GongPanther
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Two head coaches have been forced to take immediate leave and two more could follow suit in the coming days as worried clubs look to quickly cut costs with the NRL competition suspended indefinitely.
Less than 24 hours after players realised they would be without the sport they love for at least a couple of months, Penrith's Ivan Cleary and Canterbury's Dean Pay were told to start their annual leave.
NRL coaching staff asked to take leave immediately.
And it's understood two more coaches at Sydney clubs will start an enforced holiday from Monday.
Plenty of administration and support staff have already taken leave against their will, but few expected head coaches to be in the firing line.
The chief clipboard-holders have the all-important job of making sure players remain physically and mentally motivated during the coronavirus-enforced isolation period.
They also need to manage individual training programs for players who cannot train in large groups nor use club facilities because of isolation protocols.
Panthers Group chief Brian Fletcher, whose five leagues clubs were forced to close their doors on Monday - and are potentially facing a $30million-plus loss to their bottom line - confirmed Cleary would be on leave for a month.
"Rather than take leave at the end of October, he'll take it now while there's nothing on. It makes sense with all the players away,'' Fletcher said.
Bulldogs boss Andrew Hill and his Leagues Club counterpart Greg Pickering were forced to lay off 400 staff across both departments earlier in the week. Hill found it tough to tell Pay and his team the bad news on Tuesday.
It's understood once Pay's holidays are exhausted, he will be forced to take leave without pay.
"There's no doubt the pain has been felt by everyone across our community, our game and our licensed club in the past 48 hours,'' Hill said.
"I've had to tell Dean and his staff today they are no different to the administration staff and they have to take leave while there is no competition.
"It's a difficult time for everyone involved, but every decision we're making is to ensure that when the competition is back up and running, we can bounce back and be as resilient as we can. We'll make the tough decisions now to protect the club in the future.''
It is no coincidence Cleary and Pay coach clubs that are heavily backed by leagues clubs no longer operating because of federal government restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coaches have never been known to take long holidays, and often use part of them for fact-finding missions.
Several other coaches contacted by The Sydney Morning Herald, including South Sydney's Wayne Bennett, said they were unaware of any moves to force them to take leave.
The two club chiefs whose coaches are set to be given a spell could not be reached for comment.
The widespread belief among the coaching fraternity is players will need a full month of training before the competition re-starts, especially with a full pre-season already under their belts.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/it...ead-coaches-put-on-leave-20200324-p54dhm.html
Less than 24 hours after players realised they would be without the sport they love for at least a couple of months, Penrith's Ivan Cleary and Canterbury's Dean Pay were told to start their annual leave.
NRL coaching staff asked to take leave immediately.
And it's understood two more coaches at Sydney clubs will start an enforced holiday from Monday.
Plenty of administration and support staff have already taken leave against their will, but few expected head coaches to be in the firing line.
The chief clipboard-holders have the all-important job of making sure players remain physically and mentally motivated during the coronavirus-enforced isolation period.
They also need to manage individual training programs for players who cannot train in large groups nor use club facilities because of isolation protocols.
Panthers Group chief Brian Fletcher, whose five leagues clubs were forced to close their doors on Monday - and are potentially facing a $30million-plus loss to their bottom line - confirmed Cleary would be on leave for a month.
"Rather than take leave at the end of October, he'll take it now while there's nothing on. It makes sense with all the players away,'' Fletcher said.
Bulldogs boss Andrew Hill and his Leagues Club counterpart Greg Pickering were forced to lay off 400 staff across both departments earlier in the week. Hill found it tough to tell Pay and his team the bad news on Tuesday.
It's understood once Pay's holidays are exhausted, he will be forced to take leave without pay.
"There's no doubt the pain has been felt by everyone across our community, our game and our licensed club in the past 48 hours,'' Hill said.
"I've had to tell Dean and his staff today they are no different to the administration staff and they have to take leave while there is no competition.
"It's a difficult time for everyone involved, but every decision we're making is to ensure that when the competition is back up and running, we can bounce back and be as resilient as we can. We'll make the tough decisions now to protect the club in the future.''
It is no coincidence Cleary and Pay coach clubs that are heavily backed by leagues clubs no longer operating because of federal government restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coaches have never been known to take long holidays, and often use part of them for fact-finding missions.
Several other coaches contacted by The Sydney Morning Herald, including South Sydney's Wayne Bennett, said they were unaware of any moves to force them to take leave.
The two club chiefs whose coaches are set to be given a spell could not be reached for comment.
The widespread belief among the coaching fraternity is players will need a full month of training before the competition re-starts, especially with a full pre-season already under their belts.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/it...ead-coaches-put-on-leave-20200324-p54dhm.html
