A good discussion took place between Hoe, Pou and Coryn on defensive and management issues in Reversing Four Years of Regression.
I found credit in the discussion from all sides and a worthwhile read. Originally, I was replying on that post/blog but it ended up going a bit broader. Some of the detail might get lost as I tend to look more at the "big picture".
HOE pointed out the decline of the team's defence (2020-24 from 3rd to 16th ranked) noting out that top-two defences had won all but two titles since 2006 (2015 Cowboys, 5th; 2016 Sharks, 3rd). I liked Pou's counter argument: Only Two sides have great defence but 15 are outside that. That said the top 2 sides whoever they maybe, still end up having the best stats.
Where I disagree with Pou is that BA had heaps of opportunities in terms of getting our defence structurally right (better) and failed to do so. The reason (rationale) is irrelevant. It was the same weakness week after week regardless of how well we were going. If we played Souths in those days you could bet on us being lapped for 6 tries plus and "he/we" could not do a thing about it.
Ryles spends half a dozen games this year and got it right. Every year we sat around asking "can it be that hard?" Obviously for some, not for others. HOE points out Matt Elliott bring all this out in 2019 and that PLV's increased speed of the game (2020 six again) brought BA's structural weaknesses undone. Something Super doubled down on.
Back to Coryn's points. He is selecting the obvious issues of our evolution past the renaissance. That is, the inexperience of coaching and administrative staff. He see's this as a major weakness. I see it as an imperical aspect of learning, when no obvious alternatives are available.
In life just about everyone I know has become experienced through making mistakes, identifying them and correcting same. There used to be an expression used "as good as a bought one"'. If you know a bought one out there that we could have got, bring it into the discussion.
MON has had his chance and he maybe improving still, but I would have to identify a defence for him to prove me wrong. I say this because we just don't know enough about his relationship with the power broking that was taking place during that 2019 plus period.
Face value says we should be in the market for a new "head of football" or is there a better title for this position because I am not sure that anyone is going to argue that Ryles is the Head of Football. Its horses for courses but I could not imagine us appointing a new "head of football" and him telling Ryles what to do?
Maybe a new title needs to be constructed like "head of football administration" does that exclude any empowerment of Ryles? who I believe should be answerable only to the CEO and Chairman and that excludes the current Head of Football i.e hard lines to CEO and Chairman and dotted lines to Head of Football Admin. Whether that changes with different personell is open.
Jim Saratinos falls into the inexperienced category that can only be learnt by the process being enacted. But he has the makings of a very good administrator now that he has more than dotted lines to follow.
The Chairman has recently changed and I can only go on a nomination like Fongy who says he is a good operator. For anyone that Chairs our board that is a big rap from Frankie.
The board itself is another matter and you will find that they are pretty toothless in directional terms based on the more dictatorial management other clubs have. Just the same the outlier is Penrith and they have a similar structure to us without billionaire "sugar daddies" HOE calls them. Matt Cameron, their GM and administration staff follow the strategies and direction of their head coach Ivan Cleary.
Just remember that the CEO of Penrith is Matt Cameron. He joined the Panthers in 2012 as a high-performance manager. A former woodwork teacher who had no experience as a GM or CEO prior to Penrith. He learnt his experience at management watching Parramatta F### everything up and then not do the same at Penrith.
Replies
Pops, you raise some excellent points. I've always appreciated your leaning towards the big picture. Without that we can get lost in the woods banging our heads pin-ball style from one tree to the next scaring the squirrels. Happens on here quite regularly.
The club's moving in the right direction, as one where it counts. Let's hope that improvement continues next year. 2027 could see even more action if that happens.
Admitedly, I was surprised that "Reversing Fours Years of Regression" , a SWOT analysis geared more to the future, actually stimulated much discussion thanks largely to Pou's and Coryn's efforts. Kudos to them. I expected 2-12 replies. But then I realized it was an indirect poke at BA even though I had no intention of excavating the past. An emotional topic. Management, which you've touched upon, is another triggering topic on here.
Bottom line: We devolved. It happened. Now, there are signs of rise and evolution which suggest the club understood why the fall happened and how the bus can get back on the road. Hopefully, it's not a false dawn.