The favourites tag

innsaneink

innsaneink

Well-known member
Weve never really handled this situation well.

Seems like with expectations comes pressure and we usually crumble, last year we were (unfairly imo) lumbered with premiership favourites tag despite us having no recognised #1 or # 7 at the start of the year…Sheens buggering around with the halves also contributed to the mess......

....but to be a professional ruthless outfit we need to be able to handle mentally the weight of expectation. Melbourne do it....Broncos did it for years regulalrly....how long will it take for us to get here? Two of our spine players are ten year vets now...times running out for this lot imo, theyre too Sheensified and wont change( you score 30 we score 31 attitude).....it must be the new breed

We had a great 8 to 12 week period in '05 and two good seasons 5 years later - in a thirteen year lifespan thats just not good enough
 
Well its something we definitely don't have to worry about this season Ink

Unless we win the first 6 or 7 games straight I can't see us being premiership favourites this season
 
Wont happen until the current generation of players retire.

Our junior sides have winning mentalities. They will bring it with them when they become first grade staples in a few years time. Our current group are not so in tune with this philosophy. They choke when favourites and kill it when underdogs.
 
It is a mental thing stryker, youre right….but a lot of our current & previous NRL group came from through from the Magpies successful 03 Flegg team...they mustve had a winning mentality too at that stage, maybe it was coached out of them with a ''chase & catch'' mentality

Its not something that should be ''worried'' about happy...see, the mentality has seeped down to us the fans as well.....its an attitude that should be chased and embraced and used as motivation, its positive...we should be striving for it - to be classed as a favourite by an outside source and be confident enough and capable enough to be able to live up to that hype...that would be a good place to be.
 
As occurred in 2005 the youthful types are full of enthusiasm and when they start winning they grow in confidence and the team gets on a roll irrespective as to whether or not they are favourites.
 
It seems that for a long time now when we go into games as favourites we sit on the edge of our seats and walk away very disappointed with a loss and a poor effort or somehow win by the narrowest margin possible. 2012 was filled with games like that.

If we are underdogs we play out of our skins. Even the semi final series of 10 and 11 showed that. Favourites to beat the Roosters and Warriors, we lose both at the end of the game. Not favourites against the Raiders (2010) and Dragons (2011) and we play probably our best games of the season. Even the 13-12 loss to the Dragons in the GF qualifier of 2010 we weren't favourites and went painfully close to winning that.

Hope that 2013 put an end to that and we learn to deal with the favourites tag in games when it comes our way.
 
@innsaneink said:
It is a mental thing stryker, youre right….but a lot of our current & previous NRL group came from through from the Magpies successful 03 Flegg team...they mustve had a winning mentality too at that stage, maybe it was coached out of them with a ''chase & catch'' mentality

Its not something that should be ''worried'' about happy...see, the mentality has seeped down to us the fans as well.....its an attitude that should be chased and embraced and used as motivation, its positive...we should be striving for it - to be classed as a favourite by an outside source and be confident enough and capable enough to be able to live up to that hype...that would be a good place to be.
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Ink If i was to put myself in the player shoes and look at it from their point of view , I'd still see a massive inbalance in the playing roster that we will always struggle to win games if we get stuck in an arm wrestle . Why ,because we lack the size to punch our way out tight situations

2010 semi v Dragons was the perfect example when we got stuck in the arm wrestle with arguably our best side we have had in our entire Wests Tigers history we couldn't win and could barely get out of our own half

With a lot of our senior roster having been involved they have the same mentality We have to attack our way out of trouble when its tight

And you watch , when games are on the line early on ,they'll still do the same thing no matter what Potter has trained them to do Why , you ask again , well until they feel safe (or at ease might be a better way of putting it ) with Potters game plans they will fall back on bad habits in tight situations

That is why we will struggle early on in 2013 , unless we blow teams out of the water , we might struggle with the mentals scars of the past
 
Yeh I agree….as I said:

maybe it was coached out of them with a ''chase & catch'' mentality

...10 years of recruiting specific type of players to be able to try and play catch & chase footy has contributed to this

This is all a by-product of a conscious direction the club has headed in the past decade
 
It's not just struggling to perform under expectation, it's the lack of high percentage football (grinding out sets, kicking to corners,) and poor options in attack. We may see a shift in attitude over time with Potter, I'm not so sure it relies on senior players moving on in order to facilitate a change though. I think it would be healthy for the team to grind out a few wins this year in order to steel their resolve.
 
