Our inspirational captain cares deeply about the club. It hurts him more then anyone when we are mediocre or we fail. He is the one who cares enough to rock the boat and upset a few egos. Benji and some of our other senior players are of "one of the boys" mentality. WHich is fine to a point. A tight bunch who are loyal to their mates to a fault, comfortable perhaps. Robbie has been subject of rift rumours over the years because he doesn't accept the "boys club" mentality that sometimes sets in at this club. It's well known that he challenged the club to basically stop accepting mediocrity after the 2008 season. He wanted them to show more ambition in the player market, more ambition everywhere or he was off. The club reacted and we enjoyed some high profile signings, increased accountability and a couple of Top 4 finishes.
Now we are sliding back into old habits and the stench of medicrity that has wafted over the joint between 2007-2009\. I know for a fact Robbie is filthy about being moved back to halfback. I know he has been been less then impressed by Benji's football this year. I know he will be hurting more then anyone about the clubs failure in 2012\. Basically what i'm saying is Robbie should walk into Sheens office at the end of the season and tell him the truth. Tell him thanks for the decade in charge but you should consider moving on for the good of the players and club you helped create.
Tell him that the side is stale and not reacting now to hearing the same voice all the time. That we are not where we want to be because of the same on field problems (poor defence, lack of aggression, lack of structure, poor kicking game, inconsistent over 80 minutes, shuffling square pegs into round holes on the selection desk) Thats players are either regressing or not progressing. That some players in their late 20's need new ideas to re-energise them and change the dynamics of the place.
Senior players deep down would be happy for Sheens to go. However publicly will never say it as he is a great friend and a good coach to them all. He is a real players coach in that regard, a good quality to have. However when it becomes loyalty to a fault it creates a culture of a lack of true accountability. Look at what changes of coach have done at Canterbury and Souths with basically the same roster. Robbie is not overly close with Sheens and I don't think he should be afraid to tell it how it is. He cares about the place enough to do it.
Personally I think when Sheens does hang them up, or get forced out, we Need to go after Bellemy or Daniel Anderson. A coach who is a renound taskmaster with runs on the board and no connections to the place. Sheens despite his faults has had a very good decade at the club and he also cares about it deeply. He is very loyal to our senior players and if he respects them enough I think he should move on himself. The captain should walk in at seasons end and tell him that, because the people upstairs won't. You can say player power is not a good thing to have, however Robbie is very influencial at our club and capable of making such a decision happen. Or at least getting the wheels in motion.
Now we are sliding back into old habits and the stench of medicrity that has wafted over the joint between 2007-2009\. I know for a fact Robbie is filthy about being moved back to halfback. I know he has been been less then impressed by Benji's football this year. I know he will be hurting more then anyone about the clubs failure in 2012\. Basically what i'm saying is Robbie should walk into Sheens office at the end of the season and tell him the truth. Tell him thanks for the decade in charge but you should consider moving on for the good of the players and club you helped create.
Tell him that the side is stale and not reacting now to hearing the same voice all the time. That we are not where we want to be because of the same on field problems (poor defence, lack of aggression, lack of structure, poor kicking game, inconsistent over 80 minutes, shuffling square pegs into round holes on the selection desk) Thats players are either regressing or not progressing. That some players in their late 20's need new ideas to re-energise them and change the dynamics of the place.
Senior players deep down would be happy for Sheens to go. However publicly will never say it as he is a great friend and a good coach to them all. He is a real players coach in that regard, a good quality to have. However when it becomes loyalty to a fault it creates a culture of a lack of true accountability. Look at what changes of coach have done at Canterbury and Souths with basically the same roster. Robbie is not overly close with Sheens and I don't think he should be afraid to tell it how it is. He cares about the place enough to do it.
Personally I think when Sheens does hang them up, or get forced out, we Need to go after Bellemy or Daniel Anderson. A coach who is a renound taskmaster with runs on the board and no connections to the place. Sheens despite his faults has had a very good decade at the club and he also cares about it deeply. He is very loyal to our senior players and if he respects them enough I think he should move on himself. The captain should walk in at seasons end and tell him that, because the people upstairs won't. You can say player power is not a good thing to have, however Robbie is very influencial at our club and capable of making such a decision happen. Or at least getting the wheels in motion.
