Wobbly boot marching orders
By Andrew Webster From: The Daily Telegraph September 11, 2009 12:01AM
AMID all the uncertainty at South Sydney right now, one thing is for sure about the Sunday session at Forrester's Hotel that has the future of coach Jason Taylor and forward David Fa'alogo hanging by a thread - most of them were blithering, sideways drunk.
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What has made the process so painstaking for the club's powerbrokers in this matter - especially owner Russell Crowe and chief executive Shane Richardson - is the details are sketchy. When it comes to these amber-fuelled episodes, they always are.
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According to a source who has seen the CCTV footage, the players and Taylor were wrestling and hugging all the while dressed in traditional Japanese garb in reference to rugby-bound Craig Wing. "They are smashed,'' the source said.
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Yesterday, as the texts and emails flew and television news crews waited patiently outside Souths' offices in Redfern, the mail was running strong - Taylor was gone.
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**The names of replacements were being tossed about like confetti. Football manager John Lang was the main contender. Steve Folkes. Stephen Kearney. And the rumour will not go away that Crowe would have mastercoach Tim Sheens in a heartbeat should the Wests Tigers set him free.**
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To his credit, Richardson has been adamant for the past five days that he would not be rushing this one. It was too important. So, as it stands, the outcome remains murkier than ever, with Taylor and Fa'alogo ordered to explain to the board next week why they shouldn't have their contracts torn up.
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Fa'alogo is Huddersfield-bound but has told manager Gavin Orr he doesn't want to leave the club he's served for seven seasons on a sour note.
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Taylor is an entirely different matter. Regardless of whether he has a job beyond next Tuesday, he must surely be asking himself if his position can remain tenable. How does he stand before his players on day one of pre-season training and ask them to stick solid for him after this?
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After he has allegedly tickled up a player so much that it prompted the big Kiwi forward to snot him?
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It has been widely known all season that Taylor has lost the faith of some of his players. The decision to move popular assistant coach Mark Ellison along rubbed many the wrong way. It's also been said some players feel like rats in a cage under the uber-professional rebirth of the club under Crowe.
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The grog bans imposed on them this season have miffed some players. Others complain about the tough regime of high-performance guru Errol Alcott, who drills the side with the same military precision as he did during his time with the Australian cricket team.
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It is little wonder then that the players partied like there was no tomorrow when they gathered at the popular Surry Hills watering hole on Sunday.
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The problem is that this is one hangover that just won't go away.
There you go…..Webster likes to toss things around like confetti me thinks....
