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Moses Mbye

Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
Messages
8,480
I'm Hornby said:
A lot of hype from you about a guy who hasn't even coached a game of first grade before, mate.

He is very much unproven and at this stage any credentials given to Fitzgibbon are speculative only.

Lets see how he actually goes as a coach and then you can dread on decisions that were/weren't/could've/should've been made.

From where I sit appointing an experienced first grade coach with a good win/loss record who's teams only missed finals once or twice was always a better move than appointing a rookie hyped by the media and have a caretaker for a whole season!! What rubbish.
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Not hype. And not just from me.

Indeed I agree, he hasn't proven any results as head coach in first grade. But like any junior player emerging through a club, assessed by those in the know... he's widely viewed as one of the most accomplished emerging coaches around. Which, given the "lack" of quality coaches in the NRL at present (my opinion) is a huge attraction.

You sit where you sit and I sit where I sit. It's not rubbish either way... it's an opinion.

Griffin's record...... didn't impress me personally. Win/Loss is ok but sacked twice. So far this season, I haven't seen anything to suggest we are any better with him. And that half the team went behind his back to have that bbq despite him demanding they stick to covid protocols.... while it says a lot about the selfish attitude of those players, it also was alarming to me as to what respect this coach has. Especially given his previous sackings - which (if you believe inside opinions) was largely due to player relationships.

But it's next season where I feel it will prove if he's the right guy for the job. I'm not convinced he is I'm just hopeful.
 
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Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
Messages
8,480
Draginzaaar said:
Jason Donnelly hated him. Heard him on the Red V podcast. Said he was the worst coach he had.
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So he rated the bloke who abandoned the dragons for the Rams, against the bloke who pulled that 1996 team together from the scrapheap to make the grand final..

1997%20ramcard%20(4).jpeg



I wonder if Nick Zisti has the same opinion....
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Ghostrider22

Ghostrider22

Juniors
Messages
519
Maddragon99 said:
The jury is out on Griffin he’s coaching for his future right now.
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Maddragon99 poor hook hasn’t had 1 team on the park all year with all the bullshit that has happened. He has to many sideshows to contend with. Those coaches I mentioned had numerous great footy players right across the park and played great footy.
I’m sorry to say this team that we all support has no heart at this junction.
 
Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
Messages
8,480
BLM01 said:
The countdown begins
2 more days to go
Will we sign Moses... or is it dead in the water
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Will it happen?

I'd think the odds are in its favour.. We've brought Beale out of NRL retirement from the Q Cup. So the "developing juniors" focus that Griffin suggested after signing with us appears to have changed.

Do I want it to happen?

Only if we are getting him at a highly-subsidised rate by the Tigers. Otherwise - invest that money elsewhere.
 
Dragon David

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,484
Bring back John Fifita said:
A few things..

Bennett is one of the best coaches in history. Griffin is light years behind him.

Bennett had a core of top shelf players in his teams, he targeted them if they weren’t already at clubs when he moved….

The Dragons before he arrived had a good core of quality players in some areas, mainly backs, but were known as a club who had a “soft underbelly”… That’s what other clubs thought about them including the Broncos under Bennett.

so Bennett targeted hard-men to recruit to the club… not necessarily the superstars in their positions but tough, hard-nosed forwards to fix the “softness”…

Jeremy Smith was a tough, consistent, reliable, back rower with success at the Storm

Neville Costigan was a tough hit-man type of backrower who also got under the skin of the opposition.

Michael Weyman was a big burly front rower with a short fuse but could bowl over opposition defenders.

Beau Scott was a nasty, ugly, scrapper of a player targeted by Bennett to bring an arrogance to the pack and protect his 5/8 Soward…

Why do I suggest this??

Coz that’s what Bennett said. I had the amazing fortune to sit opposite Wayne Bennett at a breakfast where he was keynote speaker. In his speech he talked through his career, how he puts teams together, gets their performance at its peak. Amongst other topics he coveted. He had 500 guests mesmerised and I then got an insight why so many players I’d heard in the past say he’s the best coach by lightyears and they all wanted to play for him.

Then when he sat back down we had a good chat, others beside me as well but I shook his hand and thanked him for winning us a Comp when j never thought I’d see it. I asked him what he felt he had to do when he turned up..

He was very simple… he said the dragons had talent in many places and his job was to get their heads right. He also brought in a toughness that they needed in areas as they had a “soft underbelly” reputation. Those players above…. and he talked through why those players as I’ve mentioned above…

None of those players above was average when signed. They had a fierceness that the club was missing. None of Griffins signings so far could hold a candle to them, apart from McGuire. Bird has always had talent but horrific injuries… a shrewd signing though and seemingly paid off.

