Lets not throw the baby out with the bath water.
1) we have had a disastrous injury toll
2) we had the coaching saga
3) we have an interim coach
4) by and large even with those issues the last 2/3rds of the year has had positives.
5) The front office is strong
6) The mole in the ranks has gone.
7) The LM suspension was not mismanaged the NRL again showed how inconsistent they are
8) the CEO is a very good operator.
9) Footy staff yes a broom needs to go through that and will with an incoming coach
10) I do not believe we are accepting mediocrity.
11) We will rise from the ashes of 2024.
A bunch of excuses.
The LM suspension was mismanaged and the NRL being inconsistent are not mutually exclusive. Both can be true, and in this case, are true.
We accepted mediocrity for about 40 yrs from the mid 70s until Crowe took over
We’ve mismanaged so many things I’ve forgotten most of them
People seem to forget that we’re privately owned, the board consists of representatives of our owners & a few others
Despite a few hiccups the last few years, there has been some turmoil, it’s amplified because we focus on it being supporters, other clubs go through it too, we just need a bit of stability again & plan better for succession, our recruitment could be better, we could be a bit more arrogant & demanding on what we expect of junior teams, seems we still rely too heavily on Souths junior players
I think Solly is doing a good job with the club, we seem to be commercially going pretty well, Brock Schaefer seems like a bad loss
I hope the last few years is the impetus for some change, we have the means & resources to enact it
Solly has done a decent job. The commercial challenges that face the club if this lack of success continues will be the real test of his resolve (if he manages to make it that far).
The problem is our front office has always been shit.
Remember when richo signed Isaac luke without his management knowing no nrl couldn't register it until he paid his management their share?
Remember when rusty went on TV bragging about Inglis which almost cost us his signature if he didn't threaten to go to afl.
Remember when we resigned madge to only sack him less then a year later. Like the current board did with JD.
coaches getting knocked out, captains in US bar room brawls, owners on quad bikes, players ODing on pain meds. We have never had it right. The only difference is the old administration got us to 2 grandfinals.
The administration hasn't changed since the two grand finals you reference. It is essentially the same administration.
Where is the new blood? Who are the people thinking critically and demanding success?
The best thing said so far is we seemingly have the resources and means to be the best but we always come off looking cheap. Everything we do screams budget.
We need a rejig. Our pathway results are rubbish, you could barely pick 3 guys that you could say will definitely make it, we always look like we’ve picked up the scraps and no one physically or athletically looks the part. I’m tired of the “lets have 3 possible NRL players amongst the 200 junior players we contract’ approach
We continue to fail to rectify NRL squad short comings - like seriously how long have we known Tom was leaving or likely to and we havent found a replacement? Our only genuine big man who had some impact. Meanwhile the Roosters always have these massive athletic humans ready to pop straight in, I’m starting to think their model really is the way.. for a district where we dont produce genuine NRL front rowers, we should be poaching whoever is the NSW/QLD/AUS schoolboy front rowers in our system.
Anytime we’ve had adverse media in the last
12-18 months we seem to be always fighting off the ropes and just come out looking like amateurs.
Please stop talking about effort too - I dont care, that is the bare minimum requirement.
We are at another pivotal stage for South Sydney.
Recruitment and pathways needs some serious attention.
The next 5 years will either set the club up for more success or it will put us back in the wilderness for a period.
Or the reality is that our supporter base will never be truly happy & whinge about the administration
I’m heartened that it’s pretty universal & most clubs supporters whinge equally about theirs
If you’re not top 4 every year the supporters are complaining, it’s a tough gig & you get rid of people & you could potentially make it worse
If you're not top 4 every year, you're entitled to ask questions. In fact, your entitled to ask tough questions.
Why are Melbourne and the Roosters continually seeing success? More recently, why are Penrith maintaining the benchmark?
It's possible and Souths can do it but they need to properly implement a strategy and the last two years (probably longer) the strategy has been bollocks.
