I think the days of players becoming coaches at their old clubs will slowly come to an end and I am reasonably surprised that Fittler has been appointed by the Roosters for the next two years. Lam has at least been away from the club and taken on a few different coaching roles at other clubs.
As a caretaker I can see some sense in it yes, as most caretaker coaches have a great turn around after they are first appointed as the pressure is off with little to no expectation. As an ex-player he can rebuild some of the lost morale, and this is where I also think JT was very good last year but was much happier to see a new coach appointed.
He will have some hard decisions over the next few years with players with who he has played with at some point and as much as they like to think they can step apart from the role of mate it will play some part. It will also be interesting to see whether Fittler, who is a club legend can handle the pressure that will be associated with being a coach.
Meninga, Lamb, Simmons, Cronin, Hilditch, Langmack, Peard, Pearce, Lewis....... the list goes on and on. Great players who never reached similar heights as coaches.