Now we are nearly half way through the season what do people think of Ryles and who is willing to admit they thought Madge was what the club needed and there were many here who did.
Ryles has the eels playing a better style of football then we have played for years despite our average players. We have some good players but the quality of our side vs competition heavyweights is still a big mismatch. We can see some of what Ryles has put in place and some players just aren't good enough, but are the young kids we have going to grow into the players Ryles needs them to be. Another positive is the defensive systems have clearly changed and the team is buying in with our defence the past month amongst the competition best.
The next hurdle for Ryles is how to attract top quality talent to the club. This is something not helped by our front office so he has gone down the youth road finding good young players to develop and can play his style. We probably still need to add quality in the centres and forwards but considering our recruitment issues for years I don't see who we can get.
Would anyone want Billy Slater now we have seen what Ryles offers and considering how poor the Qld side played. I admit I thought Slater would be good coach but don't think he will ever take up head coaching. I have since changed my mind on his coaching after he was out coached by Laurie Daley in game 1. There was some who wanted to throw everything at Slater and appointed him the next super coach.
If we threw everything at him like we have done to potential star players in the past, it could have been a long few years. He was out coached by Laurie who targeted Harry Grant and the small qld small pack. The side didn't seem to have direction or a plan B, so was it coaching or the players. He may succeed as a head coach as it is different to rep coaching but the lack of direction and energy was a major concern. If NSW win this series with an easy win in either game 2 or 3, I think it will show how over hyped Slater was on 1 origin series.
How about Madge, many said we needed the hard nose approach but I think the player clear out and push for young players from Ryles will work out better than trying to keep what we had and get the best out of aging players through a discipline approach. The broncos have not improved and by all accounts have no salary cap space to add players and Madge doesn't seem to know what to do other than yell louder and work harder. The broncos are not playing to potential but Ryles is getting the best out of players at Parra, even Sean Russell who we all thought had no place in first grade. We still need better centre than him but with his improvement in such a small period, it makes you wonder what he would be as a player if we had a coach similar to Ryles 5years ago instead of BA. He would be the type of back up player you can rely on who doesn't take much cap space.
Ryles has also transformed Junior who looks like a new player despite nearing retirement, and we haven't had as many players debut in 1 year for a long time. I am excited for the future but realistically think we miss the 8 this year. We might scrape into the 8 next year but if Ryles can land a big signing or a young player can really step up we may be amongst the contenders in 2027. It will need the front office to improve and better recruitment, but I think the improvement and level of change in 6 months ths is more impressive than what Ciraldo managed over his first year
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I must admit I wanted Madge over Ryles and I'm very much happy to be proven wrong.
In saying that I actually wanted McDermott and although the signs are good Ryles hasn't achieved anything yet. We're still second last and haven't been able to secure a 5/8 for next year let alone some forwards
I for one was on the JR bashing bandwagon......but I have egg on my face now.....you can see the system helping us and helping the average player to do OK. He just needs them to be fit and play with low errors and low penalties....Talent never beats hard work as Matt Armstrong says...
The Penrith Match had a lot of good things in it ...we just a few quality players short......and we took the 5 GF played 4 win Panthers who where desperate to the edge...
I think if he can attract a couple of decent players, and win another half dozen games, will be an excellent effort first up
Ryles seems to have gotten the players to buy into his style and game plan. Give him a few years to develop the roster he wants but so far the signs are promising
Well tell you the truth if we got Michael i would of been happy because i wanted both Jason or Michael but now i can see what Jason doing to us and i like it so im happy with Jason our defence is good just need couple of Players
1 centre like Tony Staggs
2 or 3 forwards
Out of the options remaining I was happy with Ryles but I was really disappointed we missed out on Flanagan.
With hindsight I am relieved we didn't go down that path.
I love the way Ryles is looking long term and not just trying to get instant success by signing players at their end of their career like Flanno.
Like that last comment about our coach he definitely has a plan and understands it's not a sprint but a marathon.
I agree Flanagan has gone for a quick fix with aging players in Gutho, Cook and Holmes. It may see them make the top 8 but no better. Ryles is playing the long game and although not guaranteed to pay off, the seeds are planted. If he can't get them into top 4 or reach a grand final in 4-5 years we should look elsewhere. We persisted too long with BA. Sometimes fresh ideas with a decent squad is what gets them to the next level. We shouldn't wait till a coach is at rock bottom to replace them.
I went from thinking this team is 15th-17th, i think we could get 12th-14th. Compared to first month how quick they have changed is impressive. Particularly defence considering we had a handful of games where we conceaded 26 or more. We have 4 straight games under 20.
As for other coaches, I said for a while I didn't want Slater based on Origin, coaching Origin is no metric of NRL coaching. Can't believe a lot of people bang the door for him just based on Origin.
Madge was to close to BA in style, Parra said that.
Ryles is the new age coach.
What Ryles has done in half a season is truly amazing. As a fan, we can see where he is heading, and as you say, we are gearing up to have a crack at top 4 in 2027. In past years it's all been year to year, which is why we saw such up and down results from year to year.
I like that Ryles has preferred young players to middling players. At least the young players will improve over time, which is exactly what we are seeing now.
I know most fans want success now, but that's not realistic. Things are coming together for Parra, we just need Head Office to keep up and to build on the small successes we are achieving now.
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