‘We’ve achieved nothing yet’
10 Feb 2010
The Stormers aren’t buying into the hype that they’re overwhelming favoruites to beat the Lions this Saturday.
First they won the Tri-Series, and then their second trophy in last week’s hammering of Boland at the new Cape Town Stadium. Hell, they even won the Newlands challenge when they beat the Cape Cobras in a cricket match. There’s a buzz around the Stormers which isn’t unbelievable. Three trophies in the space of a month. Give it up for the boys in blue.
Believe the marketing hype, and you’re bound to believe the Stormers are destined for greater things in 2010. The more educated Cape supporter will tell you to be careful. They’ll remind you that neither the Stormers nor WP have won a big competition since 2001.
If you can’t find a Stormers supporter willing to admit to their side’s past failings, ask one of the thousands of Bulls or Sharks fans residing in Cape Town. They’ll tell you that when it comes to the Super 14, the Stormers are pre-season champs and in-season chumps.
Nobody is more aware of this perception than Allister Coetzee, the new Stormers head coach. The media have gone huge with the pre-season success, but Coetzee and his captain Schalk Burger have worked hard behind the scenes to ensure the squad doesn’t become windgat. It’s this kind of attitude that’s got them into trouble before, and it’s why Coetzee laughed off talk that Saturday’s match against the Lions represents a soft start.
‘Talk is cheap – that’s the only message to my players in preparation for Saturday,’ he told keo.co.za. ‘There’s no easy game and we still have to go out and win.
‘We’ve achieved nothing yet, so there’s no need for arrogance. We all know that there’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance. Nobody wants to be caught off-guard, especially against an unpredictable side like the Lions. It’s going to be all business.’
The Stormers head into this year’s competition with two new senior Springboks, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana, at their disposal. Many have questioned the pair’s move to the underachieving Cape franchise, but Coetzee explains their value lies beyond their playing ability. Fourie and Habana will be called on to exercise their leadership skills as early as Round 1.
‘We are looking to our senior players to show some composure in the tight games, and that’s what we expect from Jaque and Bryan this Saturday. There are a number of leaders within the team, which is a good sign.’
While the Lions struggle at Super 14 level, they do usually save their best performances for the Stormers and WP. They beat WP at the back end of the 2009 Currie Cup, a defeat that cost Province an ‘easier’ semi-final against the Cheetahs, and also denied them the bonus point for four tries in the 2008 Super 14.
The Lions aren’t going to qualify for the play-offs, but they have every chance of punishing an overconfident team. Fortunately for Coetzee, the Stormers have worked hard to tick the humble box in the build up to Super 14 proper. Win or lose, they will now be judged by the rugby showings and not made to remember their pre-season promises.
By Jon Cardinelli
413 Comments
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 » Show All
10 Feb 2010, 06:15 am
Quite right. They’ve NEVER done a thing in Super Rugby, ever.
10 Feb 2010, 06:27 am
So much promise….but that is all….1 game at a time….no swagger please Stormers….Ellis Park is a daunting first hurdle at altitude against a desperate and pumped up Lions…..only a 100% focussed and committed effort will be enough.
Pressure firmly on Stormers.
Time for Grant to deliver at 10.
10 Feb 2010, 06:31 am
oh ffs not another stormers “we don’t believe the pre-season hype” thread!!! No no no!! Who are you trying to convince, us or yourselves?
i can’t wait til the rugby starts so that these stormers people (players & coaches) can start talking about RUGBY again!
10 Feb 2010, 06:55 am
1
duh
10 Feb 2010, 06:56 am
#3
For sure, the Keo writers are saying the same thing in ten different articles
10 Feb 2010, 07:30 am
I wonder if Jon gets paid to write such a load of ****… Three trophies nogal… I bet you the Stormers players dont give a hoot about these so called trophies.
As a Stormers supporter i dont cos what we really want is the S14 or Currie Cup trophy.
I bet you Tacticus is gonna laugh himself silly when he reads this!!
10 Feb 2010, 07:35 am
Since ALL the teams are currently on zero log points, you have to ask yourself why it isnt necessary for the Bulls, Sharks, Lions and Cheetahs to also declare that ‘they have achieved nothing as yet’.
