So our Leadership Group at the Eels has been released. Ryles has chosen Mitch Moses (c) , Junior Paulo, J'Maine Hopgood and new recruit Jack Williams as the men he wants to lead our team on and off the field, Some reports indicate the team has a say in their leaders selection as much as the coach's, this would make sense as a part of buying into a teams culture is a feeling of ownership, ownership of selecting leaders, leads to greater respect for that leader when times are tough.
Jack Williams is a sensational signing, leads by example on and off the field. A player that makes those around him better, and never says die. A true 1%er on the field, he does all thise things that others dont, he refuses to let his team mates down. A surprise for many fans on the leadership group, but a well deserved appointment.
J'Maine Hopgood. A future Captain in waiting. Oozes talent and uses it well. Never stops leading the charge in defense and drives team standards on and off the field. His experienc efrom Queensland Origin camps will be invaluable this year.
Mitch Moses - Our General. An obvious choice for Captain. Any man that misses the birth of his first child to play a game for the Eels in a prelim final has just shown how much the club, how much the team and how much playing the fans mean to him. Thats showing a sacrifice of a true leader. Our team is in excellent hands.
So what does this Leadership show and what does it mean. I find myself thinking about those, that are not in the group more then the qualities of the group. Lomax, Ado Carr, Matterson, Lane and Dylan Brown have been looked over, and to me 1 really stands out.
I find myself asking, who was leading the team last year in Mitch Moses absence. Immediately my thoughts go to , "well the reins were given to Dylan Brown", The attack was given to Dylan Brown to control. Many pundits were of the opinion that the team was now Dylans on the field. Sure Gutho was there, but he wasnt the man controling the play, the field position. Surely last year was an audtion for future leadership roles for Dylan. An Eels contract that ends in 2031, the longest contract ever offered by the Eels in its history surely shows the clubs hand in what they were thinking. A long term half and attacking leader, If Mitch Moses was to go down this year for anytime, whom would we expect to take over, Dylan would have been at the top of the list. Now something has changed. Dylan Brown finds himself not in the leadership group. A very experienced Kiwi international, Read into that what you will, everyone must have an opinion.
So if Ryles leaving Dylan out of the Leadership group and or the team not selecting Dylan in the Leadership group, what does this say?
With recent events from Boobgate to the public display of wanting $1.2m to play for any club doing the rounds, it appears that the club, the players and importantly Ryles may very well be making the loudest statement possible right there.
Make no mistake, Bluey really thinks Dylan has hurt his stocks in recent times, you can point to the belief he goes missing in games, he is consistently inconsistent. You can point to the fact he probably failed in what was needed when Mitch went down last year. You may point to the fact of Boobgate and where that left us with all its baggage from being out at night drunk, the suspension, the courts and legal implications, the bad press, the loss of game momentum, and letting the team and fans down, or is it the disrespect felt by fans, team mates and possibly coachs, by the very public way in which close to the start of the season a decision from Dylans Camp to declare he was on the market, that he is prepared to leave a 9 year contract and is prepared to play elsewhere for $1.2m. The timing of this feels off, why wasnt this done in November 1 trade deals, why weeks before the start of the season. What has changed. Its an interesting question.
Of course Dylan has many fans, he has just as many potential fans waiting in the wings. Fans like myself waiting for Dylan to, well grow up perhaps. At 24 he has a lot of growing up to do. His abilitity on the field can be second to none, there is no better cover defender in our team, that right there shows Dylan dosnt neccessarily go missing during games. Any person that consistently leads the defence with effort on effort like he does surely wants to be there. This year sees a team, a backline capable of keeping up with Dylan. A different player I think we could see this year with quality players like Lomax, Ado Carr, Williams, Iongi all around him, throw in Moses and Hopgood and Dylan gets options galour , and the opposition defense must look at others to defend in a movement, giving Dylan 1 on 1 chances. He will take those chances and rip teams apart. This is what we need, is that what we are going to get.
