The problem with the RFC is without doubt the players have for so long been part of a losing culture they know nothing else. Its become a psychological issue now. When they get in front during a game you can visibly see the side changes their attitude, it becomes uncharted territory and they revert to a cautious, nervous, error riddled game which other sides as the Bombers did tonight take advantage of and open us up like a can of beans.
The only way forward from here is a complete clean out of "mental deadwood" i.e. the players who have a history of not being mentally strong. TW has also clearly shown that he cannot handle the mental aspect of player performance. Why did Mitch Morton at a vital time play on and kick the ball out on the full last week? In a tight situation he lost mental control, its a coaches job to identify these weaknesses and work on them. For individuals that appear beyond help to remain at the club is like a cancer which will spread (and is currently spreading) at an alarming rate unless they are identified and shown the door.
For too long now this situation has existed and the replacement coaching staff (this will without doubt occur sooner than later) will have their biggest challenge in developing the mental strength of our players. We constantly talk about poor recruiting, is it really that bad or are the players just simply psychologically damaged due to this losing culture? If Tambing or Deledio had been recruited by Geelong would people think that they hadn't warranted their high draft positions? I am positive both would be much more confident in the way they play and being part of a winning culture would have made them totally different players.
Its going to mean some difficult decisions in the short term and it will take time but if done properly then a five year plan may work this time around with the right recruiting strategies (we need players/coaches who are used to success, not best players/coaches from other losing cultures). Don't for a minute think that a new coach and his staff will mean an instant turnaround because it simply wont. We as RFC supporters have to accept that its going to be painful (cant be much more painful than at the moment) in the short term however I believe there will be light at the end of the tunnel rather than the light we are seeing now which is an oncoming freight train.
