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Bulldogs must look to Des Hasler’s winning record, not be blinded by emotion, writes Paul Kent
IT is funny how we find our own narrative to suit our emotions.
In hard facts, on Sunday afternoon the Bulldogs beat the last-placed team in the final two minutes to go from 14th to 13th on the ladder and the crowd exploded into a sea of joy, focusing their celebrations on farewelling a player who grew up a Sydney Roosters fan and is set to leave the club because he got a better offer from a rival.
Yet those scenes will go on to be remembered as something else altogether, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Emotion got involved, and what is sport if you can’t feel from the heart?
It was an emotional afternoon for Bulldogs fans. Photo: Mark Evans
Soon after, the emotion cooled and the Bulldogs fans began to acknowledge their close call and so they turned their attention to why.
Coach Des Hasler had to go.
Why? Because the Bulldogs beat the last placed team in the final two minutes to go from 14th to 13th on the ladder. They are on life support as they try to qualify for the finals.
Worse than their position are their performances.
Nobody will disagree they were lucky to beat Newcastle on Sunday. And they will be lucky to make the finals this year.
The Bulldogs are on 16 points and three wins behind eighth-placed Parramatta. Between them and the top eight are Penrith, Warriors, Canberra and Souths. Worse, none have any intention of making way.
Hasler is falling victim to the modern temperament. Nobody wants to wait, few are willing to forgive.
We all want our gratification now.
There is little appetite for a losing season in the NRL, where coaches are turned over annually.
Hasler looks like missing the finals this season and suddenly he can’t coach. Forget that he got to the club in 2012 and in those six seasons he has lost two grand finals and made the finals every year.
That he coached Manly before and in seven seasons there made the finals every year except the first.
Only Craig Bellamy has a longer active streak, at 14, while Wayne Bennett has the record at 18 seasons, from 1994-2011. They are the anomalies. Finals are tough to come by.
There is little doubt there has to be change at the Bulldogs. They are slow in attack and easy to pick off. They can find their way up field and then go from side to side, aimlessly, when they should be most dangerous.
Fans blame Hasler armed with evidence he has recruited this roster. Not every coach gets it right every time.
Hasler has acknowledged as much, although how he plans to fix has not been palatable to Bulldogs fans.
Des Hasler ais more likely to lead to success than Josh Reynolds. Photo: Gregg Porteous
It begins when Kieran Foran joins the club next year to play in the halves. He comes in place of Josh Reynolds, the man celebrated on Sunday.
For many, Reynolds signifies what the Bulldogs are about. He is an all-effort player. That’s why fans went so crazy about him on Sunday afternoon. They see him trying, every game. Yet he is also why the Bulldogs need to move him on.
The Bulldogs problem is a lack of thinking players in thinking positions.
That falls squarely on Reynolds, a playmaker who plays on an emotion that often gets the better of him.
You need only to look at Sunday’s game.
Reynolds swamped by fans
Outplayed across the park by the last-placed Knights, their tries came from a Will Hopoate cut-out, a Marcelo Montoya leap into the corner and then Moses Mbye picking up a charge down.
No tries, no try assists, no repeat sets for Reynolds.
More, many were happy to overlook when Reynolds nearly ruined his own farewell, a brain snap that gave Newcastle a penalty off the short kick-off and a chance to snatch back the game
Only for the kick being shanked, the Bulldogs were heading to golden point. Scenes could have been vastly different.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...t/news-story/7916675083527f29c6d96a063996e67b
IT is funny how we find our own narrative to suit our emotions.
In hard facts, on Sunday afternoon the Bulldogs beat the last-placed team in the final two minutes to go from 14th to 13th on the ladder and the crowd exploded into a sea of joy, focusing their celebrations on farewelling a player who grew up a Sydney Roosters fan and is set to leave the club because he got a better offer from a rival.
Yet those scenes will go on to be remembered as something else altogether, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Emotion got involved, and what is sport if you can’t feel from the heart?
It was an emotional afternoon for Bulldogs fans. Photo: Mark Evans
Soon after, the emotion cooled and the Bulldogs fans began to acknowledge their close call and so they turned their attention to why.
Coach Des Hasler had to go.
Why? Because the Bulldogs beat the last placed team in the final two minutes to go from 14th to 13th on the ladder. They are on life support as they try to qualify for the finals.
Worse than their position are their performances.
Nobody will disagree they were lucky to beat Newcastle on Sunday. And they will be lucky to make the finals this year.
The Bulldogs are on 16 points and three wins behind eighth-placed Parramatta. Between them and the top eight are Penrith, Warriors, Canberra and Souths. Worse, none have any intention of making way.
Hasler is falling victim to the modern temperament. Nobody wants to wait, few are willing to forgive.
We all want our gratification now.
There is little appetite for a losing season in the NRL, where coaches are turned over annually.
Hasler looks like missing the finals this season and suddenly he can’t coach. Forget that he got to the club in 2012 and in those six seasons he has lost two grand finals and made the finals every year.
That he coached Manly before and in seven seasons there made the finals every year except the first.
Only Craig Bellamy has a longer active streak, at 14, while Wayne Bennett has the record at 18 seasons, from 1994-2011. They are the anomalies. Finals are tough to come by.
There is little doubt there has to be change at the Bulldogs. They are slow in attack and easy to pick off. They can find their way up field and then go from side to side, aimlessly, when they should be most dangerous.
Fans blame Hasler armed with evidence he has recruited this roster. Not every coach gets it right every time.
Hasler has acknowledged as much, although how he plans to fix has not been palatable to Bulldogs fans.
Des Hasler ais more likely to lead to success than Josh Reynolds. Photo: Gregg Porteous
It begins when Kieran Foran joins the club next year to play in the halves. He comes in place of Josh Reynolds, the man celebrated on Sunday.
For many, Reynolds signifies what the Bulldogs are about. He is an all-effort player. That’s why fans went so crazy about him on Sunday afternoon. They see him trying, every game. Yet he is also why the Bulldogs need to move him on.
The Bulldogs problem is a lack of thinking players in thinking positions.
That falls squarely on Reynolds, a playmaker who plays on an emotion that often gets the better of him.
You need only to look at Sunday’s game.
Reynolds swamped by fans
Outplayed across the park by the last-placed Knights, their tries came from a Will Hopoate cut-out, a Marcelo Montoya leap into the corner and then Moses Mbye picking up a charge down.
No tries, no try assists, no repeat sets for Reynolds.
More, many were happy to overlook when Reynolds nearly ruined his own farewell, a brain snap that gave Newcastle a penalty off the short kick-off and a chance to snatch back the game
Only for the kick being shanked, the Bulldogs were heading to golden point. Scenes could have been vastly different.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...t/news-story/7916675083527f29c6d96a063996e67b
