Round1- Raiders vs Storm.

[storm77]

I am starting to question CB.
I know he has been one of the great coaches of his time and has accomplished a lot but I think he is showing signs of being out of touch with the game.
CB's big weakness has always been the selection process. I have, as have others, questioned why certain players see more game time then others based on what I see and others see from week to week.
One of the issues with that has been a sense of loyalty. CB is loyal man and it is admirable but at some point a player should no longer be selected. Quinn being a great example of that. You could also now argue Dane as well.
Then there is the TL situation where you continuously select a player based on being such a hard worker on the training paddock and in fact often times that is a good reason to select a player as it usually translates to something good on the weekend, but not always. Lowrie is worthless. He shouldn't even be near our top 17 and yet he is and CB is wrong for selecting him.
The fact is this team was in need of an overhaul in attack during the off season and based on team he has selected I do not see how we are going to be any better this year then we were at the end of last year when our offense fell into a heap because of it's obvious shortcomings and predictability.
DN is worthless in the centres, Lowrie and Quinn are just worthless.
KP deserves his starting spot. He was great last year and it is a joke that he is coming of the bench.
MB was our best C/W last year and I am astonished that he was not an automatic selection.
WC was said to be great during pre-season and perhaps he is in need of match fitness but then again no one is saying that MB isn't being selected for any specific reason so why should I trust that the situation with WC is about match fitness.
I hope I am wrong and that CB is right but after the way last year finished and the team selections for R1 I am starting to question if perhaps our coaches time is nearing it's end.

[scriptyx]

i don't thin his time is coming to an end mate. But you are right some of those choice's seema bit misplaced looking from the outside in. We don't know what conversations he has had with players and what he is seeig that maybe we aren't. I am totally with you on everythign you have said besides the CB part...he isn't out of touch mate he focuses on defense and thats it. thats why our attack was so shit at the end of last year. All season we work on defense but the thing is the players last year were mentally fatigued and had alot of pressure on them becasue of what happened in 2010. They would have wanted to win last season and prove everyone wrogn and shut them up. Craig would have had the same pressure on him which in many ways he put on himself.

I think at the end of the day we should just aim for top 2 finish. Get the weak of then pick of the weaker teams all the way to the GF.

i think in time Lowrie will be gone (hopefully) and chambers will be back in the team becasue lets face it our backs are all very injury proned and that will also open the door for Blair....just not happy with this team selection atm but I know he will still get the best out of these guys

[waveydavey]

I am starting to question CB.
I know he has been one of the great coaches of his time and has accomplished a lot but I think he is showing signs of being out of touch with the game.

WTF?

Season Pld W D L Position

2003 24 15 0 9 5/15

2004 24 13 0 11 6/15

2005 24 13 0 11 6/15

2006 24 20 0 4 1/15

2007 24 21 0 3 1/16

2008 24 17 0 7 1/16

2009 24 14 1 9 4/16

2010 24 14 0 10 16/16 (would have finished 5th on 32 Points, and this in a season with nothing to play for)

2011 24 14 0 5 1/16


Premierships 1 (1999, 2007*, 2009*)
Runners-up 2 (2006, 2008)
Minor premiership 1 (2006*, 2007*, 2008*, 2011)

Looks like he's out of touch with game to me!!! I'd much rather have somone who is in touch with the game like Brian Smith!!!

Fact is, we all have our favourite players, we all think we know what the best side is, we all have sense of loyalty, but I don't think (and I may be wrong here) there is anyone of us who has an NRL coaching record like Bellyache. While we are up there or thereabouts I will back every single player selected to wear the purple jersey - and that includes some of my personal pet hates!!! When we are finishing 8th or below every year, then I will question Bellyache on what's going wrong. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fanboi basing this on fantasy, I'm basing this on the facts that are above for all to see.

BTW, the way we finished last year had a lot to do with a number of things, the recruiting we had to do after 2010 - no size up front; the injury to Cronk and his form in the game against the warriors, a few other injury issues. And just for the record, as much as I loathed Beau Champion (even before he announced he was going) I still backed Bellamy's decision to play him as our best option in the finals.

[Diehard_Storm]

Yep agree. Its Round 1 people - not the time to get too hysterical.

It seems that Blair is underdone due to injury and Chambers hasn't been back long enough to earn his spot.

