Haven’t been on for a while but I thought I’d add my 2c worth here.
You really want to know what’s wrong with the club? People like you, with your attitude. Who want success straight away but aren’t prepared to do the work to get there.
To say we are in a position never before seen in our history is laughable. Read up on our history. Focus on the years between 1943 and 1979. I remember my dad telling me of the year we only won 2 games. They were against the Roosters who won 0. You talk about the club losing its honour you may as well include the fans in that. If our fans were as fickle back then as they are now we wouldn’t have a club anymore.
But now because of a lean spell you think the sky is falling in. We know we have a below par squad. We knew it was going to be hard to compete, the experts warned us we were favourites for the spoon yet our fans are bitching and moaning every chance they get.
Our board has said there will be a period of rebuilding and it could take a while. But some of our fans expect to be kept in the loop for every single thing that happens in the club and demand success straight away. There is work to be done and if you don’t see results straight away you see it as someone failing at their job.
We have a coach who was always destined for failure but took the job anyway. Premiership winning coaches walked out of interviews because of our cap situation but Pay sucked it up and said give me a go. Now fans have turned on him because he doesn’t pick their favourites. They think he has no idea because he has had to revert back to a simplistic game plan because our squad lacks the basic skills to complete the most simple of sets.
We have fans who would rather back a player, a fringe player at that, who uses his manager to hold the club hostage by threatening to look elsewhere if he doesn’t get his spot back. A player who has done nothing to ever deserve automatic selection in our team and would probably not get a start at any other club thinks it’s acceptable to air his dirty laundry in public to further destabilise the club and fans would rather back him instead of the club. How can fans complain about losing our tough, no nonsense culture and then back players who spit the dummy if they get dropped. What happened to club first, team second, individual third? So now we have players who want personal success above club success and they aren’t willing to work for it.
As fans we’ve never had more access to the players and club through social media etc. if you honestly feel that the club isn’t as open or engaging with fans as they could be go onto the clubs FB or twitter and see the vile abuse and negativity they get on a daily basis. We announce a signing, fans abuse the club. The club wishes the coach a happy birthday, the thread gets filled with vile abuse and threats that have to be deleted.
If you don’t want to go on Monday don’t go. If you can’t bear watching the way we are playing and want to save your money, I don’t blame you but if you want to pretend your abuse and slander towards the club is somehow going to save the club then pull your head in and go fuck yourself
You say it's people like me who want success straight away" You say that like this year and last are the only years we have been struggling. Open your eyes mate! We have been struggling for at least the past four years and before that lost 2012 & 2014 Grand Finals and haven't won a comp since 2004. Fifteen years ago!! Is this what you call a successful club?
This club made it's name in the 80's let's not deny that with premierships in 80,84,85,&88. That's when the club built it's culture and honor and I can say this that the past 4-5 years all of that has been lost. So, as you say there is work to be done, wow really?!! We are going backwards mate!! We have not even started with work because we are a club that is currently stagnant, going no where but backwards.
If you sit there satisfied that we are heading in the right direction with the current work being done, then it's fans like you who are too gutless to speak up, take some kind of stance and will allow this club to slide further than it already has. I'm not prepared to sit and watch the embarrassing performance of the players and coach make a mockery of what was once a great club because I'll say it again as per my original post, the DNA in the place from top to bottom has been lost.
To re-sign Pay was an absolute death wish. So yeh let's go and clap the team and be satisfied when Pay say's the boys are trying, yep see ya next week and we will keep trying. That's what I've had enough of but you seem content with that. It has nothing to do with who he picks as you say because I don't care who he picked so long as we get results, not every week but at least be entertaining ffs! We look like a mob of players who have never seen a try line. This is a common occurrence for the past four years. Is that building for success when we are doing the same shit week in week out? You must be easily entertained.
If we as fans are not being ruthless at our assessment of the club and team then we are accepting the mediocre displays we are currently watching and pay for. Fans in general are passionate, no more than Dogs fans and while I don't condone the abuse on social media it shows what the club means to people and are prepared to either use their voice or feet to take a stand for change. That doesn't make a fan any less a fan than anyone else, not at all.
Sometimes it's not just about winning but it's the heart of the performance that will determine how successful this club is. I no longer see that out on the field. I have been a member for 15 consecutive years and paid my way for this club. So I have seen and experienced some rough times with the club and stuck solid. I'll take action on how I see fit as I can tell you now the club will listen to those who have put their hard earned money into the club.
