Yeah he knows the players, no doubt.
Lake's been doing moronic things in terms of decision making for about 4-5 years, and he even jokes about it in the media. Lake is still doing moronic things, so how has it "worked"?
IMO its a matter of taking the good with the bad with both Minson (BTW the 50 was as soft as I've ever seen) and Lake. They'll still have their fair share of brain fades, media critcism or not. Its just the sort of players they are.
But making it a media statement sure keeps the attention away from the poor 3 weeks the whole team has had...
All players have the occasional clanger, so what. Will Minson is an emerging ruckman of quality and dropping him would be a mistake. Brian Lake is the best fullback in the country......period.
Minson played against Brent Renouf, come on, really he should have had it all over him in the first half. Second half, Renouf was exhausted. Minson still has a long way to play 4 quarters of consistent footy. Maybe a spell at Willy will remind him how much further he has to go.