Mick wants the players though, to be playing a brand of football that will ultimately lead to being Premiership contenders. I guess every coach wants that but may not be in a position to implement their vision for lack of internal pressures.
This, for me, is the key.
Playing a brand of football that will win you games and/or is exciting, and playing a brand of football that will lead to being a premiership contender are not mutually inclusive, and I think that is what most supporters don't appreciate.
Many coaches have proven to be good at delivering the former, but only a small percent have proven that they can deliver the latter. Fewer yet have proven it across a different team, and a different era.
Take for instance, Hinkley. I've seen many supporters bemoan that we didn't go after a guy like him when we recruited Mick. Yet, all Hinkley and Port Adelaide have proven thus far is that they are good at delivering on the former. That's it. He may yet prove to be one of the few that can deliver, but as it stands he is a dime a dozen coach, and yet supporters seemingly think a Hinkley MkII is going to be our savior.
This method of coaching is good for one thing, keeping the supports at bay.
Ratten was an expert at it. He never had us playing a brand of football that would ever have us as premiership contenders; he played for wins, and excitement. All the while he was taking us further and further away from being premiership contenders with every passing year, despite our contrary rise up the ladder, and we applauded him for it. It surprise me how supporters to this day still cannot see this, and more surprising still is that some even suggest we never should have gotten rid of him.
Mick isn't past it. He hasn't taken the team backwards. I believe he is getting us closer to a premiership despite our contrary drop down the ladder.
He has always said he is looking for players that can stand up under pressure. Our game plan isn't to blindly bang it forward, it's not to avoid running it through the centre at all costs and certainly it's not to turn it over at every opportunity.
We are crumbling under pressure because most of our players aren't up to playing accountable football. It's that simple. Many players are in the latter stages of their careers, and the sad truth is for most, time is against them to change how they play. They've unfortunately spent the majority of their career learning unaccountable football, and they aren't equipped to cope with the relentless pressure they're being asked to play through.
We were close to ten years off it when Mick took over, and thankfully despite the talk of rebuilding only occurring this year, our list management clearly shows Mick knew this and started it from day one.
If the club has the courage to absorb the external pressure, in 3-5 years Mick will leave us with a core playing group that will have only ever known tough accountable football, right when they are about to hit their prime, and that is how you build a premiership team.