@innsaneink said:
…10 years of recruiting specific type of players to be able to try and play catch & chase footy has contributed to this

This is all a by-product of a conscious direction the club has headed in the past decade
Click to expand...

Exactamundo…

Sheens favoured mobile, attacking players who were skilful with the ball and almost totally disregarded the defensive side of the game. Our defence has always been built on scramble.

How many 'true footballers' did he promote and encourage? Not nearly enough and even though the guys he promoted won us a premiership, they have never totally inspired confidence that they can get the job done on a consistant basis ever since. How many times are we in front by 14 with 12 to go and holding our breaths? If you had players like Joey, Locky, JT or Smith in our side, these leads would be expanded upon or at the very least defended as the opposition would be starved of the ball through repeat sets and field position until the final whistle.

We are likely to throw a 30 meter cutout pass in our 10 meter zone on the first...it has happened quite a few times now. These kids coming through look like footballers. Lets hope they still are when they hit first grade.
 
It's hard to argue with any of this. It will be interesting to see how much Potter can influence this side that he has inherited. Hopefully a lot - a la Des at the Doggies last season. (I think a truer test of Potter's coaching skills will manifest in the coming seasons when he can begin to put together the roster he wants).
 
Wow…seems to me a few here may be ready with the "I told you so.." - surely Potter, as a coach, would be addressing the tactics and the mental approach to the games. Not just that, but with the experience that Anasta brings, we may see the emergence of what has lacked on the park for some time now. A leader that can control the game.

However, if you believe you can't teach an old dog new tricks, then you (we) are in for a long season...
 
@Tiger_heart said:
Wow…seems to me a few here may be ready with the "I told you so.." - surely Potter, as a coach, would be addressing the tactics and the mental approach to the games. Not just that, but with the experience that Anasta brings, we may see the emergence of what has lacked on the park for some time now. A leader that can control the game.

However, if you believe you can't teach an old dog new tricks, then you (we) are in for a long season...
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I don't think people have both barrels levelled at Potter already, A complete failure under a different coach with close enough to the same roster this year would confirm it's a player attitude issue, which I think justifies Sheens' sacking if anything. I think many of us are crossing their fingers that a coach like Potter who appears to have a no-nonsense and direct approach can improve their attitude and mental preparation.
 
@innsaneink said:
It is a mental thing stryker, youre right….but a lot of our current & previous NRL group came from through from the Magpies successful 03 Flegg team...they mustve had a winning mentality too at that stage, maybe it was coached out of them with a ''chase & catch'' mentality

Its not something that should be ''worried'' about happy...see, the mentality has seeped down to us the fans as well.....its an attitude that should be chased and embraced and used as motivation, its positive...we should be striving for it - to be classed as a favourite by an outside source and be confident enough and capable enough to be able to live up to that hype...that would be a good place to be.
Click to expand...

Hey Grumpy Puss, it was the 2002 Ball Cup, not 2003 Flegg and only Fulton remains. Gibbs, Hoffman and DeGois are long gone.
Nothing got coached out of anybody.

If all footy were to be so moronically simplified then I guess Pearce and Raudonikis, who never won a comp between em, were severly lacking in the mental edge you clowns seem to feel is so lacking at the WTs.
 
@innsaneink said:
It is a mental thing stryker, youre right….but a lot of our current & previous NRL group came from through from the Magpies successful 03 Flegg team...they mustve had a winning mentality too at that stage, maybe it was coached out of them with a ''chase & catch'' mentality

Its not something that should be ''worried'' about happy...see, the mentality has seeped down to us the fans as well.....its an attitude that should be chased and embraced and used as motivation, its positive...we should be striving for it - to be classed as a favourite by an outside source and be confident enough and capable enough to be able to live up to that hype...that would be a good place to be.
Click to expand...

It was the 2002 SG Ball team, not the 03 Flegg … Only Fulton remains. Gibbs, DeGois and Hoffman are long gone (they said BYE BYE ages ago) ... Nothing got coached out of anybody.
 
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