Why are only the Stormers congratulated for ‘keeping their feet on the ground’?
It’s because the Cape Press live in the friggin Twilight Zone, and whatever the players may say to the contrary, this expectation rubs off on them.
Heck, the Kiwi press view the Stormers as mediocre at best, but according to the Stormers it will no doubt be a huge surprise, not to mention some kind of an injustice, if they once again fail to make the playoffs.
I don’t think I’ll ever understand this pervasive sense of entitlement that is always present down in the Cape.
10 Feb 2010, 07:38 am
@wpw: lmao @ “i bet Tacitus is gonna laugh himself silly when he reads this”
so Tac’s guffaws get to you mate?
10 Feb 2010, 07:47 am
@Tacitus:
You have to love the Cape Press preseason. They never learn.
I think the Stormers will start well but may fall away at the business end of the competition.
Thats what the crusaders and bulls do so well, they peak right at the bussiness end of the season.
10 Feb 2010, 07:51 am
Well, if I was a Stormers fan I’d be very worried…
Luckily for me I’m a Lions supporter…
10 Feb 2010, 07:54 am
One of the only places hyping the Stormers at the moment is right here, keo.co.za…
The rest of us supporters are quietly confident, but we know too well what disappointment feels like.
Just because the writers here on keo say it’s so, doesn’t mean it is…
10 Feb 2010, 07:55 am
@Sonito: So true, seems the Capetonians are slow learners. Pride precedes the fall. Same story every year.
Managing the ‘peak’ seems to be the secret to S14 success, just not sure if there is an exact formula and whether it’s a hit and mis kinda scenario.
10 Feb 2010, 07:58 am
@Rum And Maple: Lions supporters are actualy sitting pretty this year because there is absolutely no expectaions on the Lions which might just be to their advantage.
All I know is I’m glad the Sharks don’t face them first up, it’s way to easy to completey write the the Lions off and being blindsided by them.
10 Feb 2010, 08:00 am
@FireStraeuli:
I think a key is not to have a huge preseason and also not to hype yourself up in the early part of the season. It is a lot of emotion to carry the whole season and the pressure just keeps building game by game with the hype. Unfortunately a common Sharks mistake
10 Feb 2010, 08:01 am
@FireStraeuli: Ja boet, being a Lions supporter means that there is NEVER any hype or cockyness…
And it is the same again this year…
I will be happy if we loose by less than 7…
10 Feb 2010, 08:01 am
@FireStraeuli:
The only “pride” I’ve seen has been from the Sharks supporters who refuse to believe that there are major problems in store for their squad this year and refuse to abandon a sinking ship (with regards to front row problems and lack of a flyhalf).
10 Feb 2010, 08:01 am
@WP Till I Die: that is true to a certain extent mate, but i must say, the cape press does seem to whip people into a frenzy down there.
here in durbs we have old mike greenway, sedately reporting (a skill nobody at keo possesses) the happenings. no predictions of glory, no bashing other teams, no politics.
just rugby. what a pleasure.
10 Feb 2010, 08:02 am
A reminder to those who want to play Super 14 fantasy rugby on testrugby.com – we are in the Muppit League (note spelling and caps)
10 Feb 2010, 08:03 am
@Rum And Maple:
I wish the Lions well, they’re my second team. They play hard, nothing flashy, and their supporters are true ones.
Unlike the “mooiweersvriende” fans you find at the Bulls and the Sharks…
10 Feb 2010, 08:03 am
@Sonito: Yep especialy last year, luckily the pre-season wasn’t as big for the Sharks this year, and it’s good to be ranked third favourites SA side in the comp this year so not much hype which will hopefully help.
Either way I’m not a confident Sharks supporter, but time will tell.
10 Feb 2010, 08:03 am
@Simon: Thanx Simon. Registered yesterday… still have to pick a side though…
10 Feb 2010, 08:04 am
@rangerman:
We do have some twats writing rugby articles in the Cape, I’ll conceed that.
