It must be time for England to walk into another international Rugby League competition because I’m hearing the word “confidence” being thrown around a lot this week.
We’ve been here before, and yes, I know, I know, I could probably let it all slide and our lives would not change one bit. You don’t come here for that though, do you?
So lets read the English script…
English players A, B and C play in the NRL and are doing alright. Their impact on the competition has been over stated, but they have been solid players.
They have played against Australian players every single week (New Zealand never gets a mention) and they realize these Aussies are not invincible, they have flaws and they make mistakes.
The young England side, which will be lead by these players, have no mental scars from previous record defeats on home soil and on foreign soil.
So its all about confidence, if they can all go into the upcoming series with confidence and realize Australia is beatable, they will beat Australia.
Its nice, its fuzzy, it makes me want to run through fields of Dandelions signing God Save The Queen.
Unfortunately, it is typical, hysterical, ignorant, arrogant crap. The type of big headed bullshit we have heard from England and Great Britain for decades now.
Confidence is a funny beast because it is not a black and white issue. Confidence effects different players in different ways and a lot of the time the best players in the game look confident, but they have no confidence at all.
Andrew Johns talks about going into games doubting his ability. About vomiting before a big contest, about the pressure he simply didn’t feel like he could handle. Running out onto the field, feeling like he didn’t belong there, that he was not of the same ability of the players he played along side and against.
He did alright…
There is a long list of some of the games greatest players who loved a good spew before a big contest as nerves kicked in. Some coaches have talked about being worried when their best player didn’t chucks his guts up!
The idea that Englands only problem for 30+ years has been a lack of confidence is the most arrogant statement I have heard heard uttered in any sport in my lifetime!
England has so many problems at every level that I could write for years about it. Hell, I should make a web site dedicated to explaining all the problems within the English game, from its administration, to the way players are coached, to the mentality of former and current players, to the lack of understanding by fans.
I’d call it League Freak and a million people would visit it!
What ever the case, all this talk of confidence just shows that those within the English game have no idea about what their real problems are, or how to fix them.
On top of everything else, a confident player or team does not need to spend weeks on end talking to the media about being confidence and trying to convince itself they are in fact confident.
At some point it just becomes a lot of hot air and bullshit!
If you are not convinced by this point…I want to leave you with a final thought.
He’s a terrible player, but he is so confident, so he is great.
Doesn’t make sense, does it?
