What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

2020 season

The yak

Juniors
Messages
699
If Cam Smith doesn't re-sign and the Vunivalu to Rugby rumours are true on the back of Chambers leaving means Storm may not be so good.

I have been hearing about the Storms demise for a few years now.

'They won't be any good once Cronk departs'.
'They won't be any good now that Slater has retired'.
Each time they proof the critics wrong.
Write them off at your peril.
 

The yak

Juniors
Messages
699
I will be interested to see how the Raiders go next year.
They played an attacking brand of football in 2016 that almost took them to a GF. The wheels fell off the next 2 years finishing 10th both years.
Out went the fatties and some smart recruitment in a more mobile pack turned things around this year. Andrew Mcfadden was a handy pick up as assistant coach, responsible for defence.

Next year they have a new halfback, untested in the NRL, Rapana gone. A lot more teams will be ready for them.
 

age.s

First Grade
Messages
7,033
Yeah, Cam is still around so the Storm will still be good. I'm one of those who's been burned one to many times expecting them to drop off.

Souths are interesting though. Two of the Burgii going would be a massive blow, especially Sam obviously. Then again, Walker will be playing for a contract so you'd expect him to have a massive year.
 

Fangs

Coach
Messages
11,452
We've seen Hook's alarming record against top 4 teams. Whats Ivan's?

I assume its better as I can recall his teams upsetting the competition's best a few times. Especially the Storm.
 

MugaB

Coach
Messages
12,144
We've seen Hook's alarming record against top 4 teams. Whats Ivan's?

I assume its better as I can recall his teams upsetting the competition's best a few times. Especially the Storm.
Twice vs storm last year at the tigers,
And Roosters twice aswell if i remember correctly, to me 2019 was Ivans 1st year, billy moore said it best,
Ivans 1st years are teething, they incline dramatically 2nd season.
Tigers were a basket case of a team, b4 ivan "their saviour" came in and got them into any contention. He was able to fix there go forward, and get robbie and benji back, and some key signings after that, then the club added Reynolds, Mbye, etc on overs
We'll be sweet next year, but we gotta just not death ride him now before the season starts, we already have JFH injured, and are playing the top 3 team of this year first up

I have a screenshot of comments from tigers fan who loved what Ivan was doing at their club on the youtube channel from an interview on NRL360 last year mid season
Its pretty funny
 

Fangs

Coach
Messages
11,452
Twice vs storm last year at the tigers,
And Roosters twice aswell if i remember correctly, to me 2019 was Ivans 1st year, billy moore said it best,
Ivans 1st years are teething, they incline dramatically 2nd season.
Tigers were a basket case of a team, b4 ivan "their saviour" came in and got them into any contention. He was able to fix there go forward, and get robbie and benji back, and some key signings after that, then the club added Reynolds, Mbye, etc on overs
We'll be sweet next year, but we gotta just not death ride him now before the season starts, we already have JFH injured, and are playing the top 3 team of this year first up

Glad you're confident. I'll always wait for results but after 2019 you can't blame anyone for being pessimistic. We were utterly shithouse and Ivan appeared clueless too often. The year isn't over either, we still haven't announced our new signings yet...
 

betcats

Referee
Messages
23,492
Twice vs storm last year at the tigers,
And Roosters twice aswell if i remember correctly, to me 2019 was Ivans 1st year, billy moore said it best,
Ivans 1st years are teething, they incline dramatically 2nd season.
Tigers were a basket case of a team, b4 ivan "their saviour" came in and got them into any contention. He was able to fix there go forward, and get robbie and benji back, and some key signings after that, then the club added Reynolds, Mbye, etc on overs
We'll be sweet next year, but we gotta just not death ride him now before the season starts, we already have JFH injured, and are playing the top 3 team of this year first up

I have a screenshot of comments from tigers fan who loved what Ivan was doing at their club on the youtube channel from an interview on NRL360 last year mid season
Its pretty funny

He probably beat more top four sides with the tigers in 2018 then hook did in three years with a much better Penrith squad.

People like to act like Cleary has ruined the tigers but he inherited the squad after two terrible coaches and they had or were just about to lose Tedesco and Moses. Sure he made some questionable decisions in regards to contracts(assuming it was all him) but that club had been a basket case for years prior to his arrival, he one hundred percent got them going in the right direction and they won more games under Ivan last year then they did with Macguire this year, so I really don't think he was doing a bad job with wests(until he bailed on them).
 

MugaB

Coach
Messages
12,144
He probably beat more top four sides with the tigers in 2018 then hook did in three years with a much better Penrith squad.

People like to act like Cleary has ruined the tigers but he inherited the squad after two terrible coaches and they had or were just about to lose Tedesco and Moses. Sure he made some questionable decisions in regards to contracts(assuming it was all him) but that club had been a basket case for years prior to his arrival, he one hundred percent got them going in the right direction and they won more games under Ivan last year then they did with Macguire this year, so I really don't think he was doing a bad job with wests(until he bailed on them).
Here you go tigers fans bewareScreenshot_20191031-100419_Play Tube.jpg
Fast forward 3 months later they all wanted him dead, for jumping off the tiggerty tiger bus
 

Crashtest

Juniors
Messages
1,146
Glad you're confident. I'll always wait for results but after 2019 you can't blame anyone for being pessimistic. We were utterly shithouse and Ivan appeared clueless too often. The year isn't over either, we still haven't announced our new signings yet...

Ivan should take a lot the blame for 2019 as the head coach, but I still feel there were a number of other factors as well that lead to the poor season.

You mentioned he appeared clueless, but he has since made some tough but needed roster decisions, strengthened his assistant coaching ranks, recruited a hooker as first priority to fix our biggest roster issue from 2019, and hasn't rushed out and signed any overpaid contracts to recruit new players which shows he has probably learnt from his recruitment decisions at the Tigers.

