We have had the longest off season in history. First of all, the on going rumour mill which has seen Parramatta linked to dozens of players from everywhere including the UK super league and beyond & players on or off contract. Of the players we have bought - our own supporters have already put the line through most of them for various reasons ( age. weight, injury prone, reputation etc ) . To make things worse the media circus has feasted on every bit of misfortune our great club has endured in 2010.
Time to clean the slate and get ready for 2011. I am very positive for 2011 becuase I believe that Parramatta has opened the football bible and got out the list of things needed to be successful. It worked well for Jack GIBSON, Wayne Bennett and Bob FULTON. The simple things are :
- Have a hard & fit football team with plenty of KMS in their legs at start of the season. The boys have done more KMS than any time in last 10 years. Teams that can stay in games longer under stress/fatigue prove very successful.
- Make Discipline the no 1 priority in all facets of the club. Short cuts are not Tolerated, close enough is not good enough - go the extra yards.
- Do it for each other, a team culture that covers the whole club. Each game is played with an expectation of winning not an attitude of we hope to or see what happens.
- Play to a structured game plan - play to your strengths, expose the opposition weakness. Every player has a job to do and must do it. Everyone must contribute.
- RESPECT your opposition but not fear them. We are as good as every other team.
The key to our success or otherwise is our ability to get a good start in 2011. WE are well known for being poor starters. That is our achilles heel. We need to get a good start and to keep our older players on the field. They will be gold for us if they can remain healthy. Sprinkle the kids in their at opportune times and we will be a much better team in 2011.
As SK has said - we need to grind out wins, be patient, be tough, be relentless and make everyone know this is a new era. As that signs says in tunnel at Parramatta stadium as players run out " This is Parramatta "
People need to remember we are Parramatta - every single one of us . WE make up this club, we have a powerful role to play in our on field success...... This is Parramatta.......
cheers have a great 2011 everyone.
Replies
this is all well and good what you say, however the facts are our 2011 team isnt as good as it should be - our retention and recruitment strategies failed miserably and we simply dont have the the team capable of winning the comp next year - we are anywhere between 600k and a million under the cap
if we used up that space with a quality halfback and centre, then i would agree with you - i just cant see where our points will come from - our halves are not creative, our backline is ageing and there is no mateo in the forwards!
basically you need all that you said which i believe kearney is doing, but you also need the cattle and this is where we will fall down
optimism is all well and good, but we need to be realistic
Brian,
I am disappointed that we missed out on a half back, would have loved to got any of the ones we chased but we didnt so we have what we have got. Walker, Hicks and Whatuira are proven NRL players with try scoring ability. Yes, they have been away but you dont lose ability. As long as they remain healthy they will contribute.
The key to points is having foils and runners working around the ball reducing the amount of focus and ' spot defending ' on HAYNE and MORTIMER. Those back three know where the try line as does BURT and REDDY. Defensively, we will suck the life out of sides and we will get the points on the back of patience, discipline and control. That comes with structured football.
Creativity in the forwards will come from HINDY second phase off loads, HORO and MATUA when he gets into gear after a few weeks in Wenty. Micthell/maquire will add thrust similar to Kingston in 2009 and that creates the chances to use backlines.
My big concern is the kicking game. That must be 100% - something that has hurt us for some time.
Reality is we have this team for 2011 - we are parramatta - we will get the job done my friend.
i respect your point of view totally
i hope for new beginnings too - atleast i can expect a team that will fight from start to finish and that will be fantastic to see
just a bit disillusioned and frustrated as to how we manged to ruin a '09 grand final team to what we will put out next year
Brian - I would suggest to you that we will NEVER have an ideal team to start any season
Even during the halcyon days of the 1980's it was rumoured that some players would not be up to scratch but the players didn't seem to agree.
I sense a different "feel" about our 2011 team - a feeling of belief and a growing trust in each other throughout the team.
We have too few individual champions in our line up but teams who play for each other - have pride in the colours they wear and the game develop into Champion Teams.
As the old saying goes - A champion team will invariably beat a team of champions any day.
BRING IT ON - I am confident we will give this season a bit of a shake up.
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