Rabbitohs: same people making the same wrong decisions

Sure Matt?

and who pray tell is that Andrew?

This article is spot on. John Lang, a tired old fellow now, is there as a fall guy. He'll be the sacrificial lamb for a bad season so that the real problem, the management can save themselves. It was Nick Pappas and Shane Richardson managing the club since 2004 that drove the club into needing privatisation because it was insolvent. Nick Pappas admitted this at the EGM to vote for privatisation. But these guys are still there. Same chairman, same CEO. There are many others still there as well. Trainers, board members, assistants. All of them carrying the same culture. None of these people will put their hands up and accept blame. But Nick Pappas, who has been chairman since April 2003, should be the first one falling on his sword for the good of the club. He must take many others with him. Otherwise Russell Crowe's dream will fail completely.

its a bit early to start writing them off. The game had a lot of emotion, a big crowd etc and as we know, its a looong season. The injury toll at this early stage could cause some serious depth problems but we'll see.

Says it all about the Rabbitohs when Beau Champion's first statement about the Storm included something along the lines of "they train much harder than at the Rabbit's".

One of the cardinal sins in sport, is sacking the coach early, mid or late in a season. Just ask the Brumbies. If you have faith in the coach at the beginning of a season, you stick with him until the end of the season. It's that simple. To sack Lang now would only demonstrate the poor judgement, foresight & leadership of the administration. Again, just ask the Brumbies. I agree Lang may not be part of the future, but he is critical to the present. Also, consider this - he's laying the foundations that some other coach will benefit from in the future.

That's okay, I do it all the time meself!

Problem is John Lang had some time out of being head coach whereas Bennett has powered on for over 20 years and Sheens pretty much has too (save for the 'stress leave' after the cowboys, but who wouldn't be stressed coaching thos blokes in the 90s!). Lang sadly reminds me a lot of Chris Anderson at the Roosters and seems to be out of ideas and letting the boys wing it a bit too much..however i think you could say the same for the Broncos and cows last night. Will be a joy to watch the dragons or storm execute a game plan this weekend and not just offload (read drop the ball) at will.

I think they should bite the bullet now and fire Lang. He is not the future of the club, and it's best just to give someone else a chance for the rest of the season, if they want to be a chance to make the finals.

Sheek, that was a typo, sorry

It's Sheek, not Shrek, & by limited resources I was referring to the playing roster, Inglis a few others aside. John Lang might be getting on, but you soon find out what's going on when you take up coaching again. Age isn't a problem - look at Bennett & Sheens. FYI, Bennett, Sheens & Lang were all born in 1950. Bennett in January, Sheens in October & Lang in November.

Shrek, limited resources? A 20 million refurbished redfern, Greg Inglis etc. Hardly limited resources. No doubt John Lang is a nice bloke and WAS a good coach but he seems out of touch with the modern game.

One person I wouldn't criticize is head coach John Lang. He's a terrific coach & a good bloke to boot. I reckon he's done a terrific job with limited resources. The Rabbitohs have a of handful or so of capable players. But what they really miss is a couple of genuine leaders in both the forwards & Backs. Guys like Cameron Smith & Cooper Cronk. I can't see the Rabbitohs being premiership challengers until they find these guys of guys for their team - perhaps two leaders/excellent players in both forwards & backs. Take Greg Inglis, he's an outstanding talent who knows how to get himself up for a game. But he's not really a mentor type of player who can pass on his knowledge & experience. Nor is he an organiser.

As a long time Rabbitoh member I can't agree more with Off the bench - the players put in no doubt but it's same old same old. Apart from Merrit's try which was a well worked but simple play everything else was opportunitistics. The Rabbitohs cannot afford to wing it all of the time - they have no plan - they have no variation in attack (classic 20 metres out from the opposition line what do they do? what are they coached to do?) - they only seem to be in the moment, not what could happen to you (good example the high short kick off targetting Sandow). The team: coaching staff and players need to wake up - playing one out footy with barging forwards and the sending it out the backs with no aim in mind - defence, when they are not running straight up at you, is woeful - it just doesn't cut it - it did play under 8s 40 years ago it doesn't today. Don't get me wrong I want the RABBITOHS back up there, but you need to honest with yourself and having one of the highest points for and highest points against is a clear measure that things are not happening as they should, so they need to discussed and addressed.

I tend to agree with the article. We have lost some good players to make way for Inglis. For the club's sake I hope it works. But the observations about training were confirmed by Champion's comments now at the Storm, and Sandow with the President's XIII. I think a clean out needs to start with Richo, don't know how he keeps flying under the radar. Also heard from someone in the know at the club and it was said John Lang has nothing left in the coaching tank. For all South's fans I hope we are wrong because there are great positives with memberships & sponsors. However, we need success to sustain this.

Gee whiz. Now lets look at it from a possitive veiw. A neutral fan who enjoyed what he seen from the bunnies. Geeting hammered and busted for the first 40 minutes, the best forward on the park was Asotasi. 3 men down in the second half, they produced a remarkable comeback. Running short of steam in the last 5 minutes brought them undone. Mate, your hard on this team that busted their guts last nite. They could have just rolled over and you could have sunk the boot in, but they gave 110%. Nothing wrong with this club, every club goes through a bad run, look at the cowboys. This will not mean that people give up on them, just means they need to try a little bit harder. Thank goodness i am not trying to live up to your expectations.