I think we get all too easily seduced to the new.
We do it every time and we heard the same thing from players when Malthouse arrived. We also sang the same song when Trigg arrived. Buttifant.
Williamson may well be a fan, but what weight does that really carry?
That has nothing to do with what Russell may have brought along or will do, but just that players' observations, on something they don't really know a lot about, shouldn't carry too much weight at all.
I know. This time it is different and maybe it will be, but it may be fair to wait until seasons end to gauge just how much benefit one individual actually brings to the whole....and then if one individual can, how on earth could have we had someone so inferior previously? How does that happen?
BTW - The Hawks still did OK with getting 'crippled' Scully back on track two rounds into the year.
Spot on, Harker. I'm not doubting his ability but I believe the hype and undivided trust in one individual steering the ship 180 degrees from a high performance standpoint is misguided.
The fact that players really rate Russell is fantastic and all, but buy-in from players is only one piece to the overall puzzle. Russell may well be a great communicator and create buy-in from the group. But if they are buying in to a system that has kinks in its armour, then is this really that beneficial?
Russell was also hugely successful at the Bombers, Hawks and Storm and that is a huge tick for him. However, as we know, correlation doesn't equal causation. Potentially, the personnel he had to work with might have played a small/medium/largeish part;
-Bombers: Hird, Lloyd, Fletcher...
-Hawks: Bud, Mitchell, Hodge, Lewis, Roughy...
-Storm: Billy Slater, Cam Smith.. you get my drift.
This is a whole new ball-game for Russell and I think that's why he took on this monumental challenge.. Get a group that is basically at ground zero up to somewhere near elite fitness/conditioning. Time will tell and I'm excited to see in any case. I for one wish they made more personnel changes high performance-wise but I won't judge their output until at least this season is finished with.
Sorry to derail the thread. I should add that I have watched a few games now of Stocker live. Kid is a beast and may well become my new favourite player. Great peg, hard at the contest, good decision maker. Once he's somewhere near conditioned for AFL football, get him in.