@WP Till I Die:
Let me quickly add that I do not want to generalise, most of the Bulls and Sharks fans are brilliant, but it seems a lot of their “new” fans are mooiweersvriende jumping on the bandwagon.
10 Feb 2010, 08:05 am
Let’s hope all SA sides do well this year.
We should be slagging off the Aussies and the Kiwis, not each other!
Let’s leave that for the Currie Cup!
10 Feb 2010, 08:05 am
@FireStraeuli:
As long as we beat the Stormers and cost them a place in the semis I am happy.
… O Yes and also scrum them to pieces 
10 Feb 2010, 08:07 am
@WP Till I Die: I also do hope we do better this year…
A lot of positive changes happened at the union… but I’m mostly a realist… it will be a tough season and we have a team of new players and combinations…
If we improve gradually and win the odd game I will be very happy…
One does not build a winning side in 6 months.
10 Feb 2010, 08:08 am
@WP Till I Die: mate, we have no front row problems but the flyhalf issue has been remarked upon by almost every sharks fan, along with our center worries.
but what can we do at this stage?
if the argie hadnt gone down we might be singing a different tune but lets see how meyer goes.
10 Feb 2010, 08:09 am
@rangerman:
Yeah we are just lacking any cutting edge in our backs. Lets hope somebody steps up.
10 Feb 2010, 08:10 am
@rangerman:
Best of luck to you, though.
I hope the Stephen Meyer experiment works out for you guys.
10 Feb 2010, 08:11 am
@WP Till I Die: Would sure love to see a Sharks supporter willing to stick his neck out and call any of the Sharks game with any certainty?
Sorry son but we’ve learnt our lesson, it only takes one disapointing year to bring us down to earth, we’re under no disillusions.
Sadly it seems the Stormers supporters believe they’ve now got the be-all and end-all of scrumaging in South Africa and seems to feel they’ve earned the right to teach everyone how a scrum actualy opperate, yet with your wonderfull little scrum you still failed to reach the CC final last year?!
10 Feb 2010, 08:11 am
@Sonito:
Scrum us to pieces? With Smittie at 3 and Kankowski at 8?
10 Feb 2010, 08:11 am
@Sonito: ja, i am looking forward to rugby regardless.
SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ok, gotta go. chat later all.
10 Feb 2010, 08:12 am
JC… Doing a bit of ****-stirring again…??!!
“If you can’t find a Stormers supporter willing to admit to their side’s past failings”
c’mon… read your own blogs… us Stormers supporters are always qualifying our expectations with equal reservations due to the failings of the team in the past…
way more non-Stormer supporters are writing them up… purely in the hope of having a go at the real Stormers supporters should the team not deliver… those same non-fans will then try and blame the real supporters for talking their team up…
pretty much like you…!!
agree with Grant10… my only concern is Peter Grant… Just don’t think he is the multi-skilled game-dominating general we need at flyhalf… Hope they fast track Cronje… or even use Willem De Waal… despite what most people say, he can move the ball and get the line moving… remember the Lions…? PLUS… the value of his boot… territorially and for posts… just can’t be over-estimated…
10 Feb 2010, 08:13 am
@WP Till I Die:
That would be a dream come true!! Maybe also throw in a push over try also
10 Feb 2010, 08:14 am
@FireStraeuli:
Not at all mate!
And we know the WP pack did well against the highly-vaunted Bulls outfit in the semi-final…if we hadn’t kicked possession away in the last few minutes to the Bulls so that van den Heever could run down the line and be clotheslined by our tame Fijian, we would have been in the final…
But hey, as they say in Afrikaans, “as is verbrande hout”.
10 Feb 2010, 08:17 am
@ufo:
The problem is Cardinelli spends all his time watching rugby from the press boxes…so all he does is spend time with fellow rugby journalists from the Cape.
And unfortunately those rugby “journalists”, judging by the articles in the Cape press, (a) do not know much about rugby and (b) love to sensationalise things.
I suppose we need to give JC a break…but he should learn not to generalise like that! Just because his press tjommies hype the Stormers does not mean us real Stormers supporters do as well…
10 Feb 2010, 08:18 am
@Simon:
No Keo prediction comp this year?
