The Chad
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2022
- Messages
- 1,114
Couple of thoughts.
Lots of people saying Marshall has no experience, or too little experience, to succeed. Adam O'Brien, Fitzgibbon, Seibold, Demetriou & Ciraldo used as examples. Funny- Billy Slater, with no experience, was instantly successful. Ciraldo, with 8 years as assistant, and Gould in his pocket- barely better than what we offer. Coaching is 100% more about the person than their experience. Assistant coaches do the detail- Benji's job is to get everyone heading the same way.
Bigger issue now is who Benji is surrounded by & what roles people play. Farah already being discussed as HOF/GM. Ok, same principle in some ways to Benji and his lack of experience. The HOF/GM & the HC MUST have 1 vision. And be strong enough to implement it. These guys are career football guys. They might lack the finer polish, but the raw skills SHOULD be there. If the GM/HOF IS Farah, the club has a ready-made advisor/mentor within the joint venture ranks in Paul Sironen, the Football Manager at Balmain. Again, so long as they are surrounded by people working toward the same goal- they have a chance.
John Morris as the lead assistant coach- cool. That can work. I'm not 100% against Furner staying on. He has so many years experience, it seems a shame to lose that. But Morris should have the connection with Benji & Farah right away as well. It makes for an incredibly young coaching group. Someone from outside the Tigers structure wouldn't hurt. Maybe Hook as an assistant? He's known as a great coach for young players. I'd feel much better if Benji had assistants that were battle tested. The key with this is slightly different- they cannot be viewed as challengers to Benji's job. That is my main concern with John Morris. Hook along with Brett Hodgson would be even better.
Sheens chose to step down. It's important that people supporting the club keep this in mind. Our faith in the club is tested often enough as it is. Are there issues that lead to this? Probably. Fulton, the board, McDonnell, age, Brooks leaving, the win-loss record etc. They probably all play their part. But nobody was sacked. As far as we are aware, no bad blood. This was ALWAYS the plan, just a year early. Could be Sheens realised he was so hands-off that Benji was essentially doing the job as is, so may as well let him do it.
Hooper on 360 can't get out of his own narrative. If I hear circus, clowns or paddle pop one more time, he's on mute. Anasta- I actually believe he wants the best for at least Benji, if not the club. His comment, along with Tallis, about setting standards the club has to attain to, he's absolutely right. It's time for the coaches to OWN this. The coaches cannot control the CEO or board. They can only control what they have power over. What happens on the field, at training, in the dressing room- throughout the grades- has to be set by the coaches. Vision. Discipline. That's what the coaches need. Forget the players- they will sort themselves out & get selected or not selected based on how well they fit the VISION. This is where, and how, Benji has to be successful.
With that in mind, I'd highly recommend Benji talk with Cooper Cronk. I don't know if Cronk is a great coach or not (Sam Walker, here's looking at you), but he is a guy that has singular vision & drive. If he can be part of that coaching structure somehow...that's the kind of mentality the club needs.
Lastly- whoever becomes responsible for pathways post-Sheens is potentially the most important guy at the club. I believe Wayne Lambkin is extremely well respected for his work with the young guys. His role, and others like him, vital for ongoing success down the road.
Lots of people saying Marshall has no experience, or too little experience, to succeed. Adam O'Brien, Fitzgibbon, Seibold, Demetriou & Ciraldo used as examples. Funny- Billy Slater, with no experience, was instantly successful. Ciraldo, with 8 years as assistant, and Gould in his pocket- barely better than what we offer. Coaching is 100% more about the person than their experience. Assistant coaches do the detail- Benji's job is to get everyone heading the same way.
Bigger issue now is who Benji is surrounded by & what roles people play. Farah already being discussed as HOF/GM. Ok, same principle in some ways to Benji and his lack of experience. The HOF/GM & the HC MUST have 1 vision. And be strong enough to implement it. These guys are career football guys. They might lack the finer polish, but the raw skills SHOULD be there. If the GM/HOF IS Farah, the club has a ready-made advisor/mentor within the joint venture ranks in Paul Sironen, the Football Manager at Balmain. Again, so long as they are surrounded by people working toward the same goal- they have a chance.
John Morris as the lead assistant coach- cool. That can work. I'm not 100% against Furner staying on. He has so many years experience, it seems a shame to lose that. But Morris should have the connection with Benji & Farah right away as well. It makes for an incredibly young coaching group. Someone from outside the Tigers structure wouldn't hurt. Maybe Hook as an assistant? He's known as a great coach for young players. I'd feel much better if Benji had assistants that were battle tested. The key with this is slightly different- they cannot be viewed as challengers to Benji's job. That is my main concern with John Morris. Hook along with Brett Hodgson would be even better.
Sheens chose to step down. It's important that people supporting the club keep this in mind. Our faith in the club is tested often enough as it is. Are there issues that lead to this? Probably. Fulton, the board, McDonnell, age, Brooks leaving, the win-loss record etc. They probably all play their part. But nobody was sacked. As far as we are aware, no bad blood. This was ALWAYS the plan, just a year early. Could be Sheens realised he was so hands-off that Benji was essentially doing the job as is, so may as well let him do it.
Hooper on 360 can't get out of his own narrative. If I hear circus, clowns or paddle pop one more time, he's on mute. Anasta- I actually believe he wants the best for at least Benji, if not the club. His comment, along with Tallis, about setting standards the club has to attain to, he's absolutely right. It's time for the coaches to OWN this. The coaches cannot control the CEO or board. They can only control what they have power over. What happens on the field, at training, in the dressing room- throughout the grades- has to be set by the coaches. Vision. Discipline. That's what the coaches need. Forget the players- they will sort themselves out & get selected or not selected based on how well they fit the VISION. This is where, and how, Benji has to be successful.
With that in mind, I'd highly recommend Benji talk with Cooper Cronk. I don't know if Cronk is a great coach or not (Sam Walker, here's looking at you), but he is a guy that has singular vision & drive. If he can be part of that coaching structure somehow...that's the kind of mentality the club needs.
Lastly- whoever becomes responsible for pathways post-Sheens is potentially the most important guy at the club. I believe Wayne Lambkin is extremely well respected for his work with the young guys. His role, and others like him, vital for ongoing success down the road.