And he coached them to a competition victory, our first in 31 years…

Then after a bit more talk at the table, him answering questions… he should our hands and left…

but not before I made him laugh, saying “good luck coaching the horses”… (he’d just signed to go back there in favour of back to us)…that was one of the highlights of my life. Not just hearing him speak, sitting and chatting with him, but I made Wayne Bennett Laugh!

Anthony Griffin is not Wayne Bennett.

Wayne Bennett improves sides he heads to.

Anthony Griffin followed in his footsteps at the broncos, with all the systems in place to take over. He was sacked only a few seasons after.

He then went to Penrith with junior pathways established by Gould And his team, a bunch of emerging players were coming through competitions they’d won in the lower tiers. Griffin took over them as the club was bearing fruit.. Yet he was sacked - again…. Who knows exactly why.. but sacked he was.

I truly hope we get success again and I’d love Griffin to drive us to succeed.

Its unfair to compare Bennett to any other coach in the NRL bar Bellamy. But here..

When Bennett took over the Dragons I was extremely confident we’d win a comp.

When Griffin took over the dragons I’d never been less confident we would win a comp. I wasn’t confident we’d even go any better than the last few seasons… hopefully I’m wrong,
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Good post BBJF. Bennett fantastic, Griffin still a work in progress and we should give him time. It has been a difficult year for him. I'd like to reserve further comments about Griffin until after at least 8 games of the 2022 season.
 
T

Trifili13

Juniors
Messages
788
While picking up players like Beale may block the path of our juniors, I can see the logic in that 1, they may not be ready for first grade and secondly, they have played bugger all football in the past 2 years to actually develop into first grade players. Some might argue give them a go and let's see. Given the previous coaching regime and how they have coached our juniors to come through, I would rather throw in a 17 year old from the Storm system than a 20 or 21 year old from ours.
 
Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
Messages
8,480
Trifili13 said:
While picking up players like Beale may block the path of our juniors, I can see the logic in that 1, they may not be ready for first grade and secondly, they have played bugger all football in the past 2 years to actually develop into first grade players. Some might argue give them a go and let's see. Given the previous coaching regime and how they have coached our juniors to come through, I would rather throw in a 17 year old from the Storm system than a 20 or 21 year old from ours.
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It's a good argument IMO. And a factor in the last 2 seasons that is overlooked by some - the lack of lower-tier Rugby League in relation to player development.

For me - it then becomes more apparent that our quality juniors "need" to be exposed to first grade, rather than training runs only. Who knows when Covid will not be a factor in suspending lower tier games. It could go into next season.... A lot of guys coming through are clearly underdone - in many clubs. And lack of lower tier games must be a huge factor.

Yes - Griffin needs to win football games - that's the primary KPI. And so I can appreciate he needs to get whatever the best team is on the park to do it. But the senior "gap-fillers" we may need now may further prolong the development of juniors to get them "NRL-ready". I dont envy him - it's been a conundrum for many coaches this year and last year.

I think you've hit the nail on the head about the storm. Say the same for Penrith and the roosters too. They seem to have "NRL-Ready" juniors on tap. Their systems appear far superior than every other club in the comp in this regard.
 
Dragon David

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,484
Trifili13 said:
While picking up players like Beale may block the path of our juniors, I can see the logic in that 1, they may not be ready for first grade and secondly, they have played bugger all football in the past 2 years to actually develop into first grade players. Some might argue give them a go and let's see. Given the previous coaching regime and how they have coached our juniors to come through, I would rather throw in a 17 year old from the Storm system than a 20 or 21 year old from ours.
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So many juniors in all clubs have had limited game time in the past 2 years that we really haven't seen the talents elsewhere as well. Some might just be the answers for our club on top of the ones we have and some could have potential to be big, strong forwards which we need.

Sorry going away quite a bit from this thread.

"Is Mbye comin?" said Rastus to Lulabelle. "No" she said, "it's dat big forward from da UK".
 
Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
Messages
8,480
Ghostrider22 said:
Oh the other side was the money aspect that SL aligned players being paid by Murdoch. Then you had Mr Packer and Optus on the other side.
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Donnelly went on to play a grand total of 6 games for the Mighty Adelaide Rams in 1997... and let go.

Players such as Kurt Wrigley, Joe Tamani, Wayne Simonds, Danny Grimley played ahead of him on the wing, and more games for the club.

Donnelly never played first grade again.
 
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