Nasheed here,
A cautionary post.
I see alot of optimism here at the upcoming season 2021.
I feel the need to temper expectations a bit here.
I feel, like every year, you are getting carried away with your predictions for this year.
Last week I noted how most of you think we will finish around 8 and Wallah ya ad i couldnt help myself and need to give you here a dose of realism.
Firstly, lets look at what we have lost and seasons gone by.
Foran- our best player, if not injury prone, created all our chances and is among the top 5 halves in the league. We dumped him because we were too tight to offer the guy a decent contract. All we had to do is what Manly did and offer the guy a token 'club second year option' and he was ours.
Reimis- A class winger on his day and one of the fastest in the league.
Holland- Attacking genius that was messed around by Pay but could spark something from nothing.
Tolman- I truly cannot make my mind up about this guy, but he was stable.
Just on this, we have lost alot of talent. Right here. Remember, we were going very well last year and couldn't ice games purely due to our fitness.
Take note Kennel, it was'nt our coaching that made us failures last year, it was 100% our conditioning and fitness staff.
This can be verified in three ways, if you dont think my word is enough, which it is.
-A relative of Luke Thompson, a kennel member who i wont name out of respect to England, explicity told us that Luke was shocked at how bad our fitness was last season. I believe him. Do you?
-If not, why did the first thing our new Lebanese led administration do when takin control? They sacked the entire conditioning staff. Thats damning. This stuff NEVER gets past us lebs.
-Trent Barrett, on January 4th, told Hughes on radio he was disgusted at the fitness levels and whilst he avoided criticism, said 'he wont let it happen this year'.
We were ok if we didnt run out of puff.
Lets go back to recruitment and retention.
We lost some quality, but who did we gain?
This is what burns me.
Everyone says we recruited so well.
But did we yo?
Kyle Flanagan-
Can kick goals. Sure. Can he organise? maybe.
But lets look closely at his career.
Started at Cronulla under his Dad. When his dad LEFT, he was not prioritised and the Roosters picked him up cheap.
We all know what happened at the roosters. In unusual fashion, unlike the Roosters and their loyalty levels, they dumped him at seasons end as soon as they could!! Roosters dont do this. This was a red flag. They also had no replacement. They just wanted him gone. No matter what. They paid 1/3rd of his salary to us, thats how bad they wanted him out.
He also screwed up in the Cronulla trial so there has been nothing new I havent seen?
Despite that, I dont think he is terrible, but who was it that called him 'Cogger with a boot?'.
Nick Cotric-
Powerhouse and one of the best young players in the state....as a winger!
Nobody knows talent like Ricky Stuart, kets be honest, this coach is GANGSTA!! He has faith in his guys. He likes Nick. Offered him a contract.
Whst he didnt do, was play him in the centres despite his wishes after 2 players were injured.
Even last season they could have given him a centre spot, but they prefer Scott and the other dude.
If Ricky is hellbent on keeping him away from the centres, what does that say?
What it doesnt say is 'lets give him 650 a year to play a position he has never played before. Never played centre but has seasoned centre money.
*PS. I'm only two players in and already we are saying Ricky and Robinson are wrong but Lynne Anderson (presiding over these recruits) was right. Eeeek.
Jack Hetherington-
Another player paid to play with us.
A player who plays a position that his club desperately needed and has been begging us for a prop.
So cleary has said 'plz bro give us a prop but fuk not that guy'.
Great sign.
The problem is he has a bad rap with the judiciary and is only going to be a negative influence on Thompson who has a psycho himself.
Guys, its going to get ugly when they both feed into each others craziness and they start chewing the ear off a pkayer like Tyson mixed with a 28 weeks later zombie. One will hold a player down whilst the other starts chewing...its going to get real ugly.
Cody Allen-
Trust me, nobody is as big a fan as him than me. I knew everything about him before anyone else did.
But he is white hopoate.
We need speed at the back line and we have bought a turtle where we needed speed most. Will just not have much impact in the faster game.
Barrett-
A failed coach who quit because he didnt have chairs. Who knows how much he truly contributed to the panthers? To be honest he seems ok but the fact remains. We still havent plugged our key position of hooker, have weak halves and we are loaded with second rowers....one of which cannot even make the Mounties run on side`!!!! Yet we have like 2 centres on our books in the 30, and have neglected the position so much that our genuine star outside the 30, Aaron Schoupp, is thinking of leaving!!!
Guys,
We have success ahead of us, but that will be in 2022 when Fox, Burton, Staggs and a new forward joins us.
For now I recommend you jump on the Souths train, have two teams, its good for your mental heakth and they are in for a huge year this year. Trust me. If not them, choose someone else, it makes footy fun in finals time.
Mods, please make this post a sticky!
