sally cinnamon wrote:
I think Powell needs to tread carefully if he's being too dogmatic. He is a respected coach but he hasn't won any trophies and he's dealing with players who have.
Privileges like being allowed to leave early to pursue other things should be contingent on performance. Personally in the case of Cooper I'd be happy to allow him to do other stuff as long as he maintains his standards. He's a leading SL front rower, those are hard to come by, he's got a long track record of performance, so accommodate him and make him happy. If his performances start to dip you have to have a quiet word and say look I support you but I'm going to have to take away some of those privileges till you get back to your old level.
I don't think in the case of Cooper we're dealing with a bratty prima donna, if we were he wouldn't be going to Wigan. Something has gone wrong somewhere.
I normally agree with your
serious points Sally, but on this issue I cannot.
This club has repeatedly failed to produce a side that sticks together as a team when it's most needed. The club has recognised this, and Powell is the man with the plan to turn things around. He's a big believer in leadership across the team. Everyone needs to be a leader in their own right. This was hammered home in the very first meeting, and Powell clearly stated he expects everyone to buy into this philosophy.
I spent a couple of years teaching leadership skills to pilots in the middle east. There are lots of quotes we used to borrow, from many famous leaders, but the one I think is most applicable to Warrington at the moment is this: In the US Marine Corp the motto is
'Until they are home, no man is left behind', not
'You're the highly decorated Captain, so you can bunk off to safety and leave the footsoldiers exposed'... Powell wants this in every little detail, right down to not letting the senior players choose to sit next to their mates at lunch. They set the leadership standard, and if they can't do that by staying for a full training session bringing on the likes of Wrench and Thewlis then that's tough. The coach has changed and the player roles have changed. They either adapt or choose another coach to work under.
I have no doubts Cooper is not a Bratty Prima Donna, but since we've repeatedly failed to fix the leaders problem, I'm happy for him to try his early finishes elsewhere and let Powell build a team where every player sees his wingman as an equal. I hope I'm not quoting Tom effing Cruise there...
EDIT: I've just remembered the humility quote that Powell borrows from the All Blacks: 'Sweep the Sheds'. It's in the book 'Legacy', written by some business journalist I think?
