I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm going to stick up for Rouse here.

What he said was very true, we did get rather giddy. Turns out his worries were unfounded, and Madge has done an excellent job. However he is by no means perfect, and the flaws he does have surround the management of players.

Given the way he expects his players to respond to his coaching and advice though, I more than expect him to improve on this over the coming years.

Can you just elaborate on the part highlighted above. I'm just wondering which players have been mismanaged by Madge in your opinion.

I was also wrong

Me too



I still stand by what I said with regard it being a huge gamble but it appears to be a gamble that has paid off. We haven't won anything of note yet though - here's hoping. Would be the perfect birthday weekend!!

I'd say on several occaisions this season he's mismanaged his 17 and his interchanges, for example. That said, it's a skill he would not have refined as an understudy and can only gain with experience. Just wouldn't like people to get carried away thinking we have theperfect coach, albeit he's done a fantastic job so far.

We've certainly improved which I questioned and you can see where we're heading.

I'm now 110% in the 'Madge is God' camp

I don't think anybody would say Madge has been perfect. There's been a few occasions when his use of the subs bench has left a lot to be desired (the CC game at Leeds being an example that springs to mind) and he's not handled Feka's situation as well as I'd like. He's not always been the understudy either. He took charge of the first team at Melbourne whenever Craig Bellamy was coaching the NSW Origin team so it's not like he's never had to make an interchange call or pick a 17 before

Agreed.

I thought you were referring to individual players that Madge had some how mismanaged.

Here's to the next 4 games.

It sounds horrible to think that there are potentially only 4 games left of the season