As for the Stormers, I said my part last week.
Collectively they look better than last year, so expect a better log position than 10, but for my money, the Stormers still get bullied in the collissions which is why they will fail.
10 Feb 2010, 08:21 am
@rangerman: Dont worry, old Pienaar will step up to the plate, lets not forget, the only reason he got subbed as Springbok FH was because of his placekicking.
One thing is certain, I’d rather see him at FH than SH, he just needs some self belief and he’ll do wonders for us there.
Last year Pienaar started the S14 for us at FH and it was only once he was injured that the Sharks came undone. It’s just his place kicking that is not up to scratch.
He should be on the bench this weekend and by next week he’ll be fit enough to make the starting line-up.
10 Feb 2010, 08:27 am
Blah,blah,blah…it’s precisely ’cause the Stormers have got the right attitude that they gonna thrash the poor Lions on Saturday…@TheTackler: ..and I wouldn’t say they have never done a thing in Super rugby…they have never ended up bottom of the log…yet the Bulls have had the pleasure of eating that wooden spoon 3 TIMES
10 Feb 2010, 08:31 am
@Sonito: Hahah…Stormers beat you 3 times in a row now…fast becoming yr bogey team…and yr scrum got no chance….
10 Feb 2010, 08:36 am
@WP Till I Die:
spot on WPTID…!
10 Feb 2010, 08:41 am
@WP Till I Die: Brave words my little friend. Cocky F*%k!
10 Feb 2010, 08:41 am
“The Lions aren’t going to qualify for the play-offs…”
Comments like this really push my buttons, hope the Lions kick some Cape @ss this weekend. JC I bet thats all you really wanted to write, your article is ****
10 Feb 2010, 08:43 am
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR):
Where? Have you read all my posts? Or are you going to persist with your noisy tendency to focus your tunnel-vision on one single offensive line?
10 Feb 2010, 08:46 am
@WP Till I Die: Hey…I’m a real Stormer supporter…and I understand where all the angst comes from…as we’ve not lived up to the hype in the past…but look at the big picture…this is a very good team…and barring injuries to key players we gonna do pretty well…I’d be concerned as an opposition team…and recently we’ve been there or thereabouts against the Bulls,who are supposedly the team we measure ourselves against…looking fwd to a good season…
10 Feb 2010, 08:46 am
@Icemoney: He forgot “but neither are the Stormers”!
10 Feb 2010, 08:47 am
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR): More like neither are the pap sharks…
10 Feb 2010, 08:49 am
@WP Till I Die: Yes I’ve read all your stupid posts, but its this comment I was referring to:
“The only “pride” I’ve seen has been from the Sharks supporters who refuse to believe that there are major problems in store for their squad this year and refuse to abandon a sinking ship (with regards to front row problems and lack of a flyhalf).”
You so sure your Stormers are going to rule the roost? Writing off the Sharks completely. Yup, you Stormers are cocky, yet we consistently out perform you. Windgat, AGAIN. Why does this happen every year?
10 Feb 2010, 08:52 am
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR):
I’m not writing them off completely, Rateltjie…
But I am still holding to my forecast that the Stormers will end higher than the Sharks this year, old boy.
But you’ll see on the Chiefs thread that I’m supporting the Sharks…
…you see a demon behind every bush, don’t you?
10 Feb 2010, 08:54 am
At this stage I’m much happier with our coaching staff having to talk-up our chances, rather than in CT where they are madly trying to talk down the Stormers. Knowing of the tendency of coastal sides to believe the hype that is printed, I’d say the Sharks are perfectly tuned to launch an assault on the S14. Also the fact that we are a bit under-cooked rather than firing on all cylinders makes me think we might peak at the right time this year.
10 Feb 2010, 08:55 am
@Storm outta hell:
HaHaHA.. the Stormers finished 10th last year! O yes and WP is not the Stormers. Sorry Bud.
O yes and the last time the Stormers beat the Sharks in Super rugby was 2005.
So don’t make dumb comments, you are embarrassing yourself.
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.