Most of this is bullshit, small fire lit by infamous journalist. To their delight, it had turned into a bushfire.
* Players in all clubs get upset, primarily over not selection.
* None of the players mentioned have discussed publicly. ( only the words from journos)
* I do like Topine, even if he is the person identified. The article did not say that he was a lazy trainer, or generally had a bad attitude, however he was late that day. From Gould's words, the person completed the punishment without complaint & also completed remainder of the training that week. No one know what happen the week later when he requested leave. It does not add up that it would be for one disciplinary session.
* Both Pay & Bennett have said that they were going to address the Dogs DNA. It seems to be common catch phrase whenever a new coach arrives.
* I find it hard to imagine that the team had a bad attitude, a bad culture for the entire preseason & year across the majority of players. Only on round 26 it was discover & apparently not managed previously. This would have been CC & Gould first task from day one.
* bottom line when teams are doing well there is no culture problem. Hayne was a bad trainer, but there was no hint of culture problem while they were winner.
* a season like the Dogs have had is due to combination of reasons, from injuries, culture, team selection, individual players performance, coaching staff & management.
* with this Firestorm, we are now talking less about why the year was ineffective & how to change this for next year & beyond. This whole culture has been a deflection from other hard questions. Yes there may need to be a greater emphasis on culture, but that is only one the reasons for such a bad year