Would anyone have thought of asking Shifty Sherwin to help out, at least with the basic kicking game? Surely anything to give our halves something positive to work with.
When Sherwin was with us many years ago he had a fantastic partnership with Hazem and the coach at the time was open to having him put up and through those kicks to him. They sometimes did not work but more often than not they did and gifted us some excellent tries. Was that his own natural ability and the fact he was allowed to do so or was he 'coached' to play that way.?
Flash forward to today and this coach seems to not be open to the novel suggestion of putting up the kicks specifically for the winger ( or for any other player for that matter). Would a specific halves coach benefit us when our game plan never seems to take into consideration any tactics other than the five hit ups and a poor kick at the end or the one we all seem to delight in; hold possession at all costs, complete perfectly and then hand it over to the opposition in a good attacking position.
The best footy we have played this year was when the guys were "let off the leash", quick rolling play the balls, some forwards running good angles and releasing the ball to the backs in support. Frankie was a good example of that this year. I think our Canberra game was the most attractive footy we played, a good game by Moses but then nothing for the rest of the year.
To be fair we scored 97 tries, third I think in tries scored by teams this year and had the eighth worst against with 85 (nearly thirty more than the best side Roosters and twenty eight less than the Titans who were the worst)
Those stats were a lot better compared to at least half the other sides in the comp. Wonder what we could have done with a more experienced and competent set of halves guiding us around the field?
I love my boys and my team but it is so frustrating watching us when we just seem to muddle about, dare I say it like some; like plodders; with no direction and no 21st century game plan. Hope I get to eat my words next year, hope our halves really step up; would love nothing better.