General Worst Game. Ever.

[westie stylz_old]

Well on the bright side the 4 points we scored means our average for the season drops to 15.39 per game which puts us back down as the worst attacking side in the comp in a decade (I say bright side because I take some enjoyment when I see stats backing up facts ie that Cleary can't coach an attack to save his life).

Man that Wests side of 99 that averaged 11 points a game must have driven most fans off a cliff.

 

[Northern_Union]

Holly hell there have been some bad attacking sides in the past ten years. And now we're really that bad.

 

[raypower_old]

You were charming in your last post.

I do what I can. Probably should update that at some stage...

 

[Iafeta_old]

This IMO is our worst ever season. Not so much purely because of the results, but I am really getting to the end of my tether in watching them. They have no attacking prowess whatsoever. I did a Jesbass for the club and went overseas for 3 weeks and hoped to come back and find it was all better, sadly, I don't have the Jesbass charm but I do have a kick arse tan in certain parts. I must say, for the first ever time I didn't care while away about what happened to the Warriors. I wondered, and must admit when I read the story about Wade's 90m try and us hitting 30 against the Roosters I laughed and thought it was at least one serviceable night. The worst thing though about 2009 on field is that we can't attack. I used to love watching the flair we used to have. 2002 was a wonderful year.

Even in 2004, we still had games where we could attack. A lot of games where we lost we still hit 20 points, our defence though was tragic. That said, the 2 worst ever losses I saw from the Warriors occured that year, the 4-50 demolition from a poor Tigers outfit and the 50 odd point spanking by the Roosters that ended Anderson's reign.

I don't buy this whole Ivan Cleary led teams can't attack. I just think a succession of mistakes this year in preparing the side has cost us badly. The boys look off the pace, Stacey Jones' signature was a poorly thought through process and must have caused disharmony in the club with Rovelli, Witt, Fien, Foran all being punted to accomodate him... but just to bring back to light that Cleary led teams can attack....

2006

46-14 winners over Souths
34-12 winners over Wests
30-18 winners over Knights
66-0 winners over Souths
26-0 winners over Cowboys
42-16 winners over Roosters

2007

34-18 winners over Eels
34-14 winners over Cowboys
54-14 winners over Panthers
44-16 winners over Dragons
52-10 winners over Knights
31-31 draw with Roosters (best game of footy I've ever attended)
30-6 winners over Gold Coast
36-14 winners over Manly

2008

30-16 winners over Eels
36-16 winners over Canterbury
40-22 winners over Canterbury
42-20 winners over Panthers
30-13 winners over Roosters

This season has been laughable at best. But that doesn't tell me Ivan Cleary is a poor coach. What will tell me if he is a good coach or not is if he recovers the situation in 2010. If he can bring back enterprise in the attack with the squad he has it shows he is still the man for the job. I believe he will, if we snag Seymour and he behaves himself.

 

[Iafeta_old]

One other thing on this season, I have to think Sonny Fai's loss is having a major effect on the team. I have a feeling, looking retrospectively on events, that the team absolutely powered their first 5 games (the 3 trials, and the 2 NRL wins) for Sonny. But I also have a feeling that once that buzz goes, it becomes very hard, very sombre. It'd take a .5% loss in emotional control and in a competition of this level, bang, you're done.

I can't help but think Ivan must have felt he was on a winner after the trials. Everything was ticking. From all reports Joel Moon was absolutely carving up at #6. Denan Kemp got 2 tries in the last trial, McKinnon 3 tries from the trials.

I just wonder how much control Ivan really has had of the overall situation. I feel his one big blunder is the halves situation, I think he has really butchered that one. I'd also suggest the Lilyman signature was and always has been a howler, but I also feel that Sonny Fai would have balanced things out very nicely.

Tough gig to be a first grade coach, tough gig being a Warriors fan, I would love to see more attack I must admit.

 

[David Bragg_old]

The boys look off the pace, Stacey Jones' signature was a poorly thought through process and must have caused disharmony in the club with Rovelli, Witt, Fien, Foran all being punted to accomodate him... but just to bring back to light that Cleary led teams can attack....

I agree with the disharmony call and it looks ingrained in the squad.
Stacey stepped straight back into a leadership role when really he should have been near bottom of the chain of command on the same level as other new boys such as Kemp and Moon.I did not think he was bought back to run things but to earn his way back into the team and if his form demanded it then he would get more game time and more control.Unfortunately on the back of some reasonable pre season form and a magic moment against Manly Ivan was convinced the magic was back and has persevered with him since.In fact his best form was in the 2 home pre season games.I was there.
Ivan has culled most of his other options yet in the 40 minutes he had at half back Heremaia looked better then Stacey and might have improved with more games but Ivan only used him as an interchange hooker after that.
Like Lillyman,Mannering,Price and Mackinnon in Ivans mind Stacey should only be playing first grade despite any loss of form.In fact I was stunned when Ropati got the chop.
I don't believe you wait for a player to find form at this level.
Let him rip up for the Vulcans or the 20s and then promote him.
I don't blame Jones.He publicly said he would play for whoever at whatever level to earn his stripes.We'll I kind of blame him now for still playing.It pains me to see him trying hard like an 8 year old playing against the 11 year olds but not going to crack it.

