The Watters Recruitment Philosophy?

[SydneySainter]

My fiancée knows a bloke who apparently had a friend involved with the Saints recruiting back during the Watters era.

I asked this bloke if his mate had told him any Saints related goss and he said that his mate wasn't a fan of Watters. His impression was that Watters' main priority was to secure a top 8 spot to better protect his job.

Might be complete bollocks, but thought it was interesting.

[saynta]

Pretty much par for the course with most if not all coaches

[bennymac5]

For all his faults, Watters didn't hold back in throwing the kids in. That doesn't suggest he was hell bent on making the eight.

[bigred]

He was very subtle with his greatness.

[Toy Saint]

I definately prefer Richardson as coach, the players seem more committed to a unified strategy.

One of the great signs has been the number of times the Saints have fought their way back into games. To me this is an excellent indication that the players are listening to the coach, and sticking to the game plan - even in adversity.

[SaintPav]

Wasn't there some people internal kerfuffle of weather we were in a rebuild mode in the early part of his last season which caused some public confusion? He had to be dragged kicking and screaming.

He sped up our rebuild phase by taking us to the bottom quickly so he did his job.

Regardless, one weird unit.

[spert]

Pretty hard to coach when you have knives in your back, and I think any coach who immediately took over from Lyon at that time after the failed GFs, and then tried to immediately to change the style of play etc, was going to struggle with spent and resentful playing group and a dodgy administration. It was probably good to have that Watters period as it woke the club up, got us focussed and hopefully we can go forward on and off the field. I feel a bit sorry for Watters all the same.

[Old Mate]

He couldn't manage people. Staff, players, they all hated him.

[magnifisaint]

He couldn't manage people. Staff, players, they all hated him.

Goes to show how some of these recruiting coach sub committees is so very hit and miss. They were totally blind sided on this one. What about the psyche, absolutely stuffed his part. That's the whole idea of the psyche test. To weed out the loonies.

[Saint wagga]

There was an economic recession in the early 90's that we 'had to have'...

FOr me Watters was the coaching trainwreck 'we had to have'...It was going to be poisoned chalice from the start with the list profile, rudderless admin. As mentioned it was probably good that we bottomed out so quickly and apear to be climbing after only 2 really painful seasons!!

One of the pitties of his 2 years in charge was how many games we pumped into players who aren't going to make it, but i guess thats a hindsight thing. Think of Milera, Simpkin, Saad, Maister...lots of games for zero long term benefit...but i guess thats the painful nature of a rebuild.

[St Chris]

We were in a totally different place back then, Watters inherited a team that finished 6th in 2011 after winning 8 of the last 10. I wouldn't blame him for trying to make the 8 after that result.

We finished 9th in his first year, with 12 wins. I wouldn't blame him for trying to make the 8 after that result either.

The history books will say that we are far better off without him, but at the time he was probably doing the right thing.

[Legendary]

It's telling that not a single AFL club has gone near him since he was sacked.

Even Mark Neeld got another gig at AFL level.

[Saints94]

It's telling that not a single AFL club has gone near him since he was sacked.

Even Mark Neeld got another gig at AFL level.

+1.

[magnifisaint]

It's telling that not a single AFL club has gone near him since he was sacked.

Even Mark Neeld got another gig at AFL level.

+1.

Wow!
I bet you he won't be part of the next coaching panel at Essendon

[bergholt]

What about the psyche, absolutely stuffed his part. That's the whole idea of the psyche test. To weed out the loonies.

Impossible to do. Anyone who's done a significant amount of recruiting knows that you make mistakes sometimes. Some people come across well in interviews but fall down when they actually get in the hot seat. Unfortunately when you're hiring a coach you have less room to make mistakes, but that doesn't mean you can avoid them, just that they hurt more when you do.