Oct 31, 2022·edited Oct 31, 2022Liked by Dylan Cleaver
Interesting column Dylan. There’s some stuff with the ABs there that is brand new to me, and very illuminating. Certainly casts light on the Foster situation, which has perplexed me. Right now I just don’t know where the ABs are at. I don’t really understand their ethos or pattern, and watching them play I’m not sure the players do either. The inconsistency is a key indicator of this for me. I suspect they are going to be shown up a fair bit over the next few weeks. To me there has been a failure of forward planning since at least 2018, with part of our previous success being to recycle out the old as required to maintain high standards. There’s a lot of old hands hanging around (Dan Coles - what’s up with that??) and also some guys who should be leading by now that haven’t stepped up to the mantle. Compared to previous teams it looks like it lacks leaders and game managers. Turning back to the coach I only know what I can see and Foster comes across as staid and uninspiring and wonder what he offers the new generation of players. I think it was a huge missed opportunity with Robertson even though I think he’d find it harder to coach the ABs than the Crusaders. As for the CEO / board flip flopping on Foster mid season that really was rank amateur stuff and you’d have to wonder if the mix at head office is right as well…
Interesting column Dylan. There’s some stuff with the ABs there that is brand new to me, and very illuminating. Certainly casts light on the Foster situation, which has perplexed me. Right now I just don’t know where the ABs are at. I don’t really understand their ethos or pattern, and watching them play I’m not sure the players do either. The inconsistency is a key indicator of this for me. I suspect they are going to be shown up a fair bit over the next few weeks. To me there has been a failure of forward planning since at least 2018, with part of our previous success being to recycle out the old as required to maintain high standards. There’s a lot of old hands hanging around (Dan Coles - what’s up with that??) and also some guys who should be leading by now that haven’t stepped up to the mantle. Compared to previous teams it looks like it lacks leaders and game managers. Turning back to the coach I only know what I can see and Foster comes across as staid and uninspiring and wonder what he offers the new generation of players. I think it was a huge missed opportunity with Robertson even though I think he’d find it harder to coach the ABs than the Crusaders. As for the CEO / board flip flopping on Foster mid season that really was rank amateur stuff and you’d have to wonder if the mix at head office is right as well…