I think I'm gonna hate 2012 more than any other season so far including 04 and 09. They were lazy overweight listless, tweeters. I could point an accusing finger at the young punks like
Shaun Johnson and Locke, but really that's unfair.
Shaun Johnson only became overweight and unfit because of a systemic failure of training and mentorship within the club.
The personalities I have the biggest gripe with was Iro, Maloney, Mannering and Brown. Iro because I believe he undermined Bluey from day one, Maloney because he just gave up and treaded water to become a rooster, Brown for the same reason for the panthers and should've been dropped from a great height and mannering because I expected a captain to intervene way more and my info was that he teamed up with Iro.
On the bright side was Matulino and some good keen young guys who gave it a shot in a toxic environment.
I've softened my opinion on bluey too. He didn't have a chance, so it seems wrong to put the boot in.
Look forward to next year. We're fitter so we'll do better, Im still undecided on just how much better.
It looks like I will be getting on the usual horse early this year.
While I agree with ALMOST everything you have said in this post, I have a hard time accepting your mention of Locke in the finger pointing. On-field, he was very good (one of the best in the team last year IMO), even while injured he gave everything, while all around him just fucked around (not including Matulino). The reason you mention Locke is because of the negative media attention attached to his name. His driving offence was early in the season, but the attention came at the end of the year and there have been no reports since then. His Twitter comments though badly timed, where actually nothing. He made no negative comment toward the new coach (who he did not know at all), only made reference to the fact he was gutted for Iro at not getting the job. Many others voiced the same opinion, but Locke was the one who stepped up (unnecessarily in my opinion) and personally apologised to the new coach straight away.
I feel without the hard work put in by a crippled Kevin Locke last year, our season could have ended far worse than it did.
I agree that
Johnson was a problem, but hopefully that season has woken him up and instead of believing the hype, this year he will create the hype.
I feel Maloney got a little more shit that he really deserved. Though he was not good in his own right, the amount of times he copped the blame for
Johnson's woes was ridiculous. How many people blamed Maloney "hogging" the ball for
Johnson not performing to potential?
Mannering is a player I have never felt earned the captaincy. While he is a good "follow me" leader, he is in no way a captain. His talking to the refs to buy time was perhaps of benefit, but it never gave us any rub of the green. The embarrassing sight of the captain facing away from his players with his head down, while others were forced to step up and do the talking was not a pleasant scene. The absence of Michael Luck really highlighted Mannering's short-comings.
I had previously been a big fan of Lewis Brown, but last year he perfomed really badly. I do feel a little that the amount of bad feeling toward his season was more to do with leaving than his form. Elijah
Taylor, who previously I had rated highly, performed similarly to Brown, which makes me think it came down to coaching and game plan more than form.
I was sceptical about the whole "Iro undermining Bluey" drama until decisions were made over Iro's future. To me his parting with the club showed that perhaps there really was some amount of back-stabbing going on.
