Reasons to be Optimistic Pt2
By Leemingtyke
June 16 2013
With the season barely over, is any group of supporters looking forward to the renewal of hostilities more than we are just now? The long, stuttering, nomadic winter is a distant memory and out into the spring sunshine has emerged what must surely be the most precociously talented squad of rugby players that the Headingley faithful has seen for many a long year. Others on here are far more qualified than me to comment on that and I look forward to reading them......
Talent is nothing without application however and that is what promises to set this team apart from its peers next season. When you see them on the pitch there's a definite sense of togetherness. More like a band of brothers than a rugby team, they don't just play for the club, they play for each other and, as Newcastle discovered in the concentrated atmosphere of the play offs, boy can they play.
The fact that Jacob Rowan and Stevie McColl have re-signed also speaks volumes about the direction the club is heading. In the age of the media soundbite, where the party line too often replaces opinion, we as supporters have become increasingly cynical. We now look for actions rather than words for assurance that the clubs ambition matches our own so when players of the calibre of Stevie and Jake choose to re-sign rather than move on, it tells you more than any press release ever could.
It tells you that the players themselves genuinely feel that the club is heading in the right direction, it galvanises supporters and it sells season tickets.
It also tells you a lot about the character of the players involved. They aren’t just very talented rugby players, they have the intelligence to realise that time is on their side and that a move to the Premiership too early can be counter-productive. They also know that perhaps their best chance of making it to the top tier is to be promoted into it with a club where they are already established and highly valued. How many of Exeter’s first team would be the premiership regulars they currently are if they hadn't got there with Exeter?
The club, and in particular Sir Ian McGeechan, deserve tremendous credit for realising this and for steering the club towards the position which we now find ourselves in.
The vast majority of the side we finished this season with will be here next year. With the exception of our problem position of fly half (if you're going to have a problem position you might as well make it a good one!) our new signings are here to provide competition rather than a quick fix as has sometimes been the case in previous years. Not that Glyn Hughes is a quick fix. If reports about him are accurate then he has the pre-requisite mix of talent, youth and ambition which will see him slot in perfectly alongside his new teammates. If he can provide the attacking flair that was sometimes missing from Joe's game then he could be the final piece and we owe it to him to sign him some good competition.
So we find ourselves where we are - looking forward to next season with genuine enthusiasm and realistic hope of promotion. There is no doubt in my mind that we are amongst the favourites, if not the outright favourite to go up.
There are lessons we can take from Newcastle’s trials and tribulations this season. With the play-off format as it is there is no need to try and go through the season unbeaten, or even win the league. That takes a huge amount of energy and creates a lot of self-imposed pressure when the only reward is a choice of home or away first in the play-offs. It may be a blessing in disguise if we lost a game early on.
The lads left the Kingston Park pitch with their heads bowed but there was no need, they had already done us proud. They laid down a marker for next season, one which made the rest of the Championship sit up and take notice. The pain of that defeat should by now have receded and been replaced by the realisation that we pushed them all the way and in doing so demonstrated that we have the ability to complete the job next year.
In the first leg our attack proved better than their defence, in the return our defence proved better than their attack. The only difference between the sides was Newcastle’s ability dictate the tempo of the second leg and to draw the penalty. I wouldn't even say that Gopperth made the difference as I would have backed Joe to take the points given the same field positions that Jimmy kicked from.
The team we now have is the team that many of us hoped for when we were first relegated. Young, competitive, dedicated, talented, exciting to watch - they are now capable of propelling us back to the Premiership - this time to stay. For the last few games we've been watching next years team, a tantalising glimpse into the future, and I personally have seen enough to be convinced that next season we are the team to beat.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:07:11:05:47:28 by Wildwillie .
COME ON LEEDS.
We've been through it all together.
Hopefuly the debacle of numerous "on the road" fixures are behind us and fortress Headingley will rule next season, as was clearly shown last season on our return to Headingley.
Now, I suppose you are writing, 'Reasons to be Depressed, Again - Part 38.5!'
Zandra YaPoI
YaPoI - Yorkshire and Proud of It
'proficiscor in una'
Quote:Zandra LaPoI
Nice article!
Now, I suppose you are writing, 'Reasons to be Depressed, Again - Part 38.5!'
No way! Reasons to be Cheerful Part whatever (or optimistic) remain.
Quote:Zandra LaPoI
Nice article!
Now, I suppose you are writing, 'Reasons to be Depressed, Again - Part 38.5!'
Haha,
I'll reserve judgement till I've seen who we appoint I think Zan!
Suffering on the Leeds and Yorkshire roller-coaster since 2001
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:06:25:22:30:41 by Timofe.
COME ON LEEDS.
We've been through it all together.
It doesn't matter that he's an RL man. As Porthos Tyke said on another thread, so is Shaun Edwards and I would add that so is Andy Farrell.
The reasons to be optimistic still stand, in fact IMHO they have been enhanced. DE wasn't the right man to take the club forward, Jimmy Lowes might be, only time will tell.
If he puts his heart and soul into the Union side of Leeds Rugby and can inspire these young lads to realise their huge potential, then I'm behind him all the way.
Come on Leeds!
No pressure then!
Optimistic? Of course we are!
Quote:Wildwillie
Jimmy does not have the luxury of a "3 year plan". He has one season to succeed (promotion) otherwise there is a real danger that the squad will break up and we will have to start again.
No pressure then!
He doesn't. Looking at the players we've got its now or dare I say it never???
Given the luck involved in the Play-Off System, perhaps it is too much of a gamble for GH to stake too much on one particular season, no matter how much maturing talent there is in the squad.
Nevertheless - bring on the New Season!
I wasn't born in Yorkshire but I got here as soon as I could