Forum Sevens:
Spare a thought for Daniel

The international arena, where reputations are made and, destroyed, where Friday showed a game of such one sided proportions, I am sure the applause will continue to reverberate for the coming week!.

Then there are the players, the Aussies who went out there with such competitiveness, such devastating abandon, or as many call it, Australian styled dominance, but then truth be told, that attitude shows what it takes to win Tests for this team does it not?.

Take an inexperienced Coach, as many have labelled him, add the fact he has coached in the big time for all of 3 seasons, 2003 included, then take a mix of players from diverse NRL teams, lump them together for 5 days and ask them to come out and beat the finest Rugby League nation at their game!.

Kiwi fans I had visited prior to the match had gotten behind Daniel Anderson with posts of “He's the best for the Job”, “I have faith in you Daniel” and “We will thump them”, stirring, patriotic stuff, considering we have said the same of kiwi coaches of yesteryear!.

Media and former coaches alike rode the euphoria of Daniel Anderson's performance to date at the New Zealand Warriors, with headlines of similar parity and acceptance!.

Yet Daniel maintained from the outset that this was by no means an easy road to walk and the job at hand would be difficult at best to match the game plan and brilliance that would face them.

Expectations for a Kiwi team finally being on an even footing with Australia came to a head this past Friday evening and for the first 10 minutes of that test match the signs were encouraging, Logan Swann swept over to joyous rapture and back slapping applause, only to be denied by the third referee, to comments of “you blind prick” and “what a load of Bullshit”, but the false tidings faded thereon in with the reality of just how Dominant the Australian game was, 70 minutes later and I, along with many more, were silenced as the Australians dismantled the Kiwi's, making our game look ordinary!.

In disbelief, I surfed the internet trying to find others to console my dispelled expectations which had so rudely taken a blow only to see the harsh reality that follows any loss by any Kiwi team, be it in Rugby League or Rugby union!.

Forums showed a diverse range of comments, born out of frustration, anger, and embarrassment with headings of “we sucked”, “bloody hopeless” even posts of “Daniel you're a good coach, but you suck”..

Comments from the Rugby fraternity followed similar lines, also lamenting the frailties and the ineptness of the coach, his team and its performance!.

So, I yearn for calm, for answers as to how we can get back to an even footing with the Great Australian Machine, and ask the many, the following.

Spare a thought for a Gentleman, school teacher and Father, who has become the best thing for NZ Rugby League since Stacey Jones and while you're at it, spare a thought for what he had to work with, the time frame he had to do it in?.

Look beyond your expectations and have a look at the Australian game and how it is played, ask yourself wether this man had the same expectations as you and I. And wether on paper we had as Daniel believed “The right team for the job”

Look also at the underlying set backs that our game has and then make your opinion of the man on that criteria, look at State of Origin, which paved the way for this Test match, do so without trying to use it as an excuse, look openly and read articles in newspapers and Forums alike and ask why we expected so much, from this man, his team and why we openly blast the man, after promising so much!.

Spare a thought for Daniel Anderson and ask yourself, how he feels, put yourself in his shoes, ask that question as one would ask Daniel himself, Spare a thought for his team, ask them the same question..

Spare a thought for Daniel Anderson who has this test, his first to consider when next we meet the Kangaroo's, spare a thought for Daniel if he fails to deliver again, Imagine the headings as Kiwi pride takes a back seat again and the critic in us comes to the fore!!.

"Spare a thought for Daniel"

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