Little things that made the difference in 2010

E

Eddie

New member
Little things have made the difference for us in 2010, and the clubs admin and coaching staff need to take credit for a few big calls they made in the off season. What has turned us from a 10-12 win club who constantly fell short, into a 2nd placed outfit challenging for the title again?. I think the coaching and admin staff raised the ambition and decided that the small time mentality had to change. We had to raise our ambition, be more bullish and act like winners.
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* Getting rid of the dead wood - Don't want to dwell on the negatives but smart business decisions were used over loyal decisions. Letting go the likes of Collis, Halatau, Payne, Morris, Laurie, Tagive, Hanbury, Danny Galea. We needed to send some sort of message and this was the start.

* Lote Tuqiri Signing -Ok he has had a great season on the field however that is not my point. I think his signing goes well beyond that. Essentially all Tuqiri has done has been a direct replacement for Tuiaki and last season we finished 9th. This was a statement of intent from the club. A belated statement of ambition getting the CEO to fly across the world to pull out this signing. No more small time mentality. I think Lote has a bit of an aura about him and it gave the players confidence in the club's direction, gave the fans a lift. Lote's presence alone made our players grow a foot taller so to speak.

* Steve Folkes - Probably the most under rated signing for any club this season. Sheens swallowed his pride a little here and allowed another First Grade caoch to come on Board and address our weaknesses. Folkes was signed to make our team fitter, our minds tougher. As a result we have won a stack of close games.We have now mixed the flashy with the grind required to be consistent in this competition and stop a a season from imploding. I now believe we have one of the mentally stronger and tighter bunch of players in the NRL and Folkes needs to take a large amount of cred for this.

* Depth Signings - Got to admit I got this wrong. Guys like Mckinnon, Flanagan, Brown and Daniella have proved pretty handy depth players when injuries have stuck. Cheap purchases that have worked hard and played their part. Giving us close to 25 decent first graders.

* Decision to add 1 more game at both our traditional grounds Leichhardt and Campbelltown. Trying to re-establish a more even balance between financial gain and real home ground advantage. 7 wins from 8 at home this year. = Top 4, good call.

* Existing Players and Coaches change of mentality - Lastly and perhaps most importantly. Im talking about the group that have been around from 2005\. Sheens and Farah have mentioned it a few times this season. "Do whatever it takes to win, stuff the process, just win the game". This mentality was a clear sign we were not going to put up with close enough is good enough attitude.

All Little things, combined made for a much more enjoyable and profitable season. Sadly I think Lawrence being out may just stop us from winning this competition. However these factors above are starting to convince me we will still be alive in the 3rd week of the finals with a bit of luck.
 
agree 100%

hate to say this about players but i was so happy to see the back of collis and payne, they were 2 that i just dreaded take to the field and touch the ball. collis though has improved alot at sharks so good for him.

tigers have come along way in 12 months and i think alot of that has come from humphreys aswell. At the end of the say this is a business and it needs a dependable head who knows what they are doing to be succesful. cheers!
 
Great article, Eddie. I think that Folkes has made a big difference. I also think that Sheens' loyalty to his chosen players has largely been rewarded.

Always remember, though - do any of your points account for Luke Burt missing the penalty goal with two minutes on the clock? A bit of luck goes a long way.
 
very good, yeah winning all those close games, when in previous years, we would have lost maybe half of them.
 
@BrissieTiger67 said:
hate to say this about players but i was so happy to see the back of collis **and payne**, they were 2 that i just dreaded take to the field and touch the ball. collis though has improved alot at sharks so good for him.
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Have to disagree there BT. However useless Payne may have been on the field, he was worth his salary just for decking Ben Te'o.
 
Good points Eddie agree with them, I heard Robbie Farah talking about their aim a few weeks ago before they went to Kiama, he was aiming pretty high but looking back now I think his words reflected the positive attitude in the club at the moment and that they have set high expectations of themselves- good stuff.
 
