Coaching preference for 2024

[blacksafake]

I disagree on this one mate, Madge has plenty left to offer. He still has the passion and fire to coach full time. He got shafted by Tim Sheens after the Leichhardt circus couldn’t handle his tough ways.

The players screwed him for being too tough and they sulked and took the soft option. That’s exactly what our club needs and he would be able to sort out who wants to bleed for the red V and those that are just there for the gravy train.

Plenty of people put the boot in to Madge but they have gone way backwards since he left so clearly Madge wasn’t the problem in Tiger Town. Soft management and even softer players were and still are the problem

Agree re the tigers however I think the game has passed him with the old fashioned mentality of train hard, play safety first physical footy. Sound familiar?
His premiership was off the back of some fabulous players & once he started losing them the results followed.
Speaking to people I know who have contacts in the Tiger camp he is supposedly very single minded & can be adverse to change & if that’s true we’re getting rid of one such coach.

 

[Lethal25]

As a club we need a coach who can attract players, signings in recent times have been way below par. We can't begin another season with the signing highlights being a couple of Tigers cast offs like this year.

I don't know what relationships Young, Hornby, Ryles have with players. But if any one of them can bring a Nelson Asofa Solomona quality player then sign them up. If not then I'd rather have someone like Hasler who has the runs on the board.

Ultimately I don't feel the club itself as it stands has a set up where players want to come. We need a coach who can make that happen

 

[Carlton]

I would be pretty optimistic with Nathan Brown as Football Manager and Rohan Smith as Head Coach.

With this we would have a good eye for recruitment and experience as a Head coach in Brown.

In Rowan Smith we have a coach who has been through some good systems and been a Head Coach already. He's young, with runs on the board in Super League and less of a risk than a genuine rookie.

We also, have some insight into the UK players and maybe some contacts that can be leveraged.

 

[Dragon David]

I would be pretty optimistic with Nathan Brown as Football Manager and Rohan Smith as Head Coach.

With this we would have a good eye for recruitment and experience as a Head coach in Brown.

In Rowan Smith we have a coach who has been through some good systems and been a Head Coach already. He's young, with runs on the board in Super League and less of a risk than a genuine rookie.

We also, have some insight into the UK players and maybe some contacts that can be leveraged.

That really is a left field choice of Rohan Smith as your Head Coach for the Dragons, Carlton. He certainly has had a wealth of differing club experiences both here and overseas and does come from a good pedigree of father and uncle.

I personally don't think that he cuts it for the Head Coaching position for our club at this time, maybe as an assistant to a more experienced coach just like Kristian Woolf is for Bennett and then transition to being the head coach after a couple of years as understudy.

 

[SEAT 1A]

I would be pretty optimistic with Nathan Brown as Football Manager and Rohan Smith as Head Coach.

With this we would have a good eye for recruitment and experience as a Head coach in Brown.

In Rowan Smith we have a coach who has been through some good systems and been a Head Coach already. He's young, with runs on the board in Super League and less of a risk than a genuine rookie.

We also, have some insight into the UK players and maybe some contacts that can be leveraged.

I'd love to see what he could do with the younger players and let them off the leash.

 

[thebigredv]

Listening to the radio right now, anyone hearing?

Flanagan asked some Qs about Dragons.

- says he doesn't know jack about what Dragons are doing/ hasn't been asked
- said he would coach the Dragons "without a doubt" if asked
- doesn't think we will re-sign Hook (not rocket science)
- thinks the Dragons could be the number 1 club again one day in terms of culture and performance

Words are not worth much but I like the image of being a great club again.

 

[Phantom V]

As a club we need a coach who can attract players, signings in recent times have been way below par. We can't begin another season with the signing highlights being a couple of Tigers cast offs like this year.

I don't know what relationships Young, Hornby, Ryles have with players. But if any one of them can bring a Nelson Asofa Solomona quality player then sign them up. If not then I'd rather have someone like Hasler who has the runs on the board.

Ultimately I don't feel the club itself as it stands has a set up where players want to come. We need a coach who can make that happen

Couldn’t agree more Lethal. Bring the right coach in and the good players will follow.

 

[Carlton]

That really is a left field choice of Rohan Smith as your Head Coach for the Dragons, Carlton. He certainly has had a wealth of differing club experiences both here and overseas and does come from a good pedigree of father and uncle.

I personally don't think that he cuts it for the Head Coaching position for our club at this time, maybe as an assistant to a more experienced coach just like Kristian Woolf is for Bennett and then transition to being the head coach after a couple of years as understudy.

He has been a video analyst at Warriors, assistant at London Broncos, been involved with Roosters and Newcastle, been a lower level coach with Penrith and assistant coach with Titans, coached Tonga, coached North Devils to a premiership in the QRL, Head coach Bradford Bulls and Head coach Leeds taking them to a grand final.

I think that Kristian Woolf is ready to be an NRL Head Coach now and the transition is more to do with the NRL wanting Bennett to be the inaugural Dolphins coach because of his profile and less to do with Kristian Woolf's development.

I think both of these guys are miles ahead of Young, Hornby and Ryles as far as coaching experience as both have already been successful Head coaches in Superleague and QRL.