A statement made by Dylan not that long ago resonates with me at a time he didnt need to say anything. "When Gutho left, we lost our heartbeat". To me this is telling, a display by Dylan on his inner most thoughts, made at a time when he didnt have to say anything and could talk about the new signings or the challenges ahead this year, he chose to delve back in time to discuss the teams heart beat. Has Dylan lost his heartbeat for our team our club. Reports indicate he is happy training and all is well. But is it, he was just left out of the leadership group.
So I turn back to the leadership group. Our team needs real leaders to drive the team on and off the field if we are to win. Mitch, Jack, J'Maine have this in spades. Dylan might not be in the Leadership group, but we still need him to be a leader if we are to play finals footy. Which way this goes will be telling for our year. The players and coach's by leaving him out of the group, may have just given Dylan the biggest public arse kicking that they could. Is Dylan on the way out or could it drive him to star for the Eels. The next 10 odd weeks is going to be telling and may just play a bigger part in our season then we know.
Replies
I'm not shocked at all that Browns left out, he's a dope. And the kid doesn't seem to be in the game for any other reason than it's a high paying job that without he'd be digging holes or pushing a barrow. The way his background story plays out he was just a kid with zero ambitions to play rugby league but was fortunate enough to be pissing around with his mates everyday and was the standout that caught the eye of the right person at the right time. Nek minute it's years later and his natural talent has taken him a very long way for a shitload of coin , but now his natural talent has plateaued and he has no idea how to , or drive to work to earn some more talent. He's had so much wind blown up his arse he , why would he think he's not doing any less than expected ? Totally different playing for NZ, he's surrounded with guys he doesn't need to carry. The best talent in the games all there , being amongst our top 3 or 4 highest paid players he's expected to be a performer and a momentum changer when needed and he doesn't do that. For NZ , there's no salary expectations , he's just there to blend in and play.
As for Paulo, bit of a head scratcher after a couple of poor seasons where he's really seeming soft and lazy, I can only assume he's really shown Ryles something with his offseason that's earned him a chance to bring back the Paulo we saw a few years back that'd looked in the mirror and saw King Kong rather than Shamoo. As I mentioned in a thread late last year prior to the pre season , I know Ryles called him long before Ryles even arrived and pretty much told him some home truths and within weeks junior was looking trimmer and more athletic. Maybe he's in for one hell of a season .
Yeah I agree, Junior's role is clouded in a bit of mystery. Not much public information gets out from of his camp so to speak. We can only assume like you say, he has impressed during the off season.
Junior's a big leader for the Polynesian boys. It was a key bit of advice that Craig Bellamy gave Ryles - to have a senior player and a member of coaching staff with a Pasifika background.
Now that makes a lot of sense.
Why do a certain race need a leader of the same race and not just a leader ? Craig Bellamy doesn't have any members of thr Pasifika in his leadership team so seems quite odd he'd advise Ryles to do so .
Having someone lead that you see yourself in can be useful.....and expect everything Ryles does to be special advice from Bellamy
Imagine Ryles scratching his head when Bellamy tells him to appoint a Pasifika player wondering where Bellamys Islander senior leader is 😂😂.
it'd be like Bellamy driving a Porsche telling Ryles that he should buy a Camry if he wants to win the car race.
If you could copypasta your way to a premiership everyone would do it
Doing original is hard
Nice write-up Bluey.
Yeah NOS, i lean towards being a bit critical about Dylan, I think because I know how good he is, and I want so much to be barracking for him so to speak. I hope he grows this year. I want it so and we need it so. Like I said I think he has as many potential fans as actual fans right now. I classify myself as a potential fan. Fingers crossed it all works out in a our favour and he stays. The new backline boys around him, are going to compliment him to no end. I think if he stays and signs early, he could just have his best season for us. I'm just not convinced he wants to stay.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next