Is our playing roster finalized for 2012?

[Guest]

You can't expect any good players will come to play under smith.

It's unfortunate but that's what it is.

You also can't expect any good players will want to come play under Elliott or okay outside Mortimer.

So our roster won't change expect for any minor tinkering with more rejects which is the way smith likes it.

We will have to wait til 2013 when we have a new coach for any decent signings

Thanks for adding to the discussion. Your ideas as always are cutting edge and I have never heard them before. I am richer for having absorbed that information again. Have a nice day.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

I can understand Smith has not won a GF but how many times has he got a team to a GF? plenty. how many current nrl coaches have got a team to a GF? Bennet, Sheens, Hasler, Smith, Cleary, Anderson. Do not include Bellamy he and storm are proven cheats, How many coaches have won a GF Bennet,Sheens, Hasler. Forgive me if iv'e missed any. Smith is fine, he will do a good job.

Yeah spot on mate.

I always say its much harder to make a GF then win one...think about it.

I hope Smithys contract is extended not cut short.

[Guest]

[/B]

Yeah spot on mate.

I always say its much harder to make a GF then win one...think about it.

I hope Smithys contract is extended not cut short.

By this logic, if you're trying to have a baby it's okay to use the rhythm method.

(I cleaned that the hell up)

[Cockadoodledoo]

[/B]

Yeah spot on mate.

I always say its much harder to make a GF then win one...think about it.

I hope Smithys contract is extended not cut short.

um.. Every year 2 teams make the grand final and only one wins it.. To me that tells me it is easier to make it.

[Guest]

um.. Every year 2 teams make the grand final and only one wins it.. To me that tells me it is easier to make it.

That makes winning a GF a 50% chance.
You only have a 12% chance of getting there.
To everyone else that makes it easier to win it...

[Guest]

[/B]

Yeah spot on mate.

I always say its much harder to make a GF then win one...think about it.

I hope Smithys contract is extended not cut short.

I have thought about it and what you said doesn't make sense.

[Guest]

That makes winning a GF a 50% chance.
You only have a 12% chance of getting there.
To everyone else that makes it easier to win it...

Yes but its a 50% chance only AFTER you pass your 12% chance.

[Rocky Rhodes]

Will there be another signing? this close to the start of the pre season, probably not.

More likely they will try and build a war chest for a big name signing for 2013.

I mean with Ryles, he was on a 2yr contract with a 1 yr option, since he hasn't taken that option, we pay nothing for 2012, so there is a bit of money there.

Will we take on SBW, cooper or both? i am starting to think cooper will be a risk, too hot and cold, only option would be as a Fullback too erratic in the halves. SBW though, he has great utility value, blays in the backs and forwards, but comes with some baggage, the way he left the dogs, his contract situation with the dogs and the fact he has been playing union......Still has the shoulder charge though.

Errrrr.....wrong.

Ryles must have taken that option or signed a new one year deal. Every media source says he was released one yr early. To be released from a contract implies you had a contract. Obviously there was a falling out or it's shocking planning.

[Rocky Rhodes]

[/B]

Yeah spot on mate.

I always say its much harder to make a GF then win one...think about it.

I hope Smithys contract is extended not cut short.

lol..

I think thinking is not your strong suit.

[Cockadoodledoo]

That makes winning a GF a 50% chance.
You only have a 12% chance of getting there.
To everyone else that makes it easier to win it...

no you have a 6% chance of winning it

[Guest]

Yes but its a 50% chance only AFTER you pass your 12% chance.

Correct,but the discussion was it is easier to win a grand final than it is to make one..
Since 1960,we have played in 10 GRAND FINALS and won a 3.
That is 50 years to play in 10 GF`s.
Math is not my strongest suit,but Jacks Fur Coat reasoning is correct...

[Headless Chook]

Errrrr.....wrong.

Ryles must have taken that option or signed a new one year deal. Every media source says he was released one yr early. To be released from a contract implies you had a contract. Obviously there was a falling out or it's shocking planning.

It depends who's option it was, the clubs or Ryles, and also the terms of the option.

[Cockadoodledoo]

Correct,but the discussion was it is easier to win a grand final than it is to make one..
Since 1960,we have played in 10 GRAND FINALS and won a 3.
That is 50 years to play in 10 GF`s.
Math is not my strongest suit,but Jacks Fur Coat reasoning is correct...

Clearly, we made 10 and won 3 but you still think it is harder to make it?

