I don't favour Shaun Wane as Head Coach. I think he does not have the personality or charisma that will engage with millennials and get the best out of them and while I suspect he will be better than Hook I don't think he will provide a foundation that we will build a future strong team out of.
I would however think someone similar to him being a bit old school and strong and determined character would be a good appointment as head of football department to focus on discipline, structure and training facilities. Tony Smith could be a good option if he wants to come back to Australia but I doubt he would be interested as he has only just recently joined Hull.
With a younger coach he can provide mentorship and a sounding board. A key part of his recruitment needs to be a clear understanding which is stated publicly that he will never be head coach so he has no incentive to undermine coach. Ideally this person transitions from head of football to becoming a board member and brings hands understanding of operations to the board.
Nathan Brown should be brought back as head of player recruitment and retention. He has the right personality to engage with millennials and has a decent football mind that would beneficial to the club. Again it needs to be made clear he will never be head coach and he lives or dies on the success of the football team and its head coach so he has no incentive to do anything but support coach. He should be the logical successor to the head of football position and ultimately a board member.
Laurie Daley should be recruited as a part time halves coach and culture consultant to imbue leadership and grit in our halves and the team at training.
Ricky Stuart would be my choice as head coach but he has said he won't coach again after Raiders so he is out.
Des Hasler should be appointed on a 3.5 year deal at $1.5m to $2m plus per season with no extensions, a payout clause of $0.5m max and he should be appointed by Round 12 this year. His role needs to be bring structure and discipline and in conjunction with Nathan Brown attract two star players and decide which of our young players are worth keeping. He should put in place structures and processing and focus on culture. The Head of Football who is focusing on facilities needs to work in partnership with Hasler to provide the facilities and support staff that are the best in football so that players want to come because they know they are surrounded by the best. Des also needs to mentor the his new assistant coach who will take over as head coach in 3.5 years. Des is a mercenary, if we pay him craploads of money he will focus on doing a good job and with $4.5m to $6m at risk and a payout of only $0.5m he won't want to underperform and he will deliver.
Assistant coach should be Jason Ryles who should be signed to a long term deal so he recognises that while he is starting out as assistant coach he has a long term role at the club and that we are grooming him for a big role. This will require some careful negotiation and man management. Ryles probably wants to be a head coach and could well be ready, but I doubt he is ready for the steaming pile of crap that waits him at the Dragons and I would hate to ruin a coach with so much long term potential by having him cut his teeth on the dross we have. After the team has been stablised and the foundations established under Hasler then its time for Ryles to step up and show what he can do.
By this stage we should have the new training facilities at University of Wollongong and our head of football should have established us with elite facilities closer to an NFL team then to what we currently have, recruitment is sorted and we have either bought a new half (Hunt will be retiring by then) or hopefully developed them and we have a culture that demands excellence.
If Ryles chooses the Storm then it should be Dean Young.
Flanagan is a cheat and drug peddler. I do not want young players wearing the Red V looking to him for guidance or leadership, winning at all costs is the wrong mentality and is what separates a Dragon's supporter from a Storm, Broncos or Sharks supporter and is not something we should ever compromise on. Winning is temporary and class is forever.
Finally the most important thing that needs to change if the off field structure. Either the Gordons put their money where their mouth is and start investing some of their considerable wealth in the football club in terms of facilities and staff and getting us third party options so we can rival the Roosters or they sell their half to the St George Leagues Club (who have the cash to buy it and wanted to buy it off Illawarra but Illawarra would not sell to them). Either option will give us money and if the Gordon's get on baord or sell out it will solve the fractured nature of our board.
John Howard needs to be appointed Chairmen. Love him or hate him the man loves the Dragons and his connections and name would start to get us third party sponsorship to help with recruitment and he values the band and would work hard to protect and grow the Dragons. Presuming his health allows it Roy Masters should be appointed to the board. He may be old fashioned but he understands rugby league, he understands what creates good culture and he loves the Red and White. His position would be succeeded by the head of football in a few years. Mark Taylor needs to be appointed to the board, he has good commercial and white collar connections and along with John Howard would help solidify commercial matters and make the Red V a strong and viable brand for companies to be associated with. Plus Taylor and Howard need to use their connections to get access to government funding to properly redevelop Kogarah. Frankly it is embarrassing how bad Kogarah is and its time to use the famous Red V jersey to get politicians and captains if Industry to kick in some serious money to improve the ground and make it something we can all be proud of.
