meher baba wrote:
You weren't on the forum when some of the same posters that are now saying it is ok for Lyon to fill the team with "recycled players" droned on and on ad nauseum about how GT "lost his way" when he decided to try to "top up" with Brooks, Ackland, Guerra, McGough et al.
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The complaint about GT's recruiting was that he grabbed too many recycled players that were not good enough...and the crticism of GT was not all ONLY about this issue. It was but one are of deficiency.
You have assess based on the overall and not just one player. Overall the GT pool of rejects gained little return bar Gram.
Take Guerra... aplyer who was known to have of-field issues...but who was not addressed in this regard. so much for the myth of GT being a great man-manager. Under GT it was only in the main those that were easy to mange that went on. Those with issues....normally went no-where. ie Guerra, Lawrence etc... Hall under GT vs Hall under Roos???
1/ The criticism of GT was not just about his list of recycled players post Waldron that he in the main wasted picks on... but rather it was just one of many areas that GT was under-performing in... including such things as:
* failing to evolve game-plan when the other better teams had worked how to combat our Brisbane -cloned gameplan
* failure to recognise what was necesary in fitness and conditioning management (this by itself probably cost us a flag)
etc etc..
2/
The Saints are despite all the moaning about lack of youth are actually doing a lot to address this at present.
* We have maximum rookies and maximum sized list.
* We have a very active NSW Scholarship program..
* In our drafting we have include bottom age kids who will take an extra year to show the fruit (ie Steven and Eljay)....and a young ruckman in McEvoy who was always going to be a player that would take a number of seasons before hopefully blooming...
3/ To not count King because we got him cheap??? What farce is this? He clearly would not have been taken under GT....and neither would Gardiner whom RL also gained cheap.
When RL arrived one of his first public statements was to address our ruck deficiency.
Look at what has occurred since. King and Gardiner secured to provide immediate answers... McEvoy for the future...and now several more so that when King and Gardiner fade away will will have new options coming through. Now not all the young rucks will make it..but we now have a good chance of having respectable ruck division for many a year.
4/ And lastly....gameplan and tactics.
Look at the swans game...the Swans were rampant in the first quarter BUT yet we stopped them dead...not one goal kicked by them in the second and third quarters.
Our ability to choke the opposition when they had he ball is what won us the game.
Under GT when team got a run on we were hopeless.....
How about we credit Saturday night to Lyon...it was the saints playing "his" way that won us the game.
Flying the World in comfort thanks to FF Points....