General Coach Watch

[Hitman82]

Our new coach Matthew Elliot seems like a fairly colourful and media-savvy character; indeed, his gift of the gab may be what landed him the job in the first place.

This thread is for discussion of his tactics, selections, and any other coach-related rants which may be causing you headaches and need to be externalised.

Also, please dump any Matt Elliot interviews in here.

Set of Six: Parental guidance recommended

2. Parental guidance I
Matt Elliott often likes to use an analogy around coaching and raising children. Team selections, he says, is about showing players faith. "Like your kid who you've told to wash up and make your bed, they are not going to do it every time. Your job as a parent is to stick by them, tell them you love them and tell them to make the bed properly. When people ask me if I am losing the faith [in my players], absolutely not. Watch me stick with them."

3. Parental guidance II
Elliott then offered this when talking about Shaun Johnson and the goalkicking duties. "Like the kids, I'm going to stick with him. I'm looking forward to the time when he kicks a goal from the sideline to win a game and everyone says, 'how good was that?'. You have to go through it and sometimes it's tough. If you have had kids who are difficult - I have four daughters so I have a little insight into it - it's good sticking by them, keeping the faith and they come out the other side and end up being good kids." It's not known if Johnson does the washing up and makes his own bed.

4. A dingo stole my baby
Elliott, clearly on a roll, bristled when asked about the NRL drugs scandal. "It's one of those ones where you don't want to say that Lindy [Chamberlain] did it or the dingo did it because you could be wrong. I don't know why our game is being dragged through the mud. I'm not condoning what players have reputedly done but I don't understand why the whole game is being scrutinised the way it is. I'm really confused about it all and slightly peeved about the whole thing." In the end, it was decided it was the dingo but no one has ever been able to test him for drugs.

OT, but from the same article:

1. Nothing to worry about

Warriors fans who are a little deflated by the fact their team are in the middle of a club-record 10-game losing streak should try to keep things in perspective. They are still well short of setting a new mark for the worst losing streak in first-grade league and don't even feature in a top-10 list. University hold the dubious distinction of a 42-game losing streak set between 1934 and 1936. It's well ahead of the 1965-67 Eastern Suburbs team who lost 25 consecutive games and Western Suburbs (1984-85) and Souths (1945-47) who lost 22 straight.

Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/league/news/article.cfm?c_id=79&objectid=10872816

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[KPWarrior]

^^ I read that this morning and cracked up! No.4 is pure Matt Elliott gold......I love him! As soon as he realises Elijah Taylor can wash the dishes but can't quite make the bed, I'll love him even more!

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

On parental guidance II, I can't really agree. Johnson has shown the ability to choke with that wayward kick. We have other options to kick, so why persist. Right now, I feel Shaun Johnson should concentrate on building his game up and becoming the director of the team, rather than just an individual brilliance player. I feel that Locke (yes, I know I am a fanboy and it may seem like he is my answer to everything) has shown that he enjoys controversy, pressure and expectation, and he was reportedly a reasonably good kicker. Why not give him the job and see what he makes of it. I feel he showed a hunger in the last game to at least be involved in trying to win the game. He came into the line more often than I have ever seen before. I feel Shaun Johnson is still living under the delusion that his flair (individually) is enough to keep his spot. I disagree with this, as the halfback needs to be able to lead the team as well as score the points himself. Remove the pressure of the conversions until he gets his own game right.

On the positive side, I feel Elliott has shown a couple of good moves. I was very outspoken for Godinet moving to stand-off and Leuluai shifting to hooker. I have had a rethink. Leuluai is too flat, Godinet is a star. He can control the pace and direction of the game far better from hooker than he can from stand-off. He needs to stay there. If his defence is a weakness, then the idea of keeping Taylor on for 15-20 minutes while the opposition forwards tire is understandable. I have no issues with Elliott replacing either Taylor or Leuluai, but Godinet should be played pretty much as is (only increase his minutes).

I am hoping that he wakes up about Mannering and Steve Rapira. Mannering needs to play Lock (I never realised this until recently) so Lowrie can send the ball wide to Konrad and Fish, and Steve Rapira needs to play for another team. Mannering should never touch the ball and should take on the Michael Luck role. Steve Rapira has delivered literally nothing in his time here, and has become one of our worst buys ever, in my opinion.

 

[gREVUS]

Steve Rapira has delivered literally nothing in his time here, and has become one of our worst buys ever, in my opinion.

if i remember rightly wasnt it more a case of get Steve or lose Sam?

