I know there were recent blogs where the idea of what goals the team should be aiming for. There was difference of opinion with some saying that a premiership was the only goal and others saying we should work out way up to that goal.
Everyone wants a premiership for the eels and not just 1. We want plenty to make up for the past 30years of failure and that is why I found recent quote from Cooper Cronk very interesting when asked about the grand final.
"If you start focusing on the outcome you will lose track of the process and this football team has got to this position through building a foundation of strength,” Cronk said.
“Build a foundation where you can trust one another both defensively and with the ball.
“It’s up to us to go out and put the final pieces together.
“If you want to dumb it down further, my focus is this afternoon’s training session"
His belief is that a long term goal is fine but it is more important to focus on the steps immediately infront of you then the end result. I think we have exhibited some of this over past few years getting ahead of our selves after a good season and failing the next. As the expectations on the team rose and there was talk of top 4 and premierships we failed miserably and looked a shadow of the team which showed promise the year before.
This year the eels weren't focused on winning a premiership if they were being realistic, but appeared very focused on making individual improvements which resulted in team success. It is the same in the individual games where we have played well. When the pressure is off we do a lot better but when the pressure is there due to factors such as being favourite we don't handle it well and appear to focussed on how much we will win by or the next week's game to do the simple things right.
In a few of our big wins we played well and scored plenty of points but it all started with small things such as ball control and line speed for the first 15 mins. Some of our big blow out victories came from halftime leads of 10 or less and games where it appeared both sides had the opportunity to go on with a victory. On the flip side we all watched games which after the first few sets we knew Parra were not a realistic chance as they were not focussed enough. They were usually in games where we were expected to win easily (or against Melbourne). It would appear that the eels are doing exactly the opposite to cronks advice and looking ahead which means they forget the base that got them there
Our playing rosters in successful years vs failed years have been very similar yet the performance of individual players varied greatly. Players don't forget how to play or gain/lose skills that quickly. The issues are clearly a mental issue with players focus and belief as shown by the inability to win the easy games. Could Cronk's philosophy help us avoid another huge drop in form after a successful year, and how can BA keep the team focused. Does anyone know if we have sports psychologist or something similar to work with the players?
Cronk will no doubt repay the roosters for a couple years in a coaching, mentor role in addition to his role with fox sports, but hopefully at some stage he can be lured to Parra even as a part time specialist coach. There aren't that many juniors who come through with cronks work ethic but even if players only take a portion of his advice in regards to preparation and approach to the game they will become much better players. His insights on fox sports are unmatched and here is link to story where quote was from.
Replies
At the right time the club should throw everything at him to try to get him to be our coach