps that effectively killed us in the post season)

I'm not sure why you thought I was comparing the exact same period of time from 2006. The context in which the vultures were out for WB in 2006 was after a string of losses post-Origin 3 that were very reminiscent of the previous three seasons. I'm sure you could look up the stats for post-Origin games from 2003 to 2005 for some pretty dire reading. The fact that we had a much better roster then made the case against WB all the more damning.

My aim wasn't to compare the exact circumstances of then and now anyway, just as I'm sure badyon wasn't trying to say things were exactly the same back in 1999. My aim was to say that some of the criticism leveled at WB has a very familiar ring to it and that maybe caution should be exercised before writing him off.

 

[WASSHHH]

I'm not sure why you thought I was comparing the exact same period of time from 2006. The context in which the vultures were out for WB in 2006 was after a string of losses post-Origin 3 that were very reminiscent of the previous three seasons. I'm sure you could look up the stats for post-Origin games from 2003 to 2005 for some pretty dire reading. The fact that we had a much better roster then made the case against WB all the more damning.

My aim wasn't to compare the exact circumstances of then and now anyway, just as I'm sure badyon wasn't trying to say things were exactly the same back in 1999. My aim was to say that some of the criticism leveled at WB has a very familiar ring to it and that maybe caution should be exercised before writing him off.

At what stage though does Bennett’s history become simply that, history?

The realists understand that we simply can’t keep assuming he will turn it around just because he has in the past. That should not be misread as saying he can’t do it, but we can’t just blindly trust that he can.

10 rounds in and we look utterly awful and completely rudderless. Poor Milford is busting his gut, being forced to play a role unfamiliar to him (and that considered, quite well I might add) whilst getting absolutely no support from anyone else in the spine. What’s worse though, and you can see it written all over his face, he’s not enjoying himself.

Our young forwards are more than pulling their weight. Our backs are doing their best to work with the massive disconnect between them and our forwards. But it’s just not working. Everyone can see that.

When I watch this team, I can’t help but think I’ve never watched a team that makes more fundamental errors than this one. It’s like they don’t train together. The excuse about no pre-season, no combinations etc. just doesn’t fly anymore. Why? For starters, 10 weeks is enough to at least start to move in the right direction. And constantly chopping and changing positions, mid game FFS, is counterintuitive.

I don’t want to be all doom-and-gloom, but I also can’t bring myself to polish the turd that is season 2018 like some (not pointing the finger at you) on here seem to keep doing.

When do we start seeing some improvement? Any improvement?

 

[Cult]

Can we stop acting like our main problems aren't dropping the ball, having our bench utility play halfback and getting run over every week, our winger coming off his wing too often and injuries?

We can't do set plays because we can't hold onto the ball.
We can't defend like previous years because we have speed bumps out there and our winger doesn't understand how numbers work.
We can't play well because we have too many second string players out there.

It's so obvious and anything else is a massive reach at this point of time.

 

[Reyter]

2015 - now

Regular season: Won 53 Lost 29 (the second best record in the NRL)
Post season: GF, Semi final, Prelim final

Did I mention SECOND BEST record in the NRL? And yet you are extremely disappointed? **** me dead...

In 1991, every man and his dog was saying Bennett was washed up, stuck in his ways and had to go. The CM was baying for blood every fucking day -- all offseason. And how did the next few seasons work out?

In 1999, we didn't win any of our first ten matches - and suddenly Bennett (once again) couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag. We still made the finals that year and won the comp the next year.

We've had the heart and soul of our pack out injured virtually all year - and yet we are just one win away from the top 4.

How about 2014 to now?

I've been a little critical of Bennett. Not too much but enough to have "Wolfie" (that is a terrible usename!) and a few orhers flip out on me. Regardless, I agree with "Morepudding" in that he knows his career is coming to an end and went all out to get one more premiership regardless of the future.

If we won everyone, especially Wolfy, would have been building shrines to WB around town and then denounced the next coach when the wheels fell off due to all WBs backended deals. But we didn't win and now unless there is consistent and even somewhat drastic improvement, I think he is going to be under a lot of pressure to see out his contract. IMO rightfully so.

 

[Renegade]

Can we stop acting like our main problems aren't dropping the ball, having our bench utility play halfback and getting run over every week, our winger coming off his wing too often and injuries?

We can't do set plays because we can't hold onto the ball.
We can't defend like previous years because we have speed bumps out there and our winger doesn't understand how numbers work.
We can't play well because we have too many second string players out there.