 

[Saints Forever]

I think the real problem is we don’t have the cattle

Only a tier one coach could lift our roster into the top 6

It is a catch 22 situation

To get the cattle we need a tier 1 coach

 

[FlameThrower]

Guys due respect to Ryles, Hornby and Young , but this is not a 1st year rookie coach role. This is not a walk in job, with systems, pathways, roster all nice and tidy. With a functional and focused Board. IMO I this is a 3 year plan, just to get us back as a top 8 side. Unfortunately the coaches available with experience all bring baggage and issues ( all have been sacked) so we are really stuffed. I don’t know who the Club will sign, but it won’t be an easy job. If this drags out till season end, then the task is made even harder as any available players of worth would be snapped up by then.

 

[dungay dragon]

He has been a video analyst at Warriors, assistant at London Broncos, been involved with Roosters and Newcastle, been a lower level coach with Penrith and assistant coach with Titans, coached Tonga, coached North Devils to a premiership in the QRL, Head coach Bradford Bulls and Head coach Leeds taking them to a grand final.

I think that Kristian Woolf is ready to be an NRL Head Coach now and the transition is more to do with the NRL wanting Bennett to be the inaugural Dolphins coach because of his profile and less to do with Kristian Woolf's development.

I think both of these guys are miles ahead of Young, Hornby and Ryles as far as coaching experience as both have already been successful Head coaches in Superleague and QRL.

well said

 

[justadragon]

Word is out that Holbrook is walking on very thin ice, we better make some plans that are set in stone very soon or we will get shafted again by being so incompetent. Over to you Board.

 

[Unsainty79]

But didn’t they say the other day that Young isn’t interested?

Yeah, it was reported he'd signed a new contract with Cowboys.

 

[Dragon David]

He has been a video analyst at Warriors, assistant at London Broncos, been involved with Roosters and Newcastle, been a lower level coach with Penrith and assistant coach with Titans, coached Tonga, coached North Devils to a premiership in the QRL, Head coach Bradford Bulls and Head coach Leeds taking them to a grand final.

I think that Kristian Woolf is ready to be an NRL Head Coach now and the transition is more to do with the NRL wanting Bennett to be the inaugural Dolphins coach because of his profile and less to do with Kristian Woolf's development.

I think both of these guys are miles ahead of Young, Hornby and Ryles as far as coaching experience as both have already been successful Head coaches in Superleague and QRL.

Good points Carlton. Yes, he and Woolf do have more coaching experience than Young, Hornby and Ryles and maybe Rohan could be the one. He has had a more diversified cross section of coaching experience at several clubs, moreso than those 3 plus more than Ciraldo, Webster and even Fitzgibbon I think. So, he should be one to be interviewed and put into the real possibility box. I like it that he is the son of Brian Smith and nephew of Tony Smith.

 

[Carlton]

Good points Carlton. Yes, he and Woolf do have more coaching experience than Young, Hornby and Ryles and maybe Rohan could be the one. He has had a more diversified cross section of coaching experience at several clubs, moreso than those 3 plus more than Ciraldo, Webster and even Fitzgibbon I think. So, he should be one to be interviewed and put into the real possibility box. I like it that he is the son of Brian Smith and nephew of Tony Smith

 

[Dragon David]

Word is out that Holbrook is walking on very thin ice, we better make some plans that are set in stone very soon or we will get shafted again by being so incompetent. Over to you Board.

The way our Board members operate, and that is that they appear to be slow in making decisions and procrastinate and disagree on getting the right people to greatly improve our results, it will be the end of the year before they know it and by then Holbrook's replacement has been decided and Hook's contract extended because whoever they have been deliberating about for months will have either gone elsewhere or not bothered due to the Board dilly dallying on the matter. The Board will then say that there were no other coaches that matched Hook's qualifications and they have decided to extend his contract for another 3 years, end of story. Wow, I've just woken up from a nightmare!!

 

[Dragon David]

I keep on saying that if a new coach is to be appointed, then that coach has to be the best as we cannot afford to try with any second best who might just not be ready and we continue for several more years in the wilderness. To me the experienced ones on the market need to be thoroughly vetted. It's a hard one and that is most probably why the Board will take longer to decide and that will keep us guessing which will continue our frustrations.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Letting go of Hook now may come down to simply economics and starting a new coach on a reduced $$.

Who would that be?

Do we just go with keeping Hook for the rest ofvtgrxseason knowing what we know already

Do we just get Cart or Wolfe to take the reigns?

Des probably would seeing he's out of a job atm.
Flanno is committed in both needing a release and current commentary commitments.
Hornby is a possibility after hecwould have to request a release from Souths.
Cheika would as he is already financially well-off.
Rohan Smith is another name being bandied about. But don't know much about his current commitments.

As far as I'm aware every club has an 'admin cap' which includes the HC. If we let Hook go and pay him out now the new coach has to accept some very small stipend for the remainder of the season.

It's not an easy decision although very necessary. Particularly that we need to get it right. Very right this time.

 

[st.phil]

Yeah, it was reported he'd signed a new contract with Cowboys.

thats like saying "I didn't wanna go anyways" after not being invited. Mark my words he'd jump at the chance

 

[Carlton]

I dont think hes a no brainer but I do think he looks really interesting especially when compared to the other names being thrown around. Des and Flannagan both are a lottery, there is upside with their experience but they both have histories that I worry may harm the club.

The reason i would like to see Brown as Head of football is he has been a Head Coach and could support Smith.