"The way I see it is that by letting so many players go the club is trying to freshen the culture at the club, I believe our lazy culture has been a major aspect to our inconsitency over the last 10 years or so. The players we have chosen to re-sign are not necessarilly our best players but ones that have shown great attidude i.e Fui, Burt, Mortimer.
The majority of players who come into our first grade team are juniors, thus are already acclimatised to it when they make the grade. By bringing in new players i.e Poore, Shackleton and then more this season (hopefully) we are slowly eroding away at the slack culture. Especially players like Poore who had been under Bennett and Cronk who has been nurtured under Bellamy."
This was a topic I wanted to discuss in more detail so forgive me for spinning it out into its own blog.
We all know our side has been brilliant but inconsistent and there is not one of us that would not like to go to the football on the weekend thinking "which side is going to turn up today?"
My fear is that while we try and whittle away at the problem of inconsistency, we are in danger of losing the kind of brilliance that will win you the big games.
As I look at this week's side and our halves which will be driven by Robson, Mortimer, etc. You look at those players and say, yep, they turn up every week, slog their guts out and you know what you're going to get from them. Then you look at the players we're pushing out of the club - Inu, Mateo and Keating. None of those players can be described as consistent. But they're also the players who will try their hand to create points. That's where I tend to differ with others. I look at someone like Matt and Kris Keating who are willing to back themselves and others watch the same play and see a "ball hog". I'd rather see a halfback or hooker who seeing nothing on, takes on the line in himself rather than the dish the ball out for his centre to get smashed. Or who seeing half a gap tries to run through it rather than handing off the responsibility for somebody else. Or when we need points, a player who will take responsibility upon themselves to come up with the big play rather than just hope someone else does it for them.
And it's my worry that this what we have become or are becoming. When you look at the recruitment decisions that have been made. And you might say "Well Feleti always chances his arm look where it has got him. A one-way ticket to New Zealand". Or if you look at Daniel Mortimer, Jeff Robson and Kris Keating and you say "Well what did the first two blokes do that the last bloke didn't. They stuffed up less".
I think this same thought process flows through the fanbase too. There is a propensity to champion the tenacious little battler who slogs his heart out but plays safe, over the flashier, more talented player who will make mistakes.
When you think about the comments that Daniel Anderson makes at his press conference. He has gotten very riled up over a lack of effort, last week he gave some stick to Jarryd for making some poor decisions. But at least Jarryd took responsibility upon himself to make those decisions. I look at last week's performance and I see an "inoffensive" performance. They were performances that don't get you dropped but they don't win football games either.
My view on football has always been you get the most talented players you can find and you coach them into the players you want them to be. Our modus operandi at the moment seems to be you find the most reliable players you can find and try and coach some points into them. And hey, to a certain degree it has worked at the Dragons.
But that's not what the Parramatta club is about. If you look at our juniors, we have such a high percentage of Polynesian players - they don't play that type of football. They're brilliant, they'll make mistakes but they're used to winning games by scoring points not stopping them.
The culture of every club stems from its junior base. We're pushing out our juniors faster than we're bringing them through. In my view, we're going in the wrong direction. We're trying to rub against the grain of what the Parramatta club is, rather than trying to work with it. Or to put it another way is it Feleti Mateo's fault that he hasn't yet delivered on his potential, or is the Parramatta clubs.
Replies
The challenge now is to come up with a good balance of talent and battlers, every team that has won a comp has got this balance right.
I agree there needs to be a balance but would you say what is looking like our 2009 roster has that balance?
And what's even more intriguing is that if that is the plan - to put in place a culture change, who is the first 2011 signing we make - a big, powerful Tongan international with a reputation for being lazy and not delivering on his potential. WTF?
One thing I believe very strongly that this club needs immediately is someone on our coaching staff like Steven Kearney - a respected former player that a lot of our young Polynesian players can look up to and relate to. It's even more important seeing as though we're losing Feleti - he's very much a senior figure for a lot of the kids around the club.
Melbourne Storm have never seemed to have an issue of not being able to get the best out of their players and I think Kearney has been a massive part of that.
I don't know how you can be a Rubgy League fan and not enjoy what Mateo is capable of producing.
I have enjoyed the polynesian players influence at Parramatta, Mateo's offloads, Inu's athleticism, Moi Moi's toughness. It gives us a point of difference from the other Sydney teams and makes us enjoyable to watch.
I am by no means anti poly, if you look at my avatar you will see it is a pic of Tahu. There are plenty of ploy players that apply themselves each week, players like Tahu, Fui and Isaac Luke.
Clubs like Melbourne and St George have players that are disciplined and consistent winners. Some of the confidence in putting on good plays comes from not making errors from forcing crazy passes and making miracle plays.
Right now the basics like ball retention, good hits ups each set and getting a good kick away is what we need to restore confidence. We will win more games than we loose if we get the basics right. Exuberance can return when we get the basics right.
We can do it!
They manage to get that blend right and they allow players to be brilliant but not at the expense of the team.
I guess what I'm saying is if we're trying to execute a culture shift, it needs to be in the direction of Melbourne rather the Dragons.
"But that's not what the Parramatta club is about. If you look at our juniors, we have such a high percentage of Polynesian players - they don't play that type of football. They're brilliant, they'll make mistakes but they're used to winning games by scoring points not stopping them."
I so agree with this. These players want to have fun by scoring points. That's why they focus on attack and are flashy. That's also what makes Parramatta the club it is today. That's also why I don't want Inu and Mateo to leave. They are important parts of our culture and some of our best juniors. Everytime I watch Inu do something incredible then smile or Mateo pop an unbelievable offload, I'm happy. I don't care about that match alone if we lose. It's just one game. As long as its good footy and the boys are enjoying it and we have a good run to the premiership without giving up, then that's what will win us the premiership and make fans happy.