Perspective please. : Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:48 am
Reading some of the comments on here regarding team building I'm becoming a touch alarmed by how little some fans seem to grasp our current situation.Let's ignore COVID as that's a universal issue, and I wouldn't presume to know how that has affected the club.
I'll concentrate on what I think has.
In 2015 we were a laughing stock. Then CC arrived and from 2016 to 2018 (3 seasons) we improved more dramatically and consistently than any time since we entered SL. Then bad luck and a few poor choices kicked in and we went backwards.
Now we are still nowhere near the joke of 2015, not in my opinion anyway. However, we are now some way off where we were in 2018. By the end of 2018, all but the very best players in SL and the NRL considered Trinity a decent option. Maybe not the first choice but acceptable. A nice position to be in.
After two years at the bottom end of the table that is no longer the case. I'm afraid we are back to feeding on, if not scraps, then equally not at the top table.
So before we start making lunatic statements about ambition and who we should be signing let's take a moment to reflect where we are before we criticise a Coach and a CEO doing a difficult job.
We can build a team, we already have the basis of a good one but it will not be done with dramatic signing. It will be done through shrewd and less obvious ones and you will have to accept that, no ifs or buts.
If you want a top name signing then there is only one way to get it. Sell Tom Johnstone. TJ is one of the few players in SL with a transfer value and certainly the only one at the club. Is that what we want? Worse still TJ is probably worth less than half of what he was 18 month ago, so not just selling the family silver but selling it cheap. No thanks.
We need to be patient this season and hope three things happen, if they do then it's happy days.
One, any signings we do make come good. Two, star players like Fifita and TJ etc find their top form.
Three and the most important IMHO, that the young players we have produced continue their upward curve and create that core of quality. Crowther and Batchelor came of age whilst a fair few others made a big leap forward.
2021 is a big season both on and off the park. The stadium re-vamp is vital and will take up a lot of the club's limited resources, so please spare a thought because without it what happens on the park is almost meaningless.
We need to back the club and all the players and with a touch of luck, which has been in short supply of late, we should start moving upwards again but for now baby steps.
