Stormers. it's clouding over...

There is a monkey on our back - we just dont know what it is...

I won’t ever back anyone else. I am a stickler for these types of things. I grew up in Cape town. Province, Stormers, Cobras and Ajax.

But man they are not making it easy right now!

Ultimately I could make the easy switch right? We all have friends who have changed over to Ferrari because they were winning. It’s easier to cheer for the Sharks because you would be a “winner” by default. Around the braai with the guys you can laugh under your breath when they talk about the latest round of losses at Newlands. They can scoff at your (our) team and be smug – because ultimately they jumped ship. You will always be a winner if you have no loyalty, it’s a fact of life. You will never be a true supporter though (of any team) because your bags are always packed and you are ready to leave the moment the team starts slipping in the logs – in parasite terms you jump host in order to survive.

So the Stormers are losing.

I for one thought this would be the year. We played with gust and glory in the dying embers of last season – the Rassie magic seemed to have taken hold albeit too late in the season but there was hope for 2009. On paper we have one of the strongest SA sides. Some 11 Springboks, some talented players coming up through the ranks and arguably one of the best captains on SA grass, who not only leads but plays his heart out everytime. We have Monty and AJ as back-ups on the bench for crying out loud! Our reserves are some of SA’s most capped players? And yet we will still can’t get it right on the field.

I heard guys on the weekend saying we didn’t get it together. We were sloppy – we just don’t care, we lack a winning mentality. I don’t agree. Any professional sportsman has a winning mentality – you don’t play lose.

I to be honest thought we had moments of magic out there – we were gunning their line and putting them under pressure. Some of our runs were damn classy. We lost it through some stupid handling errors, crap passes and a player mentality amongst some that would indicate they would rather go for glory on their own than have to rely on the team.

Luke Watson, I feel ,is still trying to stem the boo’s by getting the ball across the line (why the hell are we booing anyway? He is playing in a Stormers jersey not a bok one – be the man and move on) . He had an awesome game last week, at this level of rugby he really does excel and puts in some stellar moves – disagree?. Love him or hate him the man grinds the game and makes the ground. He just seems to want that try so badly that he is actually putting himself and the team under needless pressure. Schalk Burger. Love him too but without the hair there seems to be a Samson mentality going on. He seems off the boil a bit. Not really in the game. The season.

Bekker, Januarie, De Villiers – always there and in the mix – although perhaps Ricky we could leave the kicking for a bit – definition of insanity and all. It didn’t work the first time or the other few hundred. Inspired try though!

I am not sure what goes on behind closed doors but there is something smacking of desperation going on in the Stormers camp. We have the right players. The right captain. The Right coach? I think we do – certainly with Gary Gold backing him up.

So what’s wrong? I have no idea – hopefully you may have some insight. Post it here and lets chat.

Back to my earlier point though – born and bred in Cape Town there is only one choice of rugby team. I couldn’t go anywhere else just because of losses. I prefer to stick it out – take the abuse and love the team we have.

Hope you feel the same. This will come right!