That just made me scream last night. Tass tries as hard as anyone in the squad, no doubt… but he is so ineffective its not funny.
He isnt fast or athletic or a demon out of the backfield or a great defensive centre.. he is meh at best in every part of the game. So why 3 years? Was another NRL club knocking the door down for him? I don’t want to see him play more than say 6 games a year because it’ll ideally mean we’re doing well.
But again we just stockpile meh - we never have a depth player with a point of difference. Tass, Kennar, Thompson etc - they are all the same. Not one of them is quicker or more athletic or better at X than the other!
Tass, Milne, Kennar, Thompson are all guys that need to be seeing less than 5 games each of first grade.
The fact that they have been regulars demonstrates a failing in recruitment from the end of the first Wayne era.
Serious questions also need to be leveled at the medical team.
Why was Eddie Farah forced out of the club?
Seems totaling bewildering when there was absolutely zero improvement in relation to the replacement personnel.
What a load of rubbish...by that I mean this thread, not the club.
Who says the club accepts mediocrity?
Yes, we've had a couple of poor years (or a year and a half) but since 2012 Souths have missed out on the finals just 3 times.
In that period we have won a grand final, lost a a grand final and made numerous preliminary finals.
Is that a sign of incompetence or accepting mediocrity?
And people have the audacity to claim that fans of other clubs have a sense of entitlement.
The only load of rubbish is your response.
Two successive years of failure entitles hard questions being asked.
Who says the club accepts mediocrity? Take a look at some fact based evidence.
Last season, Souths were a lock to make the finals after the first half of the season and we all saw how that went down. Total and utter failure.
Last season, issues should have been identified and mitigated or rectified.
Lack of depth in certain positions is probably the most significant issue that could have been identified.
What was done to rectify these issues?
The coaching staff came up with the quip "Who's better than Jacob Gagai?"
In their view, there was no talent available.
They chose to rely on the playing stocks of Gagai, Milne, Kennar & co.
Everyone is praying that Wayne's magic touch will reignite the place but it is not going to be an easy task.
We have a fullback that is lackadaisical about every aspect of his athletic performance.
We have a five eight who is in his ultimate or penultimate year.
We have no established or reliable halfback or hooker.
Is the failure to implement change or mitigate risk a sign of incompetence or mediocrity? Yes.
I said no, which is probably more damning than I actually feel.
But they’ve made a few too many questionable calls of late for me to say yes.
Either things that don’t add up. Or things they just plain got wrong.
There was a period in that run of Prelims where they 100% had benefit of the doubt from me.
That’s gone.
Schaffer, JD, and O’Callaghan (as the pathways guy - not the reserve grade coach) were all busts. We know Ellison is limited. Can do a job but probably shouldn’t be given too much scope. Solly is an excellent administrator but can’t do it all.
That stadium thing was a garbage truck on fire. Latrell’s supsension wasn’t handled much better more recently. We seem to always be at war with the NRL and other third parties. It’s all very combative.
Things have been trending downward since Richo left. We haven’t had a quality recruitment guy since Hughes.
Classic case of thinking quality of personnel doesn’t matter and the entity is just bullet proof. It isn’t. The brand will only get you
so far.
Then you throw in some weird signings here and there that are just a little off, or don’t make a lot of sense.
The club have some work to do to get me back on board.
Wayne probably solves most of that in the short term, which hopefully isn’t a complete band aid.
I would hope we add some pedigree to the football dept in admin and pathways.
Some very good points.
Not good enough, and the fact that you don't see it means you accept mediocrity too.
Compare to the Melbourne Storm.
Seriously, that's all you have to do.
They're a football club, run by humans. Why should their standard be impossible?
Should we not aim high?
Oh golly gee we won one grand final with some of our most generational players ever! Woo! Jobs done for another 40 years?
We're 1/4th of the way through another 40 year drought.
Aim higher.
Spot on.
