I think the results speak for themselves and the cost benefit analysis provides a clear answer. I looked at this in the deep dive I did on the spine the other day. You hit the nail on the head in realtion to the quality of the player not changing but the quality of the system. I'm not hard over on Benjis as a coach not being up to speed either. If we are taking about strict performance measurements W v L then he is not performing.
What dropped out of the deep dive is that we have approached the "rebuild" arse about face. In the ideal world you would develop a dominant base (forwards) with a servicable spine to get you off the bottom of the table and then climb the ladder by adding halves, then a hooker and finally a fullback to ice the cake.
It is a system that works together - halves without a stable platform are ineffective. A class hooker does not provide you anything if your halves can't do something with the time and space they provide and the fullback can't inject themselves into the game if it is not managed and directed effectively by the halves.
Now I'm not saying we have gone about it in the wrong way as you have to pick the fruit when it is available - Api was not successful playing in a shit team, Luai isn't effective due to several deficiencies in the system etc.
All of the successful teams have good systems and a stable halves pairing. We are currently in week three of the current (hopefully long term) halves pairing and we have yet to build a pack that has parity with most of our opposition. As you aptly pointed out yesterday there is not a significant difference between high performers and the average - they hey is having enough high performers to make the system better that that used by the others.
If we switch that the coaching side of the house it is a simialar predicament - you have to purchase in what is availabe, when it is available, on the way to building a workable, high performing system.
While I get your argument that it is always if we had more go forward, more of this or more of that I don't subscribe to that approach. What we need is to identify the system we require and build towards that system. The difficulty for all of us, except maybe Benji and Richo, is that we don't know what system we are trying to build in order to measure success agaisnt that plan. Instead we go back to our experiential understanding of what works and statistics and we are impatient, especially as Tigers supporters becasue we haven't seen success in forever.
I'm trying to look at our journey as a whole and have a slower burn outlook on our progress. So the systemm and its developemt, as I see it, in priority order is:
- the ability to maintian forward parity and establish dominace at points in time
- a stable and workable halves combination working towards a top shelf half
- a capable backline with defence
- an above average hooker working towards a top shelf player
- an above average fullback working towards a dominant fullback
- two dominant momentum changing forwards (on rotation)
- strike outside backs
Underpinning that is a situationally aware footballer that is able to analyse the opposition, in real time, and adapt the game plan to overcome adversity. This doesn't have to be a spine player - and a coach can perform this role - but it is much better if it is happening on the field.
Benii and Richo's system is probably a little different but I don't think it will be too far off - they may have 6 as mobile ball playing edges - but either way we are deficient in key system areas. When looking at our system I assess that we have 1, 3, 4 and 5. 2 has been destabilised and our deficiences at 6 and 7 are pretty clear for all to see. I think with this sort of model we can see where we were trying to head with Royce though.
Based on this system I had us pegged at being around 12th this year. It will depend on what we buy in to see how much of the system we can address over the off season. May and Toa could be the additional strike we need out wide with Makasini bolstering that in due course. Twal, Seyfarth and Sukkar provide decent depth and give us the ability to maintain forward parity with injuries - they are not starter level forwards though. We need a couple of momentum changers - be that through highly mobile guys with big motors or big bodies on rotation.
As for Benji - too early to judge for me as the system is in development. While the numbers aren't great they are trending up - I'm happy to let the system develop and reassess in 12 months.
