If you were to look at things from Craig Gower's perspective then you would be absolutely adamant that the team is not performing to the standards required. We concede 30+ points per game and he is in a team which mashes together a handful of good performers with players of lesser quality and a fair percentage of players who are constantly unavailable and which could reasonably have been assessed as high injury risks given their track records. Gower is a fabulous player who has been on the winning side throughout his career except for the past 18 months. I am sure he would have reminded players in a just and fair manner as to what was required but he struck me as having a ferocity that may have come through in his demands for greater performance.
If you were to look at things from Tony Rea's perspective then you would be absolutely adamant that the team is not performing to the standards required. We concede 30+ points per game and he has arrived to find more-or-less a full team of players under contract with no scope to move in season 1 and some scope in season 2 but little room to move in terms of 'overseas trained' players who were after all given long contracts by Powell. He has thus inherited a team with a losing culture and a lot of players who cannot fulfill their duties due to decline through age and injury. The Player's Union were insistent he notified all his squad on the 1st May as to his intentions. Not surprisingly he has indicated that there are few players he definitely wishes to retain. This has been demotivational and I am sure that the ferocity of Gower in his desire to win would have not won over everyone at a time when egos had not been massaged.
Remember that previous managers had simply renewed pretty much everyone, every year.
At some point over the past few weeks, it has become clear to Tony that it was not working out and he has tried to change things but losing Craig Gower is not the answer as we will find no one near as good I would suggest.
