By Zolton
July 18th 2007 @ 10:26am
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The race to the finals
As the NRL season trundles onwards, the race for the top eight is looking more convoluted than ever. Statistically at least, everyone can still make it. Realistically, though, several can be cut out of the equation already, including the Roosters, the Dragons, the Titans and the Knights.
I think the Rabbitohs also are one season away from being genuine finals contenders. As for the Panthers, they are clearly a troubled club, which is surprising given that Matt Elliot – very much a team player in his day - has generally prided himself on creating a sense of kinship amongst the teams he has coached. The papers are suggesting the Matt Adamson is at the root of the problem. But one wonders whether these problems run far deeper at the foot of the mountains. Penrith seems to operate in much the same way that the Brumbies have: lead by a group of elite senior players who perhaps exert a little too much influence over the club. All of which has made for interesting headlines this year, but a string of disappointing performances on the field. So how about this for a final eight: Storm, Manly, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sharks, Eels, West Tigers, Warriors. Let us know what you think.
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spiro zavos said | July 19th 2007 @ 8:12am | Report comment
What is happening at Penrith is an interesting case study. Penrith should be the Stdney equivalent of the Broncos, with the added advantage that the club has a enormous and profitable, presumably, leagues club to support the premiership team. There is a huge junior league that should be providing an unending stream of talent, the way the Nz schools and junior clubs provide rugby talent for their provincial and national teams, And yet the Panthers are great under-performers in the competition. This is itrue, too, of St George-illawara. What is the problem? What is the answer?
rachid said | July 20th 2007 @ 12:54am | Report comment
spot on. the other team with the same embarrassing riches in the junior development department is Parramatta. Penrith, Parramatta and the Illawarra part of stgeorge-Illawarra [the dragons have no juniors and a relatively small club] are clubs who have not done nearly as well as they should have over the years. the most recent reason these clubs haven’t done well has to be the salary cap. The main objective of the cap is to even out the competition. To nullify the inherent advantage the clubs with money and juniors would have and from that perspective it has worked. The debate about the salary cap is a protracted one and cannot be completely covered as a footnote to your comment but before the cap was such a significant factor, there were no good reasons why these clubs weren’t dominating the competition except that of bad management. That’s bad senior club management and player management on the part of coaches. It takes a unique way of looking at the development of talent to turn it into a success. Good juniors in cashed up clubs are too often discarded or burnt out before they’re 18. I imagine its hard work investing in potential because the risk is so high and the reward nowhere near as immediate as buying up stars for the now.
Dennis Fitzgerald the CEO of the Parramatta Eels [for over 20 years now] inherited the reigns of what was a hugely successful club with everything going for it. He has helped grow the leagues club into a money making machine but has failed in what should be, not only the salient objective of any club CEO, but also the first line in their job description, namely, leading their club to a first grade premiership. His one good decision [apart from buying the nucleus of a very successful Bulldogs team during the height of the super league war which helped transform the Club from habitual losers into a real force] in appointing Brian Smith was thwarted by the salary cap. Smith a coach who I am highly critical of did a phenomenal job developing local juniors into a club who, had they managed to stay together, would have developed a dynasty to rival some of the greats. Their 2001 team lost a grand final and had an average age in the early 20’s. The following year the Eels lost [I think] over 10 first grade players. No club or business for that matter can be successful with such a dismal retention rate. The effort in developing talent in this instance wasn’t only not rewarded, but was sadly highlighted as a potentially negative objective. Parramatta developed talent, then could not afford to keep it which left them struggling in following years. The salary cap must be modified so this ridiculous set of circumstances does not repeat itself. Teams and coaches must be encouraged to develop their own talent.
I digress slightly from my point which was, these teams don’t win because the wrong people are being entrusted to critical positions, or maybe its the right people chasing the wrong goals. Whichever the case, these clubs and their fans should not accept not winning. Everything else aside we’re talking about a rugby league sporting team, the rest exists to support that teams endeavour to succeed. I think somehow this gets forgotten.
When you hear Matt Elliot speak about what he’s doing at the Panthers you get a sense that he understands both the necessity of developing and encouraging young talent and the implications of the salary cap on the long term stability and retention of that talent. He’s thinking beyond this year. He’s clearing the decks in what I must admit seems an extreme way to make room for the next lot of stars. He’s doing what no coach since Ron Willey and Tim Sheens has done at Penrith, that is building for the future. Gould coached them to victory but was ultimately reaping the fruits of his predecessor’s labours. Lang also won but he brought with him established external players to balance out the existing squad in an attempt to fast track success, it worked but left no legacy apart from the shadow of the Cup in the trophy cabinet.
The answer to your question Spiro is not a simple one although I may have painted it as such, I do think though that Matt Elliot is on the right track. What is sad though is he mightn’t be around long enough to enjoy it.
I won’t attempt a top 8.
As for South’s, they’ve got potential. They’re propped up by their high profiled cashed up owners, they’ve got the old Nth Sydney Bears playing on the central coast [a rugby league stronghold ] as a feeder club not to mention the positive vibe that seems to be emanating from the place. The one variable though, that they are yet to recruit is that elusive winning edge. Normally it comes with the coach. Taylor won nothing as a player and I fear he’ll follow too closely in the footsteps of his coaching mentor Brian Smith. He’ll coach teams that could win but never do.
One day I’ll post a reply that isn’t so long, more people who care about league may log onto the web site and the australian rugby league will see the error of it ways and look to correct so many areas of the game that make it difficult to support [not necessarily in that order!].
rachid