End of season 2019 -
Robinson goes back to back for the first time in yonks
Sticky and Des both had glorious throwbacks to their early brilliance
Bennett and Bellamy up there as expected but fail to get over the final hurdles.
And the rest with serious work to do in 2020.
Plus we have 2 new players entering the game...
How do the coaches stack up going into 2020?
1 Trent Robinson - Delivered. Back to back. Critics might make excuses and try to tarnish the achievement, but Robinson is right now the best coach in the game. A privileged position with the roster, obviously. But played the hand expertly. Rested key players at key times to be fit and firing in September, revamped attack and defence with a ruthless streak not seen in 2018, and continues to bring young players through to be major contributors. Cronk's retirement brings a fresh challenge.
2 Craig Bellamy - Another minor premiership and in the thick of it until the end. Was dropping Croft late in the season admitting an error in how he replaced Cronk? A very late call to make which may have cost the season. Interesting to see how he plays the halfback position next year. The major puzzle in Melbourne right now.
3 Ricky Stuart - Huge return to form with some massive payoffs. The Wighton move and English recruitment two surprise masterstrokes which will have other coaches going back to the drawing board. Big improvements to Raiders defence. Next year needs to get their attack clicking more consistently. Secret weapon, George Williams. Another masterstroke or another flop Pommy back?
4 Wayne Bennett - A flicker in the aura? Probably should have gone further with the roster, but also got further than they deserved based on their play. A strange, inconsistent season. Souths and Broncos switched coaches and both seemed worse for it. 9 years since last premiership for Wayne but the sheer number of them keeps him high in the rankings. But how much is left in the tank?
5 Des Hasler - ranks 3,4,5 are the hardest on this ladder. Bennett has more historical success but its getting further away, Des and Sticky both had big return to form seasons. Tight as.
Hasler performed beyond any expectations with the roster Barrett left him, and only luck prevented Manly finishing even higher. Keep an eye out for any offseason pickups - Des could be 1 or 2 astute signings away from another premiership.
6 Michael Maguire - Close to a finals appearance with an inherited roster that probably wasn't predicted to go that far. At times showed the toughness he's known for, other times folded like a pack of cards. In the end, another Tigers 9th. A make or break season in his career coming up. Needs to handle the Matterson drama and get 30 players buying in to his ethos. Still should be considered a good coach and should be in the frame for finals next year.
7 Brad Arthur - Eels ended their season in typical Eels fashion but there's no doubting 2019 was a big improvement. Made a number of necessary changes and is in good stead to compete for a premiership with a good off-season. We've been down this road before but maybe this is the right direction. A star signing or two certainly wouldn't hurt, but needs to choose wisely.
8 Paul Green - A difficult one. If it wasn't for a premiership win to his name, would be lower, much lower. But having that run on the board counts for something. Cowboys have been sinking for 3 years and Green doesn't seem to know how to turn it around. So far Esan Marsters the biggest gain for 2020. Will need to find more, or completely refresh his style. I don't see it happening though.
9 John Morris - A surprisingly decent year in the end. Rollercoaster ride, but Sharks found themselves on the right half of the ladder. A decent quality roster in his hands, and with a more experienced coach I think they finish higher, but JM hasn't harmed his credentials in year 1. Biggest challenge is getting all the egos at Cronulla to pull in the same direction without leaders like Lewis and Gallen, while not having a real home ground as an added challenge.
10 Anthony Seibold - Scraped into the 8 but I don't think anyone except Sebs and Darius would consider it a successful year. A lot of issues, some bizarre excuses and statements at times. Broncos seemed to fluke their way to more than a few wins. Maybe a full, disruption free offseason will help. Major, club defining decisions to be made regarding a number of players, especially Darius Boyd.
11 Dean Pay - A promising end to the year with the Dogs playing with a grit and determination not seen in a while. The only bottom 8 coach to actually improve his side in the last 12 months, and for this he deserves credit. Will not be easy beats next year.
12 Ivan Cleary - The drama of the offseason might have attached a lot more importance to this bloke than his results do. Cleary coached teams seem to really struggle with any penetration in attack, 2019 continued this trend despite some very high quality players in the roster. Penrith should have been competing at the top end of the comp. All the father-son puff pieces in the world can't cover up the fact that Ivan Cleary is not delivering good enough results right now. Bonus points for leaving Wests with a whole bunch of highly paid, dead weight players.
13 Stephen Kearney - Rubbish season and largely self-inflicted. Recruitment and retention a major issue. A boring and ineffective style of play that is years behind the best in the comp and in previous years was rescued by occasional bursts of SJ brilliance, now no more. A new ownership will be watching closely in 2020. Needs early wins desperately.
14 Paul McGregor - Total bust. The worst employed coach in the comp. Repeats mistakes and excuses. Not getting close to the best work out of a pretty decent roster. Players gone backwards since debuts and rep selections. I'm not sure the JDB issue is an excuse, in fact how he handled it probably contributed to the poor season. I'd say his job would be under threat... but it won't. Dragons things.
15 Nathan Brown - Faced the test and failed. He built himself a roster more than capable of making the finals but couldn't convert. In the end, lost the dressing room. Might find another desperation role as a rebuild coach but it will probably have to wait until the memories of this year fade a bit.
16 Garth Brennan - Not dealt a winning hand, obviously. Titans is a tough role. But never showed any real glimpse of having what it takes to dig them out of the ditch. No forward progress in 2 seasons.
-- Adam O'Brien - No real results on the board. Has never been a professional head coach. Years under Bellamy, then worked under Robinson. You couldn't ask for a better education. Apparently a disciplinarian in the Bellamy mould, will he be able to get the seemingly flakey Knights roster all digging in the right direction?
-- Justin Holbrook - In contrast to O'Brien, has spent the last 2 years honing his craft at St Helens with 2 minor premierships and ending with a convincing premiership. Has his team playing ruthless, dynamic football. Might be able to harness SL connections to bring over some top English talent on value contracts, ala Sticky.
But has the hardest job in the game - getting the hapless Titans of the bottom. Big risk, big reward job.