Well said Eddie, I especially agree re: Lote, the guy is a winner and a signing like him definately stamps our intentions. Regardless of what happens from here (And I think we have every reason to be confident of a great finish) the club is finally moving in the right direction…success breeds success.

I expect this new found strength will get us some rep players next season which will bring more of the same. I am sure I'm not the only one who has seen Lawrence's form improve since being picked as 18th man for the blues.
 
*applaudes* Post of the year goes to Eddie! Very well thought out and contructed post. Every point was spot on and I'll take it one step further. All of those points all come from the appointment of Stephen Humphreys. He controls the club and has a huge impact on the psyche of the club and the direction the club goes in. I said from day one this guy is a winner and it's proving to be correct at the moment. What ever we're paying him he's worth every cent!
 
I think it was the faith of the supporters in getting behind Sheens and the players like Fitzty, Skando, Ryan, Lui, Galloway and Brown that is making the difference in 2010…
 
I queried on facebook why we would sign so many wingers and backs at the start of the year.

Now looking back it was justified - Brown, Daniella, and to some extent Fitzy have at time been integral to the team success - Look at Daniellas lightning fast Hat trick against the warriors, Fitzy's run away 60 metre try against the raiders to seal us the win, and Brown going strength to strength at fullback given Mckinnons injury. These are all players who were just required to step in, and made their mark.

(granted, fitzys mark will be full of conjecture by fellow forum posters im sure…)
 
Stephen H has been great, he took control of the place and took control of all the egos, and like any football club we had plenty that needed controlling or maybe redirected is a better word. We needed everyone pulling in the same direction for a change and he seemed to be able to achieve that.

Lote is a winner on and off the field, a top bloke who has respect right through the club. He helped instilled team spirit or should I say club spirit. (I often saw him talking and encouraging the u20s players) You only have to see him after a win at full time he so pumped for the other players and the fans. Iam sure he is one of these players who would be playing A grade for nothing if he didnt have a pro gig.

Folkes was a masterstroke, we needed a new face in the coaching ranks, Sheens and Simmons were probably getting a little predictable for the players. We needed a hard man who owed the players nothing, no previous deals to be honored. Sort of like the Sargent major in the army.

Iam not taking any credit away from Sheens, as I have always said he is the boss man and must take responsibility when the team is under achieving so using that logic he must be applauded when the team achieves it goals. This season we have had some major injuries to key players to over come and I have my doubt if any other club could have handled the situation better than us.

Anyway time will tell if we can keep slowly climbing the mountain this year, like Eddie I think the injury toll might just bite us on the bum but that maybe my negativity coming through again.

From my point of view I have had such great value for my 300 buck silver membership, I will be resigning any day for 2011!!!!
 
@angeman said:
Folkes has made a huuuge difference in fitness and defence
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I agree…We are lucky Sheens recruited him....Buy of the season...
 
Watching the storm game right now and I'm gobsmacked at Brown's front on defence

It's unbeleivably good, He doesn't even get driven backwards with contact. :O
 
Agree with Chris.

Stephen Humphreys has brought this club up to very high standards. In only 18 months in the job, he's brought in someone as high calibre as Lote (mainly highlighting the lengths he went to ie going to the UK), restructured the coaching department by getting Folkes in, had a hand in the player clean out (dont know if this was Sheens' plan or Humphreys, but he would've had a role in recruiting some of the new players), given Leichhardt and Campbelltown an extra game per year, came up with a unique major sponsorship deal that has kept Proton on for the 5th year running (pre 2006 no sponsor stayed for more than 1 year) … the guy has a sense of professionalism about him and I think that's spread through the club.
 
I think a lot of people have changed their tune a bit from 3 weeks ago. The team have pushed on and done really well. After the Souths game I don't think everyone expected such a strong finish. Credit to the players and coaches, happy to have been proved wrong in regards to this.
 
I dont think anyones volte-face has been as significant as yours.

I suppose you were premature in essentially condemning the season as more of the same?
 
Awesome, I agree with Geo about how Humphreys has made a huge significance in our team.

Anyhow, a very good thread nonetheless!!
 
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