I was happily reading along and all of a sudden cornflakes everywhere.
You can not be serious? This must be a joke? The fact that Sheens and the coaching staff that included Benji backed Douhie and Lick Bricks to be the saving halves was the number one reason we came last. Did they not watch any games the couple of years previous? And Douhie got another contract too, that we are still paying the price for.
And Diane Laurie was always a 6, our illustrious coaching staff tried and failed to turn him into a FB.
Still luv ya Benji.
When I clean up the cornflakes I probably won’t be reading any more of that post.
no depth in the halves is what killed us, so I do agree with you in the sense that we gambled on two halves not going down and performing. we had Doueihi, Brooks, Wakeham, Smith and Laurie, and it all went to hell once the first one headed to the casualty ward.
Brooks turned the corner only to get injured at a time when we needed him most and that resulted in our downward spiral, to the point where there were plenty of people that were hoping he would return. that is fact. our squad planning was horrendous, no doubt, but the first few weeks of the year aside, Brooks did his job. he was shocking the years previous, but 2023 was not a poor year.
Doueihi was shocking to begin the year much like Brooks, but by the time he had adjusted to the style of play we needed his knee blew up. that contract thankfully was not what it could have been. I was told that Marshall offered him a $2.4m deal over 3 years and Doueihi said he wanted to perform to his true value. I'm sure you're a little more thankful now knowing what could've been if it weren't for his ego.
Laurie playing fullback is on Madge, Hartigan and the football department of that time. we all know that he was holding the seat for Bula, Sheens said as much himself. the conversion to 6, in my view, can be attributed to Marshall. Laurie that Marshall played a massive role there.
I don't really want to go back and address 2023, I still have scars from it myself. but the statement that was made was around the fact that the halves didn't improve last year, when I am of the opinion that they did. if you disagree with me, that's fine too, but that's the direction I took.