[Guest]

Fairly obvious I thought that JFC was referring to the chances of a club making a grand final (at the beginning of the season), compared to winning one for which it has already qualified. So, yes, in a tight comp of 16 teams... much harder to make a grand final.

Sure we had a poor season, and Smith should wear some of the blame for it. And having lost 4 grand finals he is also open to the choker's tag. (I would argue that two were against practical SOO teams and one was with the previous year's wooden spooners; but that's just a personal take on it.)

What comes across to me as completely biased or agenda-driven is the argument: '"hasn't won a premiership" = "can't coach". George Moore never won the Melbourne Cup. Rosewall and Lendl never won Wimbledon. Raelene Boyle never won Olympic gold. Stirling Moss never won the F1 Championship. Bellamy has not yet legitimately won a premiership or a SOO series. Do these facts taint their careers?... yes, but they still get plenty of well-merited kudos.

Smith has had a number of years similar or better than Bellamy's this year (though never with a Cameron Smith or Billy Slater in his team): good seasons, under difficult circumstances without nabbing the premiership. Eight finals series in ten years at the Eels; four grand finals (including one with the previous season's wooden spooner); two minor premierships (smashing the all-time point scoring record in 2001 with a good but hardly champion 9/7/6 of Drew, Taylor, Buettner... and topping the ladder in 2005 with Tim Smith and John Morris as halves); and in every instance he has turned around a club which for one reason or another has been in dire straits--something both Bennett and Bellamy, for instance, have yet to prove they can do. A little more subjective, but often acknowledged by those who aren't biased, is that there have been few if any coaches over the past 20 years who have proven such ability time and time again to improve footballers.

Getting stuck into Smithy for the way we played this year, or having a jibe at the empty premiership cabinet might be fair enough. Or even the fact that he is a fairly aloof, technically-oriented coach, who is not a real mentor to his players like a Bennett. But point blank refusal to acknowledge that he is a very very good football coach just comes across as ignorant or insincere.

[mightyrooster]

Fairly obvious I thought that JFC was referring to the chances of a club making a grand final (at the beginning of the season), compared to winning one for which it has already qualified. So, yes, in a tight comp of 16 teams... much harder to make a grand final.

Sure we had a poor season, and Smith should wear some of the blame for it. And having lost 4 grand finals he is also open to the choker's tag. (I would argue that two were against practical SOO teams and one was with the previous year's wooden spooners; but that's just a personal take on it.)

What comes across to me as completely biased or agenda-driven is the argument: '"hasn't won a premiership" = "can't coach". George Moore never won the Melbourne Cup. Rosewall and Lendl never won Wimbledon. Raelene Boyle never won Olympic gold. Stirling Moss never won the F1 Championship. Bellamy has not yet legitimately won a premiership or a SOO series. Do these facts taint their careers?... yes, but they still get plenty of well-merited kudos.

Smith has had a number of years similar or better than Bellamy's this year (though never with a Cameron Smith or Billy Slater in his team): good seasons, under difficult circumstances without nabbing the premiership. Eight finals series in ten years at the Eels; four grand finals (including one with the previous season's wooden spooner); two minor premierships (smashing the all-time point scoring record in 2001 with a good but hardly champion 9/7/6 of Drew, Taylor, Buettner... and topping the ladder in 2005 with Tim Smith and John Morris as halves); and in every instance he has turned around a club which for one reason or another has been in dire straits--something both Bennett and Bellamy, for instance, have yet to prove they can do. A little more subjective, but often acknowledged by those who aren't biased, is that there have been few if any coaches over the past 20 years who have proven such ability time and time again to improve footballers.

Getting stuck into Smithy for the way we played this year, or having a jibe at the empty premiership cabinet might be fair enough. Or even the fact that he is a fairly aloof, technically-oriented coach, who is not a real mentor to his players like a Bennett. But point blank refusal to acknowledge that he is a very very good football coach just comes across as ignorant or insincere.

Very well said. You can't be an NRL / first grade coach for nearly 30 years and not know how to coach. Smithy has his own style. He's not a Bennett or a Hasler or a Sheens. And yes he's never won a GF but he has got a team there 4 times. Many coaches will NEVER get a team to a Grand Final. And yes he lost all those GFs but he did very well to even get the Dragons there in 92 / 93 and what he did with Parra in 01 was amazing. He IS a good coach and has his own unique style.