It's so obvious and anything else is a massive reach at this point of time.

I see .. so who is responsible for having a bench utility play halfback? You act as if all these conditions are totally by fluke and that absolutely nothing could be done about it.

 

[Rico]

One of my major disappointments with Wayne for his entire career is that he has let his hatred for the media overrule having a decent relationship with members and supporters. He could have used them as a way to take people on the journey and communicate his plans but chose never to go down that path which leads us to think he doesn’t have one (he obviously does). That’s not good enough in this day and age. Premier league and NBA fans wouldn’t cop 3 minutes a week grunting at people after a game as an acceptable means of letting supporters know what’s happening at your club, particularly when things aren’t going well.

 

[Cult]

I see .. so who is responsible for having a bench utility play halfback? You act as if all these conditions are totally by fluke and that absolutely nothing could be done about it.

Jeez, that conversation has never been had on here. I think we can all agree that not having a halfback was an error, but we don't have money to pay for one because our five-eight said he was going to sign with Melbourne. But can you argue that we can't do shit if we can't hold onto the ball? How does a coach fix that?

 

[tommy]

"Wolfie" (that is a terrible usename!)

I think it's a really lovely username.

 

[Reyter]

I think it's a really lovely username.

Sounds to me like a nickname for a stray, and possibly rabid dog. This perhaps explains his or her "charming personality".

 

[Renegade]

Jeez, that conversation has never been had on here. I think we can all agree that not having a halfback was an error, but we don't have money to pay for one because our five-eight said he was going to sign with Melbourne. But can you argue that we can't do shit if we can't hold onto the ball? How does a coach fix that?

You don't think potentially a q cup half could do a better job? I guess that's what some of our frustration stems from, doing the same thing when it's clear it's not the path forward.

Would you rather try something and fail or continue on the same path where the indications are that it will end the same way?

I agree the coach isn't at fault for bad possession but for an out of position utility and bad defence including wingers coming off their line I think they are definitely accountable.

 

[Cult]

You don't think potentially a q cup half could do a better job? I guess that's what some of our frustration stems from, doing the same thing when it's clear it's not the path forward.

Would you rather try something and fail or continue on the same path where the indications are that it will end the same way?

I agree the coach isn't at fault for bad possession but for an out of position utility and bad defence including wingers coming off their line I think they are definitely accountable.

I do. But what is any halfback going to do if the players around him keep dropping the ball?

And there is absolutely no way that Bennett hasn't told Isaako to stop coming in and leaving his opposition winger unmarked. Zero chance. Isaako is a professional rugby league player. He should understand that if you don't stand in front of someone they'll run around you. Shit, if we know than they certainly do. That goes for absolutely every obvious thing ever said on this forum as well.

 

[Renegade]

I do. But what is any halfback going to do if the players around him keep dropping the ball?

We are 11th for handling errors on 98, 6 more than the lowest team (92). Do you really think handling errors are the main issue? Sure they're a contributing factor but there are 10 teams higher than us including 5 teams that are higher than us on the ladder.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/stats/teams?sortBy=errors

 

[Cult]

We are 10th for handling errors on 98, 6 more than the lowest team (92). Do you really think handling errors are the main issue? Sure they're a contributing factor but there are 9 teams higher than us including 5 teams that are higher than us on the ladder.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/stats/teams?sortBy=errors

Yeah because if you watched the games you'd realise that our errors happen at important times. Like when we are behind and just started our comeback. The moments people expect a halfback to control a game.

 

[Renegade]

Yeah because if you watched the games you'd realise that our errors happen at important times. Like when we are behind and just started our comeback. The moments people expect a halfback to control a game.

Ah the old, if you've watched the games angle. Sorry to disappoint but I've seen all of them, hence the frustration at how poor our side has been. Interesting to note that we are 4th in one pass hitups and 3rd last in in play passes which indicates, like most of us who watch the games can see, that we are poorly coached in attack and have no variety.

 

[Cult]

Ah the old, if you've watched the games angle. Sorry to disappoint but I've seen all of them, hence the frustration at how poor our side has been. Interesting to note that we are 4th in one pass hitups and 3rd last in in play passes which indicates, like most of us who watch the games can see, that we are poorly coached in attack and have no variety.

Because every time we try something else the players drop the ball. They aren't good enough to do anything else often enough to bother.