The problem is all the talk of how we can't sack a bloke when we've made finals two years in a row.
Knocked out in elims twice. Some people find that unacceptable.
If we accept a finals appearance as a pass mark we'll stay about that mark. Top 4 is the only good indication that you have a shot at the flag. That should be the benchmark.
Tough decisions need to be made sometimes. Like sacking a bloke who made two elimination losses in a row.
And how has Carlscum gone after sacking their so so coach in Ratten, where things slowly were improving. To mick the master coach. Backwards and downwards. It gutted the existing players and Mick has had to replace most of the list to go where? Nowhere zone.
The same would happen to us. Hardwicks team would be bust and we wouldnt get back to finals until we replaced 20 players and got 50+ games into them. 3 years minimum.
You realise these wankers beat us in an elimination final? I'm not exactly laughing at Carlton mate, I still consider them a genuine threat come round 1.
If I had suggested the following, would you have disagreed?
Summer '13-'14
- Not renewing Hardwick's contract last summer, but instead waiting until mid-season 2014 to review (This is reasonable IMO. Tail doesn't wag the dog after all, and losing to Carlton was unacceptable)
Mid-season '14
- Telling Hardwick that he had the good faith of RFC for making finals in 2013, so he wouldn't be sacked for being around the 3-0-10 mark which was clearly a step backwards
End of season 2014
- Deciding Hardwick's inability to prepare the team for a finals match in SA was unacceptable. The players were terrified. I was there...
- Realising that Bomber was no longer going to be working at EFC, and he clearly still enjoyed being a senior coach
- Throwing the sink at Bomber ($3mil for 3 years or thereabouts)
- Renew Hardwicks contract for ONE year/consider other coaches if Bomber didn't take the money (but hey, money talks)
If we had done that I wouldn't have been upset at all. I'd much rather have Bomber coaching RFC than Hardwick, or Malthouse/Roos/Voss for that matter.
The problem is that Hardwick's plan seems to be peaking already. His insistence on persevering with players like Grigg, Newman, Petterd etc is the perfect example of why our club will stagnate. We need a coach who will tell Newman he's finished and clogging the list, tell Grigg he's too gutless, tell Petterd he's only a backup player not a starting 22. Three-year contract for Foley on the back on excellent rehab-attitude? Please...
Hey it's not at cutthroat as the 80's and 90's etc but Hardwick has had five whole years to build the RFC list now. Look at what Ken Hinkley has done! Look at how Malthouse repeatedly either beats RFC or pushes us deep into the final QTR by out-coaching Hardwick! We clearly don't have a premiership bloke at the helm. That needs to change.
