Are the okayers being Stifled?

[SuperDuper]

I think the players are being stifled.

item 1: Luke Dunstan comes back late last year after a spell at Sandy... he says when he returned he tried to forget about too many instructions and played more on instinct... "I was able to go back and play on instincts again and just rediscover how to play how I grew up playing and what initially got me drafted". He strung together a great patch of form.. his reward in 2018... dropped

item 2: Jack Sinclaire really had a good 2017 and we hoped he would step up again in 2018. He was told over the summer to work on the defensive side of his game
'I've focused a lot on the defensive side of my game. We want to get better defensively as a team, so unless players like myself improve in that area, we're not going to get there.'
he has had a terrible start to the year...

item 3: we got smashed by a very average North on the weekend and Richo says that "We lost all effort and want to defend and we were smashed at contests. "

Again .. defense focus

Where is our initiative? Getting on the front foot? Making the opposition defend?
Have we gone too far and made things too complicated?

Are the players so concerned about defense and structures that they have gone into their shells? Second guessing themselves?

[portosaint]

It does appear we coach the talent out of them at the top level quite frequently.

[Con Gorozidis]

If there is a focus on tackle count does that mean we are waiting for the opposition to get the ball first so we can tackle them?
We seem very reactive and always a step behind the play.

[iwantmeseats]

AR couldn’t coach a pig to get dirty. He is just marking time.

[Con Gorozidis]

AR couldn’t coach a pig to get dirty. He is just marking time.

Having a 'crisis meeting' the morning after a game smacks of amateur desperation and a bloke who has run out of ideas.
The old flog em on the track for a week might get a short term reaction but doesn't address the underlying issues.

[whiskers3614]

AR couldn’t coach a pig to get dirty. He is just marking time.

Having a 'crisis meeting' the morning after a game smacks of amateur desperation and a bloke who has run out of ideas.
The old flog em on the track for a week might get a short term reaction but doesn't address the underlying issues.

So what would the appropriate response have been?

[Con Gorozidis]

AR couldn’t coach a pig to get dirty. He is just marking time.

Having a 'crisis meeting' the morning after a game smacks of amateur desperation and a bloke who has run out of ideas.
The old flog em on the track for a week might get a short term reaction but doesn't address the underlying issues.

So what would the appropriate response have been?

Crisis meeting of coaches and staff and start facing their own issues.
Work out a path ahead.
Then pitch it to the players calmly and professionally on Tuesday.
Take charge.
Don't just have a knee jerk panic.

[oh when the]

Maybe the players know his no coach

[desertsaint]

a team normally takes on the characteristics of a coach.
so...passive, slow of mind, self-content...