Through nothing more than the circumstances of geography, as a small boy in 1975 my team was the Eastern Suburbs Roosters.
That year they not only went back to back with premierships, running riot over St George 38–0 in the now infamous Graeme Langlands white boots, but they also set the record for consecutive wins during the competition proper – 19 matches in a row, a record which still stands.
On top of all of this they did it with a free-flowing style of ball movement that at times treated the opposition with contempt.
As a supporter, not only was I over the moon about their winning ways, but what I remember even more was the pride I felt about the way they won and played the game.
Self-indulgence aside, it made me wonder. Is it just about the winning, or does how your team wins also play a part in how you feel about your team?
Do Bulldogs supporters have more fondness in their hearts for the Canterbury 1980-premiership winning team who were dubbed ‘the entertainers’ because of their off the cuff, attacking style of play, than say the defence-focussed Canterbury premiership-winning teams of 1984-85?
Do you feel a little uncomfortable about supporting a team that plays a monotonous, robotic, mistake free style of football that wins games?
Is there a slight disconnect? Even a little embarrassment?
Does it matter to you how your team plays or is winning the be all and end all?
Christov
Guest
To take it in another direction - I think I would rather have my team show sportsmanship and lose (if they all gave it a read hot go) than see them be absolutely rubbish people and win easily.
bigJ
Guest
ha ha very funny, this is always enteraining, by the way I like your stone cutters reference in your other comment, here is one for your "Purple Monkey Dishwasher" i'll let you think about that one for a while
The Barry
Roar Guru
Come on Big John Studd... We've barley started and you're already wining...is it not enteraining? As a wise man once said "a win by a way where is game is fun"
bigJ
Guest
next comment please
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yes wining is wining, but a win by a way where is game is fun for the team wining and they get to enterain the crowd is better than a game where they barley hang on and if the game went for another minute they would of lost it. Has there ever been a paragraph containing a bigger load of gibberish than this posted on the roar?
The Barry
Roar Guru
That's fine...but you've completely missed the whole point of the question posed by the author. What you're stating is the bleeding obvious: 1. You'd rather win than lose. Brilliant. 2. You'd rather win with style than without. Who wouldn't? The question is would you rather see your team (or six teams in your case) win ugly or lose playing with style. As for Des, he's coached for 12 seasons and made the semis 11 times (92%). His teams have made the GF five times (42%) and he has two premierships (17%). Not sure why you'd be asking him about losing?
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
To summarise most of the comments: as a winning team, style matters not. As a losing team, lose pretty rather than lose ugly. Kind of like the Ipswich Jets, injuries and players being recruited to the NRL burnt their year, but damn, they have still been good fun to watch!
At work
Roar Rookie
The Dragons have been a boring team to watch since Wayne Bennett took over back in '09. Did I like the 3 years we were winning, sure I did and the Premierhsip was awesome. But we've never been able to get out of the funk of not scoring tries. Once our top notch defence teetered out we've been useless ever since. If you're going to be a loser team, you'd rather play like the Tigers instead of the Dragons.
bigJ
Guest
Sorry Barry would have to disagree with your " I’d rather see them win ugly than lose pretty." I dont like an ugly win and losing is never pretty ( you lose, you lose, just ask Des Hasler, ha ha) Yes wining is wining, but a win by a way where is game is fun for the team wining and they get to enterain the crowd is better than a game where they barley hang on and if the game went for another minute they would of lost it. For me winning is the essential part of the game but wining with a bit of style or flamboyance is the way for me.
John
Guest
I think without style the game would grow boring and my interest in it will die off. It's kind of like soccer, I used to watch it before this diving nonsense came in and before teams would score 1 or 2 goals in the first half and then use the second half to purely defend their lead. You can see it creeping into NRL in small steps (like broncos and their last 20 minutes in 2015 grand final) and it's not so widespread yet, but when winning at all costs becomes the game that's when they lose me as a supporter whether my team wins or not.
Busty McCracken
Guest
I'd say it's more the context than anything. For example as a Manly fan, I value the 2008 premiership far more highly than 96 or 2011. The disaster that was northern eagles and leans years made that premiership far more rewarding as a fan. I'm sure Storm fans would rate 2012 higher due to salary cap redemption than say 2007.
Nat
Roar Guru
I think it is the club you support. Their playing style can vary depending on the coach, trends etc. As a Qlder it is great to watch the spirit and flair in which the Cowboys and Broncos play but I would just as soon settle for a Melbourne playing style if a premiership was the result.
Albo
Guest
Yep ! As a professional game with big money involved for clubs & players, the ultimate goal is to win matches all the way through to the main prize in October. "Whatever it takes' to win would be the priority driver of all NRL teams, I would have thought ? Whether winning ugly or with entertaining moves is a determined generally by the quality of a team's roster, but priority one would always be to win the match. Entertainment value is the bonus factor that does have importance when it comes to enhancing Club balance sheets & player contract values as it can attract more support from the public and from commercial interests.
The Barry
Roar Guru
It's an interesting point. I'd love to see my team win with an attacking style but I'd rather see them win ugly than lose pretty. So for me, short of actually cheating, it's the end result that counts.