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Cameron Stokes
27 February at 18:59 ·
To the Queensland Rugby Union
I write this as a passionate and long term Reds supporter. You may dismiss that supporter status, but it's important. It's important because you need to know that I am invested in this team. I am invested in this organisation. I am invested, more than anything, in this game. And let me be very clear... You are destroying the game of rugby in this great state.
I know that running a professional sporting organisation must be one of the most difficult of tasks in this modern social landscape. So I need to admit and acknowledge that I am not looking for perfection. Far from it. Perfection in the sporting world is impossible. But what I am looking for, what every Reds fan is looking for, is two things. Those two things are things that we have not seen for some time... commitment, and improvement.
Let's be very honest with each other, because I feel like you haven't been truly honest with us for a long time...
We could have had this conversation a long time ago. We could have had it at the end of any of the last three seasons. We could have had it at any time over the past summer. And we could have had it after the two trials this year. But I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to give you the chance to set things right. But after the performance tonight, in a game that should mean more to the organisation than any other, I can't put it off any longer. We have sat quietly for long enough. We have held out hope for far longer than we should have. But we shall wait no more. We shall no longer spend our weekends trying in vain to explain the latest inept performance. Now, it is time for YOU to explain. It is time for you to explain to us, your most loyal servants, just what the hell you are doing in there...
So, how about we start with some easy ones. Some questions that, as the board of a professional sporting organisation, you should be able to answer pretty quickly...
Such as :
1. When a team loses players like Genia and Cooper, two of the world's best in the two most important positions in YOUR organisation, who makes the decision that we will replace them with two serviceable club players, two players who obviously have the ability to contribute to a club premiership, but just as obviously have no ability to contribute to a professional premiership? Who makes that decision, and why do they not have to explain themselves to us?
2. Who examines the coaching record of our current head coach and decides that that record is proof positive that that person deserves to hold the most COVETED coaching position in this great state, a state with so many great rugby minds?
3. And MOST importantly... Which one of you, sitting in those great positions of power, can even begin to explain to me what the Reds' game plan is? Because for the life of me, and I have been a Platinum season ticket holder for as long as I can remember, I couldn't even fathom a way to describe the Reds' approach to the game. Every team has a personality, a way they like to play... When we had Ewen that could change from week to week, but at least we could see it... I would be shocked if any Reds fan could find any words to describe "Reds Rugby". And who does this come back to? The coach, my good friends, the bloody coach. We know he is a great guy, and a great Queenslander to boot, but we can act as a support to his coaching aspirations no more..
So, what do I actually want out of this, I hear you ask? Well, to be honest, I would love for you to stand in front of us all and answer the questions I have posed. But I know that won't happen. Too many jobs on the line for that. You know what I actually want? I want to watch the Reds and not feel like I am watching a club side. I want to see us identify a weakness and actually CORRECT it through our coaches the following week! What a bizarre concept for our Reds, but something so fundamental to every other coach in the country!!!
But more than anything, I want to be able to tell people I am a Reds fan and not feel embarrassed. Because right now, I am bloody embarrassed, and it is YOUR fault. Stop trying to shift the blame. Stop trying to buy time. Fix this mess now! Fix it quickly! Find the players we need, find the coach we deserve, and discover the performance that every Queenslander is dying to see.
So now I say to my friends, to all of those great Queenslanders who have tolerated this shambles as long as I have : Share this! Share it far and wide! Share it until they can ignore us no more! Eventually, if someone has a conscience, if someone loves this team as much as we all do, they will have to respond. And if they respond, they will have to acknowledge that something has to change.
Yours sincerely, from a passionate Queenslander,
Cameron
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Originally Posted by Cowboy
