We all watch our team, week in week out, Win or Lose, Top of the ladder, bottom of the ladder and all have our opinions. I watch this year in complete annoyance. Im annoyed with the sub standard skill levels and lack of pace of players around Mitchell. 

Quite simply Is it time to give Mitch a better team. In my opinion he deserves better. A player that has developed into a very very good halfback nearing the top of his game, may very well not see the dizzying heights of being named a champion, simply because of recruitment / retention and biased contracts of some players out of form or past their prime. Does this land at the Boards feet, the Coach's feet or the Players feet. 

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Who makes the hard decsion to start culling contracted players in the ruthless way the Roosters and the Dogs are known to do, in their quest for a winning team.

Take it a step further, should Mitch be our off field and onfield leader, our captain.  Of course that means the tempo man, the effort man in Gutherson would have to relinquish the captaincy. Thats hard because he is 110% effort. But this effort alone is not going to get us where we need to be. We need that effort but we obviously need more.

We sit stone motherless last with the Tigers, with not much chance of advancing a hell of a lot higher. So what changes. Im not sure anymore that a change of coach is the only answer.

Is it time to give Mitch a better team, and in the process making hard decisons on moving on contracted players, some that are even fan favourites. 

I for one am leaning towards a change in the retention and recruitment team. To me they have it terribly wrong and have locked us into this team for an extended period still to come. Something more then just the coach has to change.

 

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  • Mitch is a top 3 halfback and the only way he will ever get his hands on a premiership is if he goes to the Storm, Roosters or Panthers.

    Missing out on the Premiership in 2022 should've made the team hungry for more and driven them but it went the other way.

    • Wouldn't surprise me if after origin Mitch is starting to think this as well 😞

  • Would you be saying this if he didn't have a good game in origin 

    • Trent if he plays shit then of course I wouldnt be asking the question. He would be part of the problem then wouldnt he. His game against Newcastle was good, the players around him let him down. He creates chances but some of our players dont have the skill , pace or footy nouse to capitalise on them. 

      • He hasn't been the most consistent he is a great player no doubt but consistency is what's been lacking that goes for all the team

  • After watching our last game,Moses was the only 1 having a red hot crack. He tried everything to lift our team, he was literally saying cmon follow me, we can win this. Yes he deserves a better team, we have a team that is at least a top 8 side, but lethargy , laziness and self belief is sorely lacking

    • Are we really a top 8 team Bear

      I've been saying this for a couple of months now but can you name another player in our team that is a top 5 player in his position beside Moses

       

      • no we are not our 1-5 are sub NSW cup level by many many metrics ......its crazy

  • Bluey, good blog & write-up. Fair question & do agree.

    Moses is, imo only, one of the best halves in the game. What is so impressive is how hard he’s obviously worked to improve areas of his game that needed development - mentally also. 
     
    The devils advocate on this for me is, and while Mitch is in an impressive purple patch of form, it has taken him a long time to get to where he is now? He is 29 after all. 
     
    Maybe that falls on Mitch, maturity, experience, or maybe that is on recruitment, coaching, or maybe all of the above?
     
    Sound like a broken record, but our back 5 have been the biggest issue for a while now imo.
     
    We are losing so many games due to errors & poor / lazy defensive reads, or an inability to keep up with opposing outside backs.
     
    Our halves need strike inside & outside them, players defences need to be wary of. The fact Will Penisini was our most experienced centre at the club at age 21 last year has to fall on recruitment.
     
    Will’s development seems to have stalled, and how could it not? These young outside backs have no experienced mentor to guide them. 
     
    Everyone blames MoN for this, and that might be fair. But if you were a young & upcoming outside back looking to develop, and you had watched BA / Eels defensive structures, would you sign at Parra? How they bamboozled Lomax I will never know, maybe it is the fullback carrot.
     
    A coach has a huge impact on recruitment & retention, and is just another reason why this coaching decision is so important & I do wonder if this why Hannay is being considered? 
     
    I’m with you Bluey, Mitch deserves a better team around him & if that can happen with Lomax and more, its then on him to maintain this higher level in the big moments.
     
    A lot here disagree, but as long as we have both our halves there is hope, but, with the aging pack & Gutho, we really are on ticking clock.
     
    Concerning times, but not all is lost, still feel its more a tweak of the roster we have, than a genuine rebuild. 3-4 players, recruited for their professionalism & approach mentally as much as their talent, can make all the difference imo.
     
    • Yep I like what your saying NOS. The thought process for me builds on what yourself and Coryn have said previously about Dylan Brown. " ypu guys changed my mind". He is doing so much more and in my opinion does not trust the outside backs or his edge forward and because of that,  he may be forced knowingly or not to go away from certain game plans. I do now believe that Dylan would be so much better if those around him were also much much better. I just see Mitch as a born leader where i see Dylan dancing to his own music sheet.

      I have said all along that i think Lomax was bought to play fullback. Does that change now that BA is gone, if it was ever even a real thing. Lomax is a key sigining and will make us better. We just need another couple like him to come our way sooner rather then later.

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