 

[Spence_old]

Re: Iafeta. It's good to see someone go into bat for Ivan. I have refrained from attacking him personally, mainly because I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. I don't know who organises the attacks, etc. All the trainings that I went to, the boys practised a lot of set moves, they just don't seem to come out in the games. I have no idea why, and I doubt anyone else does.

And don't just say Jones. It isn't just the half back that creates backline moves. One needs decoys, runners, etc.

 

[Iafeta_old]

Well, all can't be well and I can't put it all down to Jones or Cleary. A clear example is the Brisbane game. Jones bombs from 25m out, lands on the line, the only bloke who bothers to chase it is a prop forward who not only gets there, but gets the ball and gets a double. Where were the wingers? Where were the centres? Where were the backrowers? A friggen prop was the only one interested, and he got a try.

The halves can only throw the ball up so many times, its up to the other blokes on the field to offer options too.

 

[DanKokoro_old]

One other thing on this season, I have to think Sonny Fai's loss is having a major effect on the team. I have a feeling, looking retrospectively on events, that the team absolutely powered their first 5 games (the 3 trials, and the 2 NRL wins) for Sonny. But I also have a feeling that once that buzz goes, it becomes very hard, very sombre. It'd take a .5% loss in emotional control and in a competition of this level, bang, you're done.

I think it's time we (you) stop using the Sonny excuse.. Ofcourse it was a tragic event and it must have been hit the club hard, but people lose friends. It happens. Just because someone loses a friend, it doesn't mean they're going to be ineffective at their job for the following 8 months. These players are highly paid professional sportsmen and they have a job to do. To suggest that their whole 2009 campaign..something they've invested endless time and energy into, that is followed by thousands of expecting fans is derailed by the death of one person is I think discrediting the players and their efforts.. I would suggest they're alot stronger than that.

On-field, we definitely miss him.. he would have balanced out our backrow nicely and that's probably had an effect on our season to date. To go any further than that is speculative, and to go even further by claiming that it is still having a major effect on the team and is playing a large part in the teams terrible form this year is just wrong I think.

Have we forgotten that Fai played for the U20's far more than he did for the 1st grade side? I mean... I know that the 1st grade side has his sig above their emblem (U20's don't).. and whenever the media wanted to talk to someone in the warriors camp at the time of sonny's disappearance they'd talk to Steven, or Brent, or Jerome, or Ivan (not any of the U20's). But I really think (and I'm speculating here, myself) that Sonny would have been way closer to the U20's players who he had spent much more time with, were the same age as him, and who he would have had much more in common with seeing as they're all polynesian. And how are the U20's doing this year? Pretty damn well considering they've lost 3 or 4 of their top players from last year. Are we to believe that the U20's are more mentally capable of dealing with Sonny's death than the 1st grade side?

Let's face it. If the Warriors were a top 4 side as they were expected to be we'd be shouting "They're doing it for Sonny!!". The opposite has happened and now we're saying they're still struggling with his passing?

I'm not trying to understate the effect that his death has had on the club, it would have been devestating for those that were close to him. He died a hero's death, giving his life for his family, and he'll never be forgotten by those who knew him and his fans. But he is not responsible for the Warriors season and he was never going to be.

 

[KeepingTheFaith_old]

Why wouldn't they be struggling with his passing? It only happened 6 months ago, you don't just get over something so tragic and unexpected in 6 months, especially considering that they've had to go through pre-season, and the season in general with this.

They're professional sportsman who get paid highly, so what? Doesn't make them any less human, and if anything it's probably worse because for all the training they do, league players do get a fair bit of downtime. That's alot of time to reflect on something that would of hurt a lot of people and I imagine in the lead up to games those who are struggling to deal with it the most wouldn't be solely focused on the game in front of them.

Poor preperation can have lasting effects and there's no doubt the preperation of this team took a hammer blow with the circumstances surrounding Fai's tragic death.

Does that mean it's responsible? No, and no Warrior player would come out and use that as an excuse even if it were true. All Iafeta was doing was wondering out loud about the effect it may of had on the team, something I've wondered myself at times. Whether it's true or not isn't something anybody on this forum can answer.

However, more so than most regular jobs, league players are required to be mentally switched on at a higher level. Not an easy thing to do from start to finish when you're dealing with something so tragic.

 

[DanKokoro_old]

He wasn't just wondering. He believes it's having a major effect on the team and I happen to disagree. I disagree because I think it's paying a disservice to the players who train hard week in week out and would be much stronger and more professional than to let the death of a friend affect their work.

You're right when you say none of them would use it as an excuse because it is in no way the reason they're so terrible. We know why we're terrible. We're the slowest team in the comp, we have the worst halves in the comp, and our attacking structure is the worst in the comp. None of that has to do with Sonny Fai's death.

They obviously still miss him, but let's not imply that they're so mentally fragile that it's affecting the way they're playing.

Care to explain why it hasn't affected the U20's the same way? Different teams deal with tragedies in different ways?