So I feel there are already positives to suggest an improved season for 2020.
 

Pomoz

Bench
Messages
2,864
Ivan Cleary has coached for 13 seasons for an average win % of 47%. At the Panthers in his first stint he averaged 45%.

Hook has coached for 7 years with a win% of 55%, including 58% whilst at the Panthers. Since Hook has only about half the experience of Cleary, you might expect that Cleary is better in some aspects of coaching than Hook, maybe beating top 5 teams is it. However, there could be many factors in that including when they were played, what players were missing and so on.Regardless, I'll take Hook's 58% with us, thanks very much.

In a team that finished 11th in 2015, his last season, Cleary had Soward, Wallace, Segyaro, Korasaiu, Moylan, Cartwright and Peachey to call on. In 2016 Hook took the same team, lost Korasaiu, added young Nathan Cleary because Soward's back was rooted and got them into the semi final.

"Injuries" I hear you say in defence of Cleary. Yes, that is true, a fitness regime so soft that Katoa looked like he had eaten Trent Merrin when he left us, will make players more prone to injury.

You know what, you can go on and on about who is better and quote stats, but when you get down to it, there is one thing Cleary has done that marks him out as a very, very poor leader and coach. He wants to coach his son and has absolutely no regard for the impact that has on his own son's development and the rest of the team. He is so egotistical and selfish he thinks he can do it without it affecting the team. He should never have been allowed to come back and place the team in this nepotistic situation. What happens when Cleary's form dips or a better player than him emerges in the juniors? Wrong. Just wrong.
 

betcats

Referee
Messages
23,492
Ivan Cleary has coached for 13 seasons for an average win % of 47%. At the Panthers in his first stint he averaged 45%.

Hook has coached for 7 years with a win% of 55%, including 58% whilst at the Panthers. Since Hook has only about half the experience of Cleary, you might expect that Cleary is better in some aspects of coaching than Hook, maybe beating top 5 teams is it. However, there could be many factors in that including when they were played, what players were missing and so on.Regardless, I'll take Hook's 58% with us, thanks very much.

In a team that finished 11th in 2015, his last season, Cleary had Soward, Wallace, Segyaro, Korasaiu, Moylan, Cartwright and Peachey to call on. In 2016 Hook took the same team, lost Korasaiu, added young Nathan Cleary because Soward's back was rooted and got them into the semi final.

"Injuries" I hear you say in defence of Cleary. Yes, that is true, a fitness regime so soft that Katoa looked like he had eaten Trent Merrin when he left us, will make players more prone to injury.

You know what, you can go on and on about who is better and quote stats, but when you get down to it, there is one thing Cleary has done that marks him out as a very, very poor leader and coach. He wants to coach his son and has absolutely no regard for the impact that has on his own son's development and the rest of the team. He is so egotistical and selfish he thinks he can do it without it affecting the team. He should never have been allowed to come back and place the team in this nepotistic situation. What happens when Cleary's form dips or a better player than him emerges in the juniors? Wrong. Just wrong.



Provide some context for the winning percentage, it means nothing mate, hook wasn't ever rebuilding a club like Penrith, he never coached a well known coach killing team like the warriors. Look up how many good teams Penrith beat in three years under hook, I will wait, we were flat track bullies and we weren't improving.

You wanna talk about 2015 v 2016 but you left our best season since the Elliot days(2014). Who did Ivan have to work with that year? When was the last time hook took a team that deep into the finals? Again, I will wait.
 
Last edited:

Pomoz

Bench
Messages
2,864
Provide some context for the winning percentage, it means nothing mate. Look up how many good team Penrith beat in three years under hook, I will wait.

You wanna talk about 2015 v 2016 but you left our best season since the Elliot days(2014). Who did Ivan have to work with that year? When was the last time hook took a team that deep into the finals? Again, I will wait.
Context? You don't need it. 13 years, 45% is all you need to know. A stint that long averages out anomalies and context. Unless of course, you are suggesting there are mitigating circumstance to explain away every year?

I'm glad your happy with him and our 42% win rate this year. If we're lucky, he might even get us above his 13 year average next year and give you something to cheer about.
 

betcats

Referee
Messages
23,492
Context? You don't need it. 13 years, 45% is all you need to know. A stint that long averages out anomalies and context. Unless of course, you are suggesting there are mitigating circumstance to explain away every year?

I'm glad your happy with him and our 42% win rate this year. If we're lucky, he might even get us above his 13 year average next year and give you something to cheer about.

Bullshit, you are comparing two completely different coaching careers, dofferent time frames, different teams, different just about everything except Penrith, looking at a percentage without context is completely useless. Its worth noting that you are happy to point out potential mitigating circumstances when discussing hooks inability to beat good sides lol. When was hooks last deep finals run? You didn't answer.

You are just rambling on, I never said I was happy with this year. I just think Ivan is a much better coach then you are making out.
 

ACTPanthers

Bench
Messages
4,706
This whole "Cleary just wanted to coach his son and he doesn't care if he tears our club apart to do so" is SOOOOOO f**king boring...

Hot tip guys, you're speculating. You have absolutely NO IDEA what Ivans motives are. You don't like him as a coach, and that's fine, but can you please stop saying he is purposely hurting this team just to coach his son... It sounds f**king stupid and, for the most part, is making me lose respect for the (normally) good posters on this forum.

Unless you have a sound bite, or a quoted article where he says he will do anything, including tearing an NRL club apart, to coach Nathan, then please stop.

(FWIW, after this season, I don't really rate IC either. But, I am willing to give him a chance at least)
 
Top