Whilst not totally convinced that ME is the right person to be coaching the warriors, (i said this in another thread) that bit where we were bleeding points after half time that he stopped by making a single sub, showed me that he has got some skills and i feel more comfortable to take a wait and see attitude. But i would like a win over the cheating/grubby sharks

 

[Sup42]

My Early prediction is that Elliot is the new Anderson , someones who's particular style is so foreign to what the Warriors have had to date that it just might work for Season 2013 and 2014....there after the Club should shop around for one of the big boys again to keep it fresh.

In other words like Anderson i think the novelty factor will see us take off....have a stellar rise...and ultimately wear off in the mid term / Elliot will find himself treading the same water he has done else where.

The confidence problem needs a mental guy like Elliot in the short term or a Super Coach for the longer term.

Elliot is wrong in his approach to the hooking Role , we all feel it in our bones , on paper he has made a good argument for a defensive hooker at the start....but on grass it's turned out to be bullshut and that's just what happens when coaches apply governing dynamics....( get too clever ) and think they can turn talented athletes to any function on a whim....

Bollocks Matty.....you know.......and we know.......that each game you are slipping in ten more minutes for Godinet because you were Wrong lol

Elliot is as desperate to win as his new club are. If Elliot does manage to get us to a GF i recon we'd be really hard to Stop....If we won.... Eliot gets my vote for the Full five years We've given to other coaches to build long term consistency.

The Players he's backing this season are pretty Impressive:

Godinets a serous weapon for the team , he has secured a permanent Jersey in First grade

Fish the Winger, you jut know that when he gets even bigger physically he will be a Fast Francis Meli ....Scoring Machine and intimidator.

Seb the Mongrel secound row Runner , aggressive hitter, high work rate , man when he's an eighty minute player he will be one of the top Forwards in the World

Sejka Carving in the Vulcans , a talented goal Kicker ......promising early signs Young Harry Potter has shown his hand by giving it death in a reserve grade comp

Taylor getting a heap of ball distribution at hooker , all the passing practice....no look passes..

Nah but seriously he will be lethal now with running off Godinet on the right side where Mannering has been running.....get Taylor passing to Hurrell....a slow ball from Taylor would be sweet as out wide.
Could be a stroke of Genius from Elliot on Taylor if you look at it that way , making him a ball playing forward again.

He's hanging in there with Steve Rapira. Steve knows his game is down , it looks like a confidence problem , If he got over it under Elliot our Forward pack would look ridiculously good. Throw in two of the Future Largest forwards in Rugby league....Our Version Of Mark Sgt and Paul Harrigan ....the Lousi Giants in form...

Lots of its and buts ...but at least Hurrell Mannering and Mateo are heaps better players than they have been...so when they click we'll be a hard team to play against.

 

[Raurimu Massive]

Mannering should never touch the ball

Hands down, one of the stupidest things posted in this forum.

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

Hands down, one of the stupidest things posted in this forum.

Your dead right. Cos, when we want to slow down our momentum with a pointless hit-up or stop the ball from getting out wide, he is the go-to man.

 

[wallacenz]

Your dead right. Cos, when we want to slow down our momentum with a pointless hit-up or stop the ball from getting out wide, he is the go-to man.

why not skip pass him and use him as a decoy? hes not playing well atm but hes still capable of great power runs and despite what people say he can offload in tackles but if you want the backs to have quick ball pass it to them, thats the halves job. TLs stats last week seemed to indicate he just wasnt getting the ball enough to do anything with it.. which is the hookers fault

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

Elliot is wrong in his approach to the hooking Role , we all feel it in our bones , on paper he has made a good argument for a defensive hooker at the start....but on grass it's turned out to be bullshut and that's just what happens when coaches apply governing dynamics....( get too clever ) and think they can turn talented athletes to any function on a whim....

Is his approach really wrong, or is it just that he is hog-tied by the injury to the defensive hooker he would be using to begin the game in an ideal world. Perhaps Taylor is just the best option ME sees to fill in for Friend (it is looking like Mara is Inu version 2, and he isn't exactly the type of hooker as Friend/Taylor anyway).

How well would we go with Friend defending the fresh forwards the first 10-15 of each half with Godinet carving up the tiring pack for the rest of the game.

