RGE fredy122: “I could write an entire book on everything that happened”

Rogue aren’t off to the best start in the LEC Spring Split. After a disastrous Winter where the team only secured a single win in regular, RGE find themselves again in a tough spot – they are the only team with 3 losses so far – after only two weeks of competition. The opportunity to talk to head coach Simon “fredy122” Payne about Rogue’s confidence levels and growing from past mistakes. As well as his thoughts on the transition from champion to the bottom of the league, and the effect of rumours on his group.

How are you feeling and what are your thoughts after this Week 2 where you’ve at least managed to secure one win?

fredy122: I think everyone was good after Vitality (2-0). Everyone felt really good. I think we played well today (0-2 against GX). It just sucks again kind of the way we lost. Because Game 1 was a a repeat of the Heretic series. We were playing really well but the game went long. We made a couple mistakes and we lose a 60 minute game or whatever. Then game two, firstly it can be hard to reset after that kind of loss and I think we made small mistake in draft. So obviously, coaches feels bad about it. We know the situation and we know we just have to carry on, do our best and try to grow. That’s competition. Right? Everyone’s just trying to be their best.

Ethan: But this one was quite important I guess for the playoff run. Because GIANTX was also two losses down.

Are you still confident that you can secure a spot in playoffs?

fredy122: I think we have to be realistic. It’s going to be hard. We need to continue to give it our all. It’s a top six playoffs. So I cannot say that I’m confident we’re going to secure a spot or something. But what I’m confident in, is that this week we had kind of a mindset change in the team. I think we kind of accepted the position we’re in and we just have to carry on. That’s what I can confidently say is we’re just going to continue to give our all until the end and if we make it, we make it. If we don’t, we don’t. But if we worry too much about it and if we keep thinking about the standings, we’re in trouble. That’s all we can do in this situation.

Ethan: I wanted to go back a bit on Rogue’s history because if we go back to the very beginning. I want to ask you about your relationship with Larssen because he has been your franchise player ever since 2019. And I feel like you two have kind of grown together and you also have shared some very good and some very bad memories.

Why has it always been so important for you to stick with Larssen in particular? Can you tell me more about the evolution of your relationship?

fredy122: It’s more so about, how he is evolving as a player. When he first came into Rogue a long time ago (in 2019), he was like a upcoming rookie. Huge, huge potential, you know, huge room for growth. And that’s what he did over time. Now I think his role shifted. He still has his, major strengths. He’s like, really strong in lane. Maybe people don’t think that, but he is. He’s definitely one of the best laning midlaners still, but he’s also got this experience around him now. So his role shifted a bit, but I cannot see too many mids that are better than him or something. So I still really believe in him as a player. I know what he gives to the team and yeah, I think he’s solid.

Ethan: I wanted to have your opinion on the reason why Rogue went suddenly from title contenders and even champions at some point to the bottom of the rankings. I asked Comp about it a few months ago, and he told me that everyone had different ideas in the team and it led to a lot of chaos.

But as the head coach, how do you look back on the moment when everything shifted for this team?

fredy122: It’s really hard to pick one kind of issue. Comp was right about that. The year after our title, we had so many different ideas about what to do. We had some relationship problems between members of the team that played together for a long time, and things were becoming very, very tense. Which led to roster changes. Obviously they did not work out right? We had this huge change with the upper. The org merging with Koi and then again unmerging. And that is complete chaos, you know. So I cannot really, like, put one reason and probably I could write an entire book on what happened. Those are the things that come to mind. But for sure, difference in opinion between all players, maybe the year after was… I can agree, that was a huge thing as well.

Ethan: As you said, you could write a book about it. So I’m not asking for specific reasons, but if you have to look back at it.

Do you feel like you maybe could have done more for the org, or for the team?

fredy122: I always felt like that I think. It hits very fast, the transition from a top team, to a bottom team. When you’re in there, in the moment, it’s hard. But when I look back, I think, oh, I could have done this, I could have decided that. And I think that should be the mindset I have to have anyway. I constantly have to reflect on what we can do better. So definitely, I look back and I think, why? Why didn’t I do things differently, you know? But that’s how it is, we continue to grow from that.

Do the rumours of Rogue’s desire to leave the league have any impact on the work of the staff or the players? Does it reduce their level of motivation in any way?

fredy122: I don’t think so. I can’t say anything about those rumours, but obviously we know about them. And if anything, to be honest, it’s one more reason to give it our all, because we don’t know what the future is for us, for players, for the staff in coaching and management. So really, all we can do is try to control what we can control. Just work hard. Work as well as we can and just see what happens. Do our best.