Give Bellamy some credit where credit is due. He is a multiple Dally M Coach of the Year and deservedly so. He gets the best out of players that other coaches couldnt.

Yes we may question Lowrie, but clearly Bellamy sees something that many of us dont. He seems to be one of those players that makes few mistakes (if any), misses few (if any tackles) and seems to do the one percenters the Storm culture is hinged up.

That said, I think we could benefit from some more offensive-minded backrowers and thats where I have a preference for Hinchy and Proctor to get more game time.

But I'm not throwing the baby out with the bathwater just yet.

[stormy]

Well said Wavey...How can anyone doubt CRAIG BELLAMY. He got us through the Toughest PERIOD OF OUR CLUBS HISTORY and made us all PROUD OF OUR TEAM & CLUB. NO other coach would have done that.

[stormy]

We have lost good players but under Craig WE have stayed near the top of the comp.CRAIG BELLAMY IS THE BEST ASSET STORM HAVE.

[stormy]

We have lost good players but under Craig WE have stayed near the top of the comp.CRAIG BELLAMY IS THE BEST ASSET STORM HAVE.

[stormy]

We have lost good players but under Craig WE have stayed near the top of the comp.CRAIG BELLAMY IS THE BEST ASSET STORM HAVE.

[stormy]

We have lost good players but under Craig WE have stayed near the top of the comp.CRAIG BELLAMY IS THE BEST ASSET STORM HAVE.

[stormy]

We have lost good players but under Craig WE have stayed near the top of the comp.CRAIG BELLAMY IS THE BEST ASSET STORM HAVE.

[stormy]

did not mean to repeat.repeat, repeat myself. Computer trouble.

[staticash]

Lol.... I agree stormy bellyache is a fantastic coach! And even thou I don't fully agree with his team selections sometimes iam 100% behind any decision he makes. He loves the club and his blood runs purple couldn't ask for a better coach!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Michael :P]

Of course Craig is still a great coach but keep in mind Wayne Bennetts worse years was when he put too much trust in average players who were good trainers and good blokes.

I hope Craig doesnt fall into that trap considering Wayne is his Sensei.

[Scooter]

Not sure why a couple of people on this site are down on Waqa, he had one howler v the Eels but he was very good in his other matches when he started particularly in metres gained on the kick return or second tackle after the kick return.

The problem with Waqa is that he is nothing more than a fringe winger (he reminds me of Fifita "The Koala" Moala or Semi Tadulala). This is how it goes: a winger gets injured, Waqa will fill in for that winger, Waqa will then have an alright game and keep his spot for the next week, but the next week he will have a shocker and then gets dropped. I can see him playing only 5-10 games this year.

Looking back on last year, the only thing he did that was worthwhile was the catch he made against Souths which saved the game for the Storm. Other than that, he is simply a reserve grade player.

mattstormy I disagree with you, in the 8 games he started I thought he was good in 3 or 4 of them, solid in 2 or 3 and only had one really bad game v Eels.

I thought I would compare some stats Waqa v Quinn, in runs and metres gained which was I thought one of Waqa's strengths for 2011.

Sisa Waqa
Games Runs RPG Metres Gained MGPG Errors EPG
10 129 12.9 1033 103.3 14 1.4

Anthony Quinn
Games Runs RPG Metres Gained MGPG Errors EPG
15 185 12.33 1461 97.4 16 1.07

When you consider two games that Waqa played off the bench v Titans (44 minutes) and Sea Eagles (18 minutes), his stats read as follows for the 8 games he played all 80 minutes. Quinny played 80 minutes in all of his 15 games.

Sisa Waqa (8 games he started)
Games Runs RPG Metres Gained MGPG Errors EPG
8 118 14.75 927 115.8 12 1.5

Both players averaged 6.2 tackles per game.

In the Titans game on GC for example Waqa came on after 36 minutes and had 7 runs for 70 metres gained, Quinn played the entire 80 minutes for 7 runs for 45 metres gained.

So based on those stats Waqa averaged more runs per game, more metres gained per game and only half an error per game more than Quinn. Plus these stats don't count the tries that Quinn conceded when the opposition kicker lobbed a bomb on top of him and he failed to provide a contest.

[Scooter]

Sorry couldn't get numbers and headings to line up up but I am sure you can work it out.