Friend may be an 80 minute hooker, but does he have to be?[DOUBLEPOST=1363982607][/DOUBLEPOST]

why not skip pass him and use him as a decoy? hes not playing well atm but hes still capable of great power runs and despite what people say he can offload in tackles but if you want the backs to have quick ball pass it to them, thats the halves job. TLs stats last week seemed to indicate he just wasnt getting the ball enough to do anything with it.. which is the hookers fault

I agree that Leuluai is at fault for putting it through Mannering, but he is another safe player who could potentially kill momentum through safety. I hadn't thought about it being Godinet's fault, an don't entirely buy it (as we all know the ball would not go far beyond TL or Captain Manners even if it did go that way regularly). I think for the most part, the game was best going down Johnson's side, but an occasional shift to the other wing would put the defence in doubt more often and increase our odds. Others (including Johnson) could also switch the ball back the other way. Having a more attacking player (like Lowrie) on Konrad and Fish's side would most likely increase the amount of ball they get from the hooker.

 

[wallacenz]

Is his approach really wrong, or is it just that he is hog-tied by the injury to the defensive hooker he would be using to begin the game in an ideal world. Perhaps Taylor is just the best option ME sees to fill in for Friend (it is looking like Mara is Inu version 2, and he isn't exactly the type of hooker as Friend/Taylor anyway).

How well would we go with Friend defending the fresh forwards the first 10-15 of each half with Godinet carving up the tiring pack for the rest of the game.

Friend may be an 80 minute hooker, but does he have to be?[DOUBLEPOST=1363982607][/DOUBLEPOST]I agree that Leuluai is at fault for putting it through Mannering, but he is another safe player who could potentially kill momentum through safety. I hadn't thought about it being Godinet's fault, an don't entirely buy it (as we all know the ball would not go far beyond TL or Captain Manners even if it did go that way regularly). I think for the most part, the game was best going down Johnson's side, but an occasional shift to the other wing would put the defence in doubt more often and increase our odds. Others (including Johnson) could also switch the ball back the other way. Having a more attacking player (like Lowrie) on Konrad and Fish's side would most likely increase the amount of ball they get from the hooker.

I havent seen enough of godinet or taylor to judge their passing game but maybe, like most people, theyre just stronger passing right to left so thats the direction play tends to go.

 

[Hitman82]

Warriors coach Matt Elliott says the clubs owners Sir Owen Glenn and Eric Watson will give him time to turn around the team's fortunes.

Elliott hasn't yet been able end the Warriors' horrific losing run that began with eight games to go last season, as this year they've already posted defeats to the Eels and Roosters.
If the Warriors are unable to beat the Sharks away on Sunday it's feared they could lose their first five games of this campaign as there are the daunting prospects of playing the Cowboys and Rabbitohs in the following two fixtures.
Elliott has consistently said he's confident that he can turn around the fortunes at the ailing club, but there is the issue of how much time the owners will give him to do that.

However, Elliott believes the owners will have the patience to allow him to bring back a winning culture.

"I am 100 per cent confident in that," said Elliott, who previously coached Bradford, the Raiders and Panthers.
"I know what it's like not to have the quality support in this position and contrast is a real thing in life.
"You don't know if something is really cold unless you know what's hot. (Elliotism)
"I can't speak highly enough [of them]. It is not all warm fuzzy feeling stuff, they're very direct people, but supportive and you'll never hear me complain about that."

Elliott has made minimal changes to the Warriors team so far, although injuries have limited the amount of playing options he's had.
The 48-year-old has faith in the players at the club and likewise with Shaun Johnson as the team's goal kicker, who missed the chance to level the game against the Roosters last weekend with a shocking conversion attempt in the last few minutes.

"I am going to stick with him," Elliott said.
"I am looking forward to the time when you blokes [the media] are all sticking these things in my face [dictaphones] and say 'how unreal was Shaun's kick from out wide to win the game?'
"We've just got to go through it. Sometimes it's tough and I know we're asking our fans and members a lot at the moment to keep the faith, but if you've had children - and I've got four daughters so I know about it - it's sticking by them and having the faith because they'll come out good kids."

Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/8460962/Elliott-not-racing-clock-to-turn-Warriors-around

 

[ShaunJohnson7]

Hands down, one of the stupidest things posted in this forum.

No it really isn't, I wouldnt mind him playing a locking role and making the odd hit up but all in all he is pretty pathetic with ball in hand and doesn't offer much there. Defence is another matter entirely.

why not skip pass him and use him as a decoy? hes not playing well atm but hes still capable of great power runs and despite what people say he can offload in tackles but if you want the backs to have quick ball pass it to them, thats the halves job. TLs stats last week seemed to indicate he just wasnt getting the ball enough to do anything with it.. which is the hookers fault

Where are these "great power runs" you speak of? Captain fantastic has had a tonne of ball this season and when he has managed to catch it I haven't seen much in the way of power runs or anything threatening.

