Mick Potter was a man with 24 hours to live according to the rumour mill. Major news outlets reported that Potter was to be be sacked after Sunday’s match against the Dragons, win or lose, following Brian Smith’s internal review of Wests Tigers.
He has until the end of the season now, thankfully.
If the Tigers powers brokers do opt to end Potter’s involvement with the club then, to put it simply, they are morons.
The Tigers were instilled as wooden spoon favourites to begin the season, and with six rounds to play they find themselves just two points adrift of the top four.
Yet some how Potter’s position is under threat, from the unproven forces of Todd Payten and David Kidwell.
If the Tigers sack Potter then the last two seasons have been almost a complete waste. Potter in conjunction with new CEO Grant Mayer have secured the hottest young talent in the competition, and made the tough but correct decision to bench Benji Marshall and then refuse to be held to ransom over an under performing star.
Whether Potter fails to communicate with his players is completely irrelevant. He has proven he is capable of making tough decisions. He has helped to provide much needed consistency that has not been seen at the club since 2010. Despite a horrendous injury toll, his team is in the finals mix and results speak for themselves.
Even if the Tigers were to fall short of playing finals football in 2014 this season has been a success. On the matter of communication Wayne Bennett is notoriously dreadful at press conferences, Potter similarly struggles when dealing with the press and the only person who is providing documented evidence of player unrest and poor communication is Brian Smith.
This is a man involved in the collapse of both the Roosters and the Sharks. The very validity of these accusations is resultantly questionable.
Under Tim Sheens players like the outstanding Tim Simona were left to languish in reserve grade while perennial under performers such as Blake Ayshford were given a mortgage on the position. It is also unlikely that under a different coach we would have seen Mitchell Moses any time before late 2015. Blake Austin would have probably been left to perish in reserve grade, similar to Dane Chisolm a few seasons ago.
In 2014 Potter has exceeded expectations, instilled confidence in his young players, mongrel in his forwards, achieved consistently good performances from the previously struggling Adam Blair and has also overseen the best two seasons of the man who apparently has the biggest issue, Robbie Farah.
The Tigers are in a precarious position here, very similar to that of a marriage break up. While Potter may not be perfect he has created a level of trust that has created stability amidst chaos.
The Tigers need to reflect and assess this as if it were indeed a marriage. While certain things can be improved Potter’s tenure is a work in process.
Unless they can be 100 per cent certain that cutting ties with him will result in increased progression and control within the club, then they must give him time to continue building.
The worst thing that could be done is to again throw a rookie coach in the ring and expect an era’s worth of results in the space of a year.
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