Quote No1 Saint="No1 Saint"Easy targets. With KC if your on the outside I think your pretty much done. I've been baffled a few times this season with Lance's omissions and Jones's . It seems like it's ok to play kids in the outside backs but he'd rather play players in the halves who are fundamentally lacking the core skills to do so than give a kid a go.'"
Champion teams are first and foremost - teams. We can talk all day about skilful players, tactics, overall strategies etc. - none of this means a great deal if you aren't functioning as a tightly-knit and cohesive unit. Individualism is encouraged - but not at the expense of the overall harmony of the group.
If Lance and/or Jones are "problem players" (and we really have no idea whether they are are not) then it shouldn't come as any surprise that the coach would prefer to risk a junior with the "right attitude" than run the even greater risk of allowing potentially divisive players the opportunity to spread disharmony through action or talk.
More than perhaps any club in SL, Saints have worked incredibly hard to foster the "Right Attitude". McManus calls it the "St. Helens Way". They are absolutely right to do so because once disharmony sets in at a club it is finished as a champion outfit. Very often it can take years to overcome the damage which can be wrought by just one or two players who aren't in sync with the message.
