Leadership / culture

[ElleryHanley]

Tonight was our biggest game of the year...6 and 6 and season alive, or 5 and 7 and season effectively over...

Knowing that, our most senior club man flew to Spain to watch a football game. Three long flights back, gets back 4 days before the club. Comes out and is completely flat, absolutely no legs under him and walks all night.

What a surprise................................

I am not going to knock Robbie, he is 34 and wanted to go. Okay, have a good time mate...but you'll be having the next game off and if Liddle plays well, you'll lose your spot. Go if you still want to go.

Would Cooper Cronk or Cameron Smith have asked to go a week before a season defining game? Just pause a moment and think of the answer. Not. A. Chance. Would Bellamy and Robinson have allowed it? Not. A. Chance.

I don't even want to focus on this one thing. It is symptomatic of a culture where "sort of professionalism" has always been enough. How many times have we had great media weeks after a win and then lost? Think about that. Almost every time for years now. This shows where leaders are happy to mentally relax. It always happens. When was the last time we won multiple games in a row? Or won a must win game? A decade or more?

This all gets back to culture. For way, way too long we have had guys like Farah and Benji 'leading' us. Nice fellas, but neither of them are even close to 'leaders'. It has bred a culture of mediocrity with very little in the way of standards. Both have been 2 good things, 5 poor things for basically most of their careers. And guess what? We have been about a 40% footy club the whole period.

It is time to say thanks for the memories, bye bye.

Appoint Ryan Matterson club captain and let him say "follow my lead". No Robbie / Benji to cloud the leadership....remove them and let ALL the young guys in the club follow Matterson. You can see how much Aloai has improved this season following him. We need everyone to be on the same page and have a strong leader who changes the CULTURE.

It will take a couple of years, but until we get a bunch of players who are like Matterson nothing will change.

This season is done. Let's start now.

 

[Harvey]

Robbie has been walking all season. Our attack looks better with Liddle

 

[Madge]

Did anyone see when there was about 10 to go and it was our scrum feed, Robbie decided to have a nice chat and laugh to jack Wighton instead of talking to his teammates and barking instructions as to what they want to do next. Pathetic.

 

[gallagher]

Farah coming back was Cleary clutching at straws and then Pascoe re-signed him when it was clear that Cleary was leaving.
In no way did it move the team forward.

 

[ElleryHanley]

@Madge

Yes, noticed that.

I really do not want to make this about Robbie and focus on him.......................it is OUR fault we have allowed him and Benji to 'lead' the team and dictate the culture for so long.

Neither are remotely close to leaders. As a result, this is our culture.

This is what we have created as a club.

 

[Snake]

@Madge Robbie took off to Spain no problem ...if he wants to Jetset around the world bloody retire ,he was off the pace the whole game tonight yep jet lag is a [This word has been automatically removed] I know !

 

[gallagher]

@Madge Robbie took off to Spain no problem ...if he wants to Jetset around the world bloody retire ,he was off the pace the whole game tonight yep jet lag is a [This word has been automatically removed] I know !

Bit like going to the superbowl 2 weeks before the comp starts. Its a social club.

 

[ElleryHanley]

@Snake

I don't even mind that he went. He is 34 and, obviously, seeing Liverpool was more important for him that 100% prep for this game (not even debatable...multiple flights to europe and back a few days before a game is simply not the best way to prep. No one can even possibly debate that)

But he should not have played.

Liddle should have played and a young bench forward with energy.

 

[boonboon]

Harsh on Benji - he didn't do those things and you look at our performances this year we have only been decent when Benji is on the field. Even tonight we were doing ok and right in the game till Benji was injured. He provides leadership and Robbie well he is physically past it but we should also remeber they arent the leaders we have a Captain and that is where we should look to Leadership and he was no where to be seen tonight

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Farah has gone pretty much how I expected. That by mid season, most would be saying he needs to retire. He started the year great, but his form has ground to a halt, and his age has caught up to him. Time to go all in on Liddle. Nothing to lose now.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Harsh on Benji - he didn't do those things and you look at our performances this year we have only been decent when Benji is on the field. Even tonight we were doing ok and right in the game till Benji was injured. He provides leadership and Robbie well he is physically past it but we should also remeber they arent the leaders we have a Captain and that is where we should look to Leadership and he was no where to be seen tonight

Marshall has been steady. It’s Farah whose struggling to keep his head above water.

 

[ElleryHanley]

@boonboon

harsh on Benji, yes maybe.

But he had a chance to draw contact and put Esan over for an easy try.

Instead he wound up and tried the hard pass...threw it a meter too high and that was the difference. Cronk there draws the defender and puts a soft ball to his center for a try.

Not knocking Benji the person, but Benji the player has basically 'always' been 30% diamonds / 70% rocks (being generous perhaps!)

and we have also...on his day, it all looks great. But those days have always been 3 in 10.

We just need real leaders and players who make the smart plays under pressure. The percentage guys who get it right 70% of the time.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Gould rightly said we need an injection of talent both from outside and within. Clark should be promoted next game for the remainder of the year. The club should work hard to accelerate the promotion of the best of our young players. We need to work hard to get a few good buys from outside.

 

[happy_tiger]

Harsh on Benji - he didn't do those things and you look at our performances this year we have only been decent when Benji is on the field. Even tonight we were doing ok and right in the game till Benji was injured. He provides leadership and Robbie well he is physically past it but we should also remeber they arent the leaders we have a Captain and that is where we should look to Leadership and he was no where to be seen tonight

Marshall has been steady. It’s Farah whose struggling to keep his head above water.

Madge's training regime was always going to catch up with the older players

 

[ElleryHanley]

Gould rightly said we need an injection of talent both from outside and within. Clark should be promoted next game for the remainder of the year. **The club should work hard to accelerate the promotion of the best of our young players.** We need to work hard to get a few good buys from outside.

Right there in bold is EXACTLY what should happen from here on.

 

[TIGER]

Why isn't anybody mentioning Mbye?

He's supposed to be our LEADER.
There's nothing about Mbye that screams leader to me, he looks disinterested in fact just looks flat.

 

[ElleryHanley]

Why isn't anybody mentioning Mbye?

He's supposed to be our LEADER.
There's nothing about Mbye that screams leader to me, he looks disinterested in fact just looks flat.

True.