Ratten and leadership

[BarryGrogan]

He shouldn’t ask for Playfair’s input, he should demand he fix it?!

Not too sure that’s how you communicate as a leader

I didn't say anything about how he communicates.

[shanegrambeau]

Defensive setup at clearances.

Forwards flat handing the ball to the front of the pack.

Defensive F50 entries (bomb to the square then trap it in)

Defensive ruck selections.

Constant jabbering about pressure and being strong.

Selecting dour mediocre players every week, regardless of output.

And we wonder why we have no AA players.

His entire system is defensive and conservative.

These look like percentage plays designed for a team bereft of skills and frankly, I can see the sense in it given our low skill level.

The bomb>trap>pressure entry system is a bit like us turning on the sprinklers at Moorabbin in the 80s. Unfortunately, it seems to be working just as well.

[Teflon]

When we were up and about earlier this year, all the talk from media was how good Ratten is (and to a lesser extent Lade, Billy Slater etc) but once our year went to water, his name (and others) hasn't been mentioned. I honestly don't have a set position on whether Richo is a good coach or not given the hurdles presented to him since coming on board however I did find it a bit unfair that credit was largely dished out to Ratten when we were doing OK and as soon as the wheels came off, it's gone back to Richo yet no mention of Ratten and co.

Whilst I'm at it, I did notice that the 'goal celebrations' that Slater was supposed to have brought in over the pre-season have dropped off a cliff (admittedly not kicking them in the first place would see to that) and this really stood out on the weekend when we were coming back hard and I think it was Bruce who kicked it, hardly anyone got around him. This leads me to think that our current group of players find it difficult to retain even the most basic team instructions/guidelines/philosophy.

A lack of on-field leadership is killing us; Geary has been serviceable as an onfield leader and captain but the drop-off after him is huge. I don't think Ross should be in the leadership group let-alone our VC as the constant example he sets is 'bomb it long without looking'. Hannaz was dropped from the leadership group because he couldn't pull his head in. Robbo was unlucky as we all know. Billings was thrown in there despite not wanting to be there in the first place (Same as Steven was), and Membrey has battled hard and does the right thing.

Aside from Steele, who else that's on our current list, could be promoted to our leadership group for 2020?

Ratten has taken a team to finals
Alan?

I don't mean to be rude but what's your point?

No offence taken at all.
It’s simple - you raise questions as to how good a coach Ratten is (gets credit when we go we’ll and crickets when we don’t). You then suggest your not sure how good a coach Richo is.
I’m just adding some perspective to help your cloudy thinking.
Carry on.

[BarryGrogan]

Defensive setup at clearances.

Forwards flat handing the ball to the front of the pack.

Defensive F50 entries (bomb to the square then trap it in)

Defensive ruck selections.

Constant jabbering about pressure and being strong.

Selecting dour mediocre players every week, regardless of output.

And we wonder why we have no AA players.

His entire system is defensive and conservative.

These look like percentage plays designed for a team bereft of skills and frankly, I can see the sense in it given our low skill level.

The bomb>trap>pressure entry system is a bit like us turning on the sprinklers at Moorabbin in the 80s. Unfortunately, it seems to be working just as well.

It certainly looks like the game plan of a coach that doesn't have any faith in his players.

Combine that with Geary's feedback that he only focusses on what they can't do, rather than what they can do - and you can understand why the players seem so bereft of confidence and self-esteem on the field.

[WellardSaint]

I keep thinking of his words after the Tigers game
: "the kick and catch style might have been frustrating to watch, but it was keeping us in the game"

Seriously, instruct a team to do that, and you are NOT a coach; and you are telling the players that they aren't good enough.

You might as well do all the laundry and cooking for your adult children, Alan, because you have no faith in them.

Can't wait for you to bugger off

[outside66]

When we were up and about earlier this year, all the talk from media was how good Ratten is (and to a lesser extent Lade, Billy Slater etc) but once our year went to water, his name (and others) hasn't been mentioned. I honestly don't have a set position on whether Richo is a good coach or not given the hurdles presented to him since coming on board however I did find it a bit unfair that credit was largely dished out to Ratten when we were doing OK and as soon as the wheels came off, it's gone back to Richo yet no mention of Ratten and co.

Whilst I'm at it, I did notice that the 'goal celebrations' that Slater was supposed to have brought in over the pre-season have dropped off a cliff (admittedly not kicking them in the first place would see to that) and this really stood out on the weekend when we were coming back hard and I think it was Bruce who kicked it, hardly anyone got around him. This leads me to think that our current group of players find it difficult to retain even the most basic team instructions/guidelines/philosophy.

A lack of on-field leadership is killing us; Geary has been serviceable as an onfield leader and captain but the drop-off after him is huge. I don't think Ross should be in the leadership group let-alone our VC as the constant example he sets is 'bomb it long without looking'. Hannaz was dropped from the leadership group because he couldn't pull his head in. Robbo was unlucky as we all know. Billings was thrown in there despite not wanting to be there in the first place (Same as Steven was), and Membrey has battled hard and does the right thing.

Aside from Steele, who else that's on our current list, could be promoted to our leadership group for 2020?

Ratten has taken a team to finals
Alan?

I don't mean to be rude but what's your point?

No offence taken at all.
It’s simple - you raise questions as to how good a coach Ratten is (gets credit when we go we’ll and crickets when we don’t). You then suggest your not sure how good a coach Richo is.
I’m just adding some perspective to help your cloudy thinking.
Carry on.

So Ratten doesn't get mentioned when things go poorly because he's taken a team to finals before?

[bigred]

Hasn't anyone else heard that Richo went back to his old ways after about round six?

Prior to that there was a lot more input from the line coaches? Caro Wilson has gone with that repeatedly.

Go back to a few of those games in the first two months of the season. It is like a different team is playing.

Have a look at the transition we had in the Melbourne game for example.

We have not seen that since.