I was apprenshive at first as i feel an Origin coach should have played Origin, Gould being the exception. But as a head coach for Origin you need the no BS attitude of "We hate these guys". Freddy was a bit too friendly at the end there, Madge will be berading Queensland at every angle, those who do not agree are gone. Freddy, if he pissed a player off who was a decent name, he would coddle them.
Origin is a different beast to NRL, Jack Gibson never understood Origin he was one of the best coaches the game has ever seen. Madge worked for NZ, his hard style approach seems to ware off quickly in NRL, but in rep footy it wont ware off quick as it is stop start being with him, when it starts to get too much they are finished with reps then start fresh again later.
Hard nosed passion is something NSW has been lacking, not saying Freddy is not passionate but he is more laid back and relaxed over it, Madge will go down swinging.
I actually thought Mitch Moses and Junior Paulo went backwards after being in origin this year. Don't know if it was due to Fittlers training regime or just tiredness.
Paulo is strange as statistically it was a solid year. His most metre average per game in his career, he had 13 more tackle breaks than 2022. But overall he was not leading by example as a captain. Obviously the club see more than we do with him as a leader, but Hopgood and RCG lead by example more than Paulo does.
But Origin did not really effect Paulo's form in my opinion. Moses though i felt came back into the team when the team itself was in free fall of form. All started with the Warriors match where we lost Gutho needlessly and then the week after had RCG and Sivo do stupid plays in frustration leading to them missing up to 3-4 games each. Had Moses played against the Warriors would our season be different? Perhaps but i do not think his game suffered after Origin.
"His carries are soft and indeed the hit and spin he does are not inspriring.
But he was crucial for us in defence. Tackled everything and covered so well for Moretti, Taulagi etc...who were missing tackles.
He's still young (22!) but his ceiling…"
"Yeah but the Cowboy metres, while Taumololo and Mikaele gained metres, it was all their slippery players like Purdue, Dearden and Drinkwater that made the metres for them by evading tackles etc...
But I agree about the other forwards dominating us…"
"Guymer just isn't ready for First Grade yet. He has the smarts but his body isn't there. His future is at lock, he needs to build up some muscle, doesn't bend the line or even dent it. He knows the hit and spin but doesn't pump the legs. Has a…"
"Did we expect Sanders to wait til Moses to retire to play?
Given how much injury time Moses has had these last seasons Sanders actually would have got significant game time if he was backup for Moses. What could have been. I do wonder what Sanders…"
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Best coach around for short competitions in my opinion, his style is perfect for an origin camp.
I was apprenshive at first as i feel an Origin coach should have played Origin, Gould being the exception. But as a head coach for Origin you need the no BS attitude of "We hate these guys". Freddy was a bit too friendly at the end there, Madge will be berading Queensland at every angle, those who do not agree are gone. Freddy, if he pissed a player off who was a decent name, he would coddle them.
Origin is a different beast to NRL, Jack Gibson never understood Origin he was one of the best coaches the game has ever seen. Madge worked for NZ, his hard style approach seems to ware off quickly in NRL, but in rep footy it wont ware off quick as it is stop start being with him, when it starts to get too much they are finished with reps then start fresh again later.
Hard nosed passion is something NSW has been lacking, not saying Freddy is not passionate but he is more laid back and relaxed over it, Madge will go down swinging.
I hope he hates all our players and zero get a call up.
Teams who have the most people in Origin invariably end up at the top end of the ladder and those players seems to always come back better for it.
We want our (eligible) players in Origin, it means we have great players in top form!
I actually thought Mitch Moses and Junior Paulo went backwards after being in origin this year. Don't know if it was due to Fittlers training regime or just tiredness.
Paulo is strange as statistically it was a solid year. His most metre average per game in his career, he had 13 more tackle breaks than 2022. But overall he was not leading by example as a captain. Obviously the club see more than we do with him as a leader, but Hopgood and RCG lead by example more than Paulo does.
But Origin did not really effect Paulo's form in my opinion. Moses though i felt came back into the team when the team itself was in free fall of form. All started with the Warriors match where we lost Gutho needlessly and then the week after had RCG and Sivo do stupid plays in frustration leading to them missing up to 3-4 games each. Had Moses played against the Warriors would our season be different? Perhaps but i do not think his game suffered after Origin.