Tim spoke for over 3 hours and was very generous with his time. Emma Lawrence was the interviewer. He spoke very well as usual but when asked about the Junior Reps he was quite positive & Young was the one mentioned. He did say they are starting to see more rugby school kids coming through to league (e.g. Illias to Souths and presumably others from schools like Joeys to WTs). He was particularly happy with the numbers that applied for Junior Reps this year across the board.
Made some interesting comments:
- Prefers the term "supporter" to "fan" as fans blow from side to side!
- He views the ability to attack more important than defence (referenced 2005) with individual players;
- Whilst he may not always agree with the coach, he would never steamroll them with his views a la other clubs;
- He is not keen to risk AD come back this year ("knees are like wet cement") or others that have recently had knee issues such as Blore but the club will listen to the medicos about any clearance;
- Pretty sure Crichton was mentioned that WTs had had discussions but a lot of this can be manager driving up prices with their existing club;
- Doesn't believe young talent should be asking for the inflated amounts their managers are asking until they prove themselves into their mid-late 20s;
- Frustration pointed out around the timing of COE but certainly wasn't indicating that he thought it will change things overnight but a "nice to have" attracting future talent;
- The club does have a plan to get back to glory days - I must admit I wasn't clear exactly what that was but there were a few distractions in the room.
Anyway, probably haven't given the forum any new observations with this post. I did think he spoke impressively and positively (without rose coloured glasses) which gave me hope. There were no inappropriate stories and the ones he did tell were quite funny. He hung around after he finished to talk to people who went up and thanked him for the night.
Certainly, he has his heart in the right place. He was asked how long he was going to stay at the club and he joked that it was a contract for 3 years but that it can be as short as one year these days or if all goes well hopefully extended.