New Sydney Roosters coach Chris Anderson made the ridiculous suggestion this week that he has been astonished by the lack of skill modern day players have.
Anderson said that since taking over the Roosters he has found the club full of players that lack skill, with some players unable to do basics such as pass the ball both ways.
This suggestion was rubbished by former Roosters coach Ricky Stuart.
Chris Anderson has some form in this area.
When Anderson took over as head coach of the Cronulla Sharks, he blasted the previous coach in John Lang and the “losing culture” that has supposedly prevailed at the club under his reign.
Under John Lang the Sharks were a constant premiership threat. Always near the top of the table, the Sharks got within one game of the NRL Grand Final a number of times and made an appearance in the 1997 Australian Super League Grand Final.
Anderson took over this successful club which included the current Dally M Player Of The Year in Preston Campbell and proceeded to run the club into the ground.
Campbell, a fan favorite, was forced out of the club and linked up with Penrith and former coach John Lang. However even as the Panthers reached the 2003 Grand Final, Anderson was still taking shots at Lang and Campbell. Of course, Lang, Campbell and the Panthers had the last laugh.
By the time Anderson was sacked by the Sharks in late 2003, the club was in a sorry state. Having lost the core of their winning sides of the previous season, the winning culture John Lang has established and the complete breakdown of the Sharks incredible junior development system, the Sharks were a shadow of their former selves.
The club has still not fully recovered from Chris Anderson’s time at the club.
Anderson found himself sacked as the Sharks coach and was later sacked as Australian Test coach and headed to Wales for the only coaching gig available to him, coaching a second division rugby union side.
Now, having returned to the NRL, Anderson is back to his old tricks.
He has already heaped rubbish on the state of the game in general calling it boring and saying that the game is now just full of athletes rather than footballers.
He has rubbished the work of the former Roosters coaching staff insinuating that they couldn’t even coach their players to catch simple passes, the same Roosters coaching staff that took the club to three consecutive Grand Finals winning one of them.
One wonders how his time at the Roosters will end.
No matter where Chris Anderson has coached, his time with the Bulldogs, Storm and Sharks has always ended on bad terms.
Maybe, just maybe its not everyone else who is problem.
Ever think about that Chris?
