Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
In addition to Redshappy's post above :-
The Brumbies, Force and Rebels actively and thoughtfully recruited to compliment their sides from the previous year. They have improved in areas they were previously deficient by bringing in individuals with talents in those areas. The Tahs did not largely because the squad was set before Chieka was appointed IMO. Who have the Reds developed or recruited in the last 12 months who is now blossoming into a reliable or even top line player. Contrast with the Brumbies especially, who have developed Mogg, Tomane, Kudriani, Sio, Kimlin, Auleua, Speight, Coleman etc etc etc. These were players that nobody else expressed much interest in and now they would be head hunted. The Reds and the Tahs rely totally on yesterday's heroes to play the game for them. Hence we have a situation that Horwill remains injured, Samo is getting older, Van has retired, and Simmons is as erratic as ever and we have situation of a very compromised second row. That is just one/two position. Where was the planning to cover this? Surely the experience of seeing Pyle, Wykes, Carter, Fardy, Jones shows that there are players who can step up with the right mentoring and systems. The Reds have been infected with Robbie Deans type thinking that only big names can lift a side like the special treatment of Elsom and Vickerman. I would argue that this is bad for morale and culture as those people end up being seen as privileged and in many cases will behave that way. The whole Tahs forward pack that has tasted Wallaby honours can be used as examples of this and to me the lack of application by those senior players in that pack speaks volumes about cultures of entitlement.
The Brumbies, Force and Rebels actively and thoughtfully recruited to compliment their sides from the previous year. They have improved in areas they were previously deficient by bringing in individuals with talents in those areas. The Tahs did not largely because the squad was set before Chieka was appointed IMO. Who have the Reds developed or recruited in the last 12 months who is now blossoming into a reliable or even top line player. Contrast with the Brumbies especially, who have developed Mogg, Tomane, Kudriani, Sio, Kimlin, Auleua, Speight, Coleman etc etc etc. These were players that nobody else expressed much interest in and now they would be head hunted. The Reds and the Tahs rely totally on yesterday's heroes to play the game for them. Hence we have a situation that Horwill remains injured, Samo is getting older, Van has retired, and Simmons is as erratic as ever and we have situation of a very compromised second row. That is just one/two position. Where was the planning to cover this? Surely the experience of seeing Pyle, Wykes, Carter, Fardy, Jones shows that there are players who can step up with the right mentoring and systems. The Reds have been infected with Robbie Deans type thinking that only big names can lift a side like the special treatment of Elsom and Vickerman. I would argue that this is bad for morale and culture as those people end up being seen as privileged and in many cases will behave that way. The whole Tahs forward pack that has tasted Wallaby honours can be used as examples of this and to me the lack of application by those senior players in that pack speaks volumes about cultures of entitlement.