If he really can offload then why doesn't he offload? Surely he is a smart enough boy to realise that playing safe and not using it just limits his very limited offensive game even further?

It would be nice if he could also realise that passing to the man outside him is actually an option from time to time.

 

[wallacenz]

No it really isn't, I wouldnt mind him playing a locking role and making the odd hit up but all in all he is pretty pathetic with ball in hand and doesn't offer much there. Defence is another matter entirely.



Where are these "great power runs" you speak of? Captain fantastic has had a tonne of ball this season and when he has managed to catch it I haven't seen much in the way of power runs or anything threatening.

If he really can offload then why doesn't he offload? Surely he is a smart enough boy to realise that playing safe and not using it just limits his very limited offensive game even further?

It would be nice if he could also realise that passing to the man outside him is actually an option from time to time.

the run that immediately comes to mind is the one mannering did leading up to this try
you can see him playing the ball but he had just carried 3 or 4 players 10 metres to the line. like i said he isnt playing well this year so far. u keep hating though

 

[Gizzyfan]

Generally I think it is a positional thing. I would like to see Mannering play more like Hoffman from the Storm where he doesn't commit to the inside or outside line until very late. He has the experience to spot which one to take it is up to the man with the ball to find him or go to Hurrell. He appears to have people hanging off him when he gets the ball which indicates to me they are either too shallow or someone is open and not being found. With his centre experience Mannering is the right man to have there at the moment. It is too easy to blame Mannering when there may be a systemic failure.

 

[ShaunJohnson7]

the run that immediately comes to mind is the one mannering did leading up to this try
you can see him playing the ball but he had just carried 3 or 4 players 10 metres to the line. like i said he isnt playing well this year so far. u keep hating though

So you have to go back to 2011 to show me an example? That really says it all..............

I don't hate, I just don't think he is playing in the right position and costing guys outside him opportunities to showcase their attacking skills which far outweigh his one dimensional hit ups.

 

[wallacenz]

So you have to go back to 2011 to show me an example? That really says it all..............

if you read my original post I use the word capable.. im sure there are some examples from last year but everyone was rubbish last year so its hard to bring any to mind. it'd be like remembering a play Shaun Johnson made last year

 

[ShaunJohnson7]

if you read my original post I use the word capable.. im sure there are some examples from last year but everyone was rubbish last year so its hard to bring any to mind. it'd be like remembering a play Shaun Johnson made last year

He made a lot more plays last season than captain fantastic that's for sure. I still believe Mannering has a pivotal role to play on this team because he is a great defensive player who would thrive at 13 but he doesn't have a lot of strings to his bow from an offensive standpoint and how he has so easily become Kiwi's captain is beyond me but thats another matter entirely.

Yes you said "capable of great power runs". That video was in 2011 and that was rare from him even then, when he first came onto the scene he was a much a more threatening offensive player. As his career has progressed his defense has gone one way while his attack has gone the other sadly. In my eyes he hasn't lived up to the potential of that 18 year old Mannering I saw at all.

 

[facefacts]

I think Mannering is being used as a link man, and it's not working..... he's a fantastic player no doubt, but he's just not supplying Hurrell and Fish with as much ball as they should be getting. I think Locke needs to be the constant link in that area of the field, he is being horribly under utilized at the moment.

 

[wallacenz]

I think Mannering is being used as a link man, and it's not working..... he's a fantastic player no doubt, but he's just not supplying Hurrell and Fish with as much ball as they should be getting. I think Locke needs to be the constant link in that area of the field, he is being horribly under utilized at the moment.

he seems to regularly insert himself in the line on the other side of the field, i think hes playing too close and getting trapped on 1 side. watching slater he always joins a play from deep and with momentum, never flat footed in the line

 

[facefacts]

he seems to regularly insert himself in the line on the other side of the field, i think hes playing too close and getting trapped on 1 side. watching slater he always joins a play from deep and with momentum, never flat footed in the line

Yeah he shows up on that left hand side inside the opposition 20 now and then, but more often than not doesn't get it with Mateo being a bit of a hog, but when he doe's get it, it's usually an effective play. I would like to see Locke come into the line on that right hand side anywhere from 50 meters out, much like Slater does as you mentioned...it just adds so much uncertainty to defensive lines, when players with the skills and acceleration of a Slater or Locke receive the ball at pace.