Sydney Spirit. Not Razorbacks.

"Like I've said many times to all the deniers on here Gleeson is just going off of the fumes of the foundation Bevo built. "

Newsflash, Bevo's fumes can recruit Ennis, Beal, Prather, Cotton and Brandt long after Bevo is gone. Scientists are currently determining how these fumes can transcend even time itself. If you happen to breathe some of this into your system, don't be alarmed, your ability to play defence will be unsurpassed.

"Buying imports is easy."

Yes...but buying good imports that have an impact is not.

Furthermore, I would put it to you that Bevo has a better cast of Aussies now and in the future than the Wildcats, namely :

Rhys Martin.
AJ Ogilvy
Tim Coenraad
Nick Kay
Oscar Forman
Mitch Norton
Cody Ellis

If they have that 'Aussie core', and buying imports is ubiquitous, why hasn't that translated into a championship?

I was comparing Illawarra's Australian contingent to Perth's.

Yes Damo and Knight as important but so are the imports you put next to them.

When you put Andre Brown or DeAndre Daniels with that core, your success is limited. When you have James Ennis, Prather and Cotton the results are generally more palatable (to Perth's supporters).

I think they are both very good and effective coaches. However, Bevo did not get it done after his first year. I'm sure Bendat is not wanting to hear reasons or excuses and if Gleeson doesn't get another one withing four years he'll go too. And none of Gleesons success should be credited to Bevo. A new coach comes in and everything old is new again.

If they have that 'Aussie core', and buying imports is ubiquitous, why hasn't that translated into a championship?

LOL at all the salt in here

"Exactly. Which is the problem Bevo has at Hawks with budget imports. If at Cats he would have star imports, just as Gleeson does. Which was my point originally."

Bevo has Rotnei Clarke (an MVP), for 2 years, I wouldn't call him budget.

At the Cats he did have at least one star import, a guy called Kevin Lisch.

And none of Gleesons success should be credited to Bevo.

Bevo did not get it done after his first year.

"So Gleeson inherits best Aus core + Bendat import money yet somehow even though Bevo developed the Aus core from when they were teens Cats fans rip on him now."

You make it sound like Bevo had Damo earmarked for the Wildcats from the start. Bevo was the NSW Institute of Sport coach, that was his job to find and develop talent.

I'm not a Cats fan, I've seen no one 'rip on' Bevo. Maybe you need to re-read what you read?

"I believe Bevo had less import money than Gleeson. Salary cap has increased recently plus Bendat spending is more aggressive now. "

So you freely concede that the salary cap has gone up (for the entire league) so what is the point of saying Bevo had less money to work with? Thats a given with a smaller cap.

Can you provide proof of how Bendat is "spending is more aggressive now." now?

"They've gone closer than many teams."

True.

"They're working on a budget."

Potentially.....but the league's minimum spend is $900k, of a $1m cap. Without the league's numbers we'll never know the true picture.


"D Martin is league-best at his position or close to it. Knight is Ogilvy's equivalent at worst."

AJ is All NBL first team, whilst (in your words) having a down year. Knight is not the equivalent of AJ especially when you consider the injury factor.

"Put the Cats imports in the Hawks side and I think they would win it. Even just two of them. I didn't think Harris or Holyfield were very good, though Harris started really well."

That's been my point, its all good and well to say Bevo put the Wildcats in good stead but a good Aussie core has to be complemented by good imports. And apologies to that poster but I just don't subscribe to the Bevo's fumes thing.

"Even though Gleeson took the same core, and defensively asked the team to talk him through Bevo's system so they could keep running it?"

New Zealand were 2nd in the league in defence whilst 1st place on the ladder in 2012/13 under Lemanis. In 2013/14 NZ were dead last on defence (yes, even worse than Adelaide). Why is it that Vickerman couldn't just learn defence from Lemanis especially when Vickerman was right there when Lemanis was coaching?

Again between 2015/16 and 2016/17 NZ regressed on defence. Why is it that Henare couldn't just learn defence from Vickerman especially when Henare was right there when Vickerman was coaching?

Shit if its that easy, why not doesn't everyone just hire Bevo for 1 year, then hire Joey Wright for 1 year, then hire some SEABL juniors coach to take over. Every team will have an impenetrable defence and an unstoppable offence.

New Zealand were 2nd in the league in defence whilst 1st place on the ladder in 2012/13 under Lemanis. In 2013/14 NZ were dead last on defence (yes, even worse than Adelaide). Why is it that Vickerman couldn't just learn defence from Lemanis especially when Vickerman was right there when Lemanis was coaching?

Knight is not the equivalent of AJ especially when you consider the injury factor.

"Because Lemanis's defence was largely predicated on beating people up, and in 2014 the league seriously cracked down on that sort of thing. And Dillon Boucher retired."

I'm willing to concede Boucher was a significant part of NZ defence but it would not contribute to such a major drop.

As for the 'crackdown', it too took place, but why is it that the Wildcats remained at the top of the defensive rankings when the same accusations of defensive bump and grind bullies were constantly cast upon them? Surely Gleeson would have the same challenges as Vickerman if what you say is true and they just copy and paste the defensive schemes from their predecessor under the new 'no-holding' refereeing regime.

Anon, that is unfair. I think someone said something about Damian Martin.

As for the 'crackdown', it too took place, but why is it that the Wildcats remained at the top of the defensive rankings when the same accusations of defensive bump and grind bullies were constantly cast upon them?