I do this at the risk of ridicule, but with yet another junior signing his life to the Tigers, I am going to go out on a limb and compare Sheens to Jack Gibson in terms of a man manager and not only getting the best out of a player on the field, but also off of it. There's very few coaches who are gifted with the ability to command the respect and loyalty of a whole playing group and especially in extraordinary circumstances such as the NRL, where clubs have to contend with salary caps, limited earning power for players and a saturated representative market (thanks largely to the knobhead NSW selectors for handing out jerseys like lollies.)
Sheens has taken on a core group of players from 2003-2005 and built a side around them. He has instilled a sense of loyalty (the cynic could argue indoctrination due to the age of these players,) in this playing group toward each other and the club. It's amazing that we're in an age where players are readily leaving their club to go elsewhere to chase the bucks, that we have had the likes of Farah, Payten, Heighington, Benji, Ellis & now Bryce signing on (or close enough to,) for life. Hopefully Fulton, Lui, Ayshford, Moltzen and Lawrence will follow suit.
A large congratulations has to go to Sheens and a lesser extent Warren McDonnell for the retention of these players.
Well said, CB, and I couldn't agree more. For al the armchair critics who have no idea what Tim is actually like, this should at least make them think about how the players think of him. Goo don you Bryce, and good on you Tim!
