Coaching preference for 2024

[I'm Hornby]

Stay positive! I was as excited about big Jase as anyone but for us TRUