Re: London @ home : Sun Sep 16, 2018 12:27 pm
Zook Ema's Hose wrote:
No sensible points to make as to why 2019 and beyond will buck the all too familiar pattern of the last half dozen. The pont about Sheens age was that we need something radically different to push forward so if you can point as to what this will be compared to the last 2 years go ahead. What we need is better value from our playing budget and for Peacock to earn his corn in attracting top line players to the club. Unless this happens we'll be here again in 2019 celebrating Derby wins as the highlight in a bottom 4 finish. And comforting ourselves that it will be better next year because of less injuries. 
At the risk of this coming back to bite, and acknowledging that the first objective remains navigating the qualifiers, I’ll have a go.
1. Ruthlessness and mental strength
We have some now. We’re willing to do what it takes, whether that be holding down in the tackle to concede a tactical penalty, hitting as hard as is legally possible or recruiting experienced players mid-season. The principles of the 5-year plan, such as gradualism and heavy focus on youth, were fine as a media-friendly narrative, but not as a real basis for improvement in our situation. One of the few consolations of 2016 was how starkly that was exposed, and that there was no choice other than to learn those lessons. Also, while we still sometimes concede two or even three quick fire tries, it isn’t every time we concede one, and now it isn’t necessarily game over either - we have the resilience to hit back.
2. The pack looks better balanced
Masoe is a big prop, Mulhern is developing well, Tomkins is a decent size for a backrower. It might not be a dominant group at SL level, but I hope and even expect the days of us being dominated 3 games out of 4 are behind us.
3. Injuries - it has been a really bad year
There’ll be other bad years, but realistically this one should be an outlier. That’s not to be complacent - too many of our pivotal players miss too many games. If you offered me a combined 40 games from Lunt and McGuire next year, i’d snap your hand off. And, sadly, it looks like Quinlan is out until 2020. We cannot afford go skinny in the spine. But elsewhere there’s a good chance of better - lightning can strike twice, but it’s unlikely.
4. If we stay up, we can move forward
Hopefully it’ll be enough to shake off the image of team struggling to overcome the legacy of a accident-prone recent history. There’ll be a sense that we’re on the up again, I think. His initial reclamation project complete, Sheens can genuinely think about having a crack at the play-offs. We’ll be more attractive to potential recruits, and fear won’t be the overriding emotion amongst fans.
The last is obviously the key thing from our perspective. It might not work out, but wouldn’t it be nice to hope again?
