Brissy Bulldog
Proud to be a Bulldog
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2004
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Shut up, listen: the Roosters are awful
By Phil Gould
April 23, 2006
SO GUS is the bad guy for having criticised the Roosters. Well, boo bloody hoo to you! Those in the media who staged a campaign against me during the week have no credibility.
The fact you lied, exaggerated and embellished the facts to suit your cause highlights your lack of integrity and professionalism. What's new? You've been trying this rubbish for years and achieved nothing.
You can either challenge the accuracy of what I said or you can challenge my right to say it.
The first in a no-brainer win to me. Everything I said in commentary on Channel Nine during the Roosters' performance against the Broncos last weekend was 100 per cent right. I'm sure coach Ricky Stuart would agree.
If media people question my right to criticise the Roosters, it's the height of hypocrisy. But given the individuals behind this childish campaign, hypocrisy is expected.
My involvement with the Roosters these days is negligible and has been that way for some time. I work in the media. I call it as I see it. I criticise and praise as I see fit.
With the Roosters, some people want it both ways. If I praise, I'm biased. If I criticise, I'm a villain. Get over it and get a life. You are boring people with your personal vendettas.
The Roosters have been average for more than a year. Average is unacceptable at the Roosters.
I wouldn't criticise them if I didn't think they were capable of much better. They have plenty of potential but they need to lift. Plenty of people will say you're going OK when you're not but if you want to be a success you do things the right way and not the easy way.
Senior players can complain about unfair criticism but Roosters fans would rather they did their talking on the field. The Roosters have suffered from a lack of leadership and inspiration from their senior players since Brad Fittler's retirement.
I'm not saying they're not trying. They always try. But no one has stepped up to give the team personality and character. The Roosters don't look like a team.
Their defence is not what it used to be. The worst thing about their defence is that they are doing way too much of it. Every week, the opposition gets more possession because the Roosters' ball control has been terrible.
Dropped ball, bad passes, bad play-the-balls, poor fifth-tackle options, kicking dead in goal on the full, penalised in possession, decoy runners running into ball carriers, ball players hitting runners in the head with their passes - you name it and the Roosters have done it.
Poor discipline and turnovers are eating away at their confidence and the extra workload in defence is eating away at their effectiveness in attack.
After the game against Brisbane, Shane Webcke wrote that he had never played against a Roosters team with so little direction. He's right. They lack direction and composure.
This is not a criticism of the coach. Ricky and I have talked about this. They train well but play poorly. The coach can talk endlessly about direction but it's the players who have to execute.
Direction is the responsibility of the halfback. This team has good periods in each game but they are few and far between.
Ricky is as frustrated as anyone else. He probably can't be as brutally honest as I am because he has to deal with them every day and he has some young players in the group who need encouragement.
But the Roosters won't improve until they are honest about their performances.
It's no good comparing yourself with other teams. The Roosters became great by believing they were a cut above the rest.
I will not go into selections. Ricky knows the players so that's entirely up to him and his staff. But the collective attitude of the team is more important than the individuals.
It comes down to leadership on the field. How badly you want success and what you're prepared to endure to get it. It comes down to communication, toughness, spirit, character and how much the players believe in each other.
Attention to detail and all the simple things. Respect for each other. Fighting for each other. Competing on every play, every minute for the full 80 minutes. Without these things, the rest is window dressing. It has everything to do with attitude.
The Roosters have plenty of injuries this week and will just have to weather the storm.
Maybe they won't beat the Dragons on Anzac Day. But with eight players who have played Test or Origin football (Anthony Minichiello, Chris Flannery, Braith Anasta, Brett Finch, Craig Fitzgibbon, Adrian Morley, Craig Wing and Ashley Harrison) and two (Amos Roberts and Anthony Tupou) who are destined to, they have a very competitive side.
They will miss Ryan Cross, Iosia Soliola, Shane Shackleton and Joel Monaghan but their performance will be very important, regardless of the result.
In round five in 2002, they were in a worse situation with 15 first-graders injured but they busted their backsides and it took the brilliance of Andrew Johns to beat them in the dying minutes. They set a standard for effort and desire that carried them to grand-final glory.
Not many tipsters expect the Roosters to win on Tuesday but anything can happen in football. The Roosters can win. But what they must do is inspire the injured players watching from the sidelines to be even more desperate to get on to the field and fight for the common cause.
I don't care if the Roosters hate me for saying these things, as long as they start hating someone - because that's when they play their best.
By Phil Gould
April 23, 2006
SO GUS is the bad guy for having criticised the Roosters. Well, boo bloody hoo to you! Those in the media who staged a campaign against me during the week have no credibility.
The fact you lied, exaggerated and embellished the facts to suit your cause highlights your lack of integrity and professionalism. What's new? You've been trying this rubbish for years and achieved nothing.
You can either challenge the accuracy of what I said or you can challenge my right to say it.
The first in a no-brainer win to me. Everything I said in commentary on Channel Nine during the Roosters' performance against the Broncos last weekend was 100 per cent right. I'm sure coach Ricky Stuart would agree.
If media people question my right to criticise the Roosters, it's the height of hypocrisy. But given the individuals behind this childish campaign, hypocrisy is expected.
My involvement with the Roosters these days is negligible and has been that way for some time. I work in the media. I call it as I see it. I criticise and praise as I see fit.
With the Roosters, some people want it both ways. If I praise, I'm biased. If I criticise, I'm a villain. Get over it and get a life. You are boring people with your personal vendettas.
The Roosters have been average for more than a year. Average is unacceptable at the Roosters.
I wouldn't criticise them if I didn't think they were capable of much better. They have plenty of potential but they need to lift. Plenty of people will say you're going OK when you're not but if you want to be a success you do things the right way and not the easy way.
Senior players can complain about unfair criticism but Roosters fans would rather they did their talking on the field. The Roosters have suffered from a lack of leadership and inspiration from their senior players since Brad Fittler's retirement.
I'm not saying they're not trying. They always try. But no one has stepped up to give the team personality and character. The Roosters don't look like a team.
Their defence is not what it used to be. The worst thing about their defence is that they are doing way too much of it. Every week, the opposition gets more possession because the Roosters' ball control has been terrible.
Dropped ball, bad passes, bad play-the-balls, poor fifth-tackle options, kicking dead in goal on the full, penalised in possession, decoy runners running into ball carriers, ball players hitting runners in the head with their passes - you name it and the Roosters have done it.
Poor discipline and turnovers are eating away at their confidence and the extra workload in defence is eating away at their effectiveness in attack.
After the game against Brisbane, Shane Webcke wrote that he had never played against a Roosters team with so little direction. He's right. They lack direction and composure.
This is not a criticism of the coach. Ricky and I have talked about this. They train well but play poorly. The coach can talk endlessly about direction but it's the players who have to execute.
Direction is the responsibility of the halfback. This team has good periods in each game but they are few and far between.
Ricky is as frustrated as anyone else. He probably can't be as brutally honest as I am because he has to deal with them every day and he has some young players in the group who need encouragement.
But the Roosters won't improve until they are honest about their performances.
It's no good comparing yourself with other teams. The Roosters became great by believing they were a cut above the rest.
I will not go into selections. Ricky knows the players so that's entirely up to him and his staff. But the collective attitude of the team is more important than the individuals.
It comes down to leadership on the field. How badly you want success and what you're prepared to endure to get it. It comes down to communication, toughness, spirit, character and how much the players believe in each other.
Attention to detail and all the simple things. Respect for each other. Fighting for each other. Competing on every play, every minute for the full 80 minutes. Without these things, the rest is window dressing. It has everything to do with attitude.
The Roosters have plenty of injuries this week and will just have to weather the storm.
Maybe they won't beat the Dragons on Anzac Day. But with eight players who have played Test or Origin football (Anthony Minichiello, Chris Flannery, Braith Anasta, Brett Finch, Craig Fitzgibbon, Adrian Morley, Craig Wing and Ashley Harrison) and two (Amos Roberts and Anthony Tupou) who are destined to, they have a very competitive side.
They will miss Ryan Cross, Iosia Soliola, Shane Shackleton and Joel Monaghan but their performance will be very important, regardless of the result.
In round five in 2002, they were in a worse situation with 15 first-graders injured but they busted their backsides and it took the brilliance of Andrew Johns to beat them in the dying minutes. They set a standard for effort and desire that carried them to grand-final glory.
Not many tipsters expect the Roosters to win on Tuesday but anything can happen in football. The Roosters can win. But what they must do is inspire the injured players watching from the sidelines to be even more desperate to get on to the field and fight for the common cause.
I don't care if the Roosters hate me for saying these things, as long as they start hating someone - because that's when they play their best.
