Quote XBrettKennyX="XBrettKennyX"As one of those who said that bringing MM in was a gamble. I will answer this.
It WAS a gamble. Fortunately, and happily, it is one that seems to be paying off atm.
HOWEVER. The SL is not decided in April, it is decided in September/October.
=#BF0000I really hope I can post here in October saying that the gamble paid off.'"
I have to disagree somewhat with that statement.
The gamble of the untried (although highly recommended by the best in the business) coach has absolutely paid off already.
Regardless of whether or not we win a trophy (and especially whether or not we win the league), the team is now a cohesive unit, the fitness is improved beyond anything that Nobby could have dreamt of, every single player is brimming with confidence, we're playing a more expansive and attractive brand of rugby and scoring freely in most games, whilst at the same time, our defence is one of the meanest in the comp.
Add to that the fact that we seem to have our next coach in place already, we have a full fitness TEAM (rather than simply one conditioner for everyone) and a "General Manager" to ensure that teams at EVERY level get the same benefit.
MM has brought the same bunch of players (bar one) together as a TEAM (as opposed to a collection of individuals under Brian) and got them willing to die for each other on the pitch.
THAT is the difference to me, and I whole-heartedly applaud IL for listening to the advice of people deep inside the NRL who obviously saw something in MM that the rest of the rugby league world had yet to see.
If MM left tomorrow for any reason, I would feel confident that he has revolutionised our club to the point where the improvements would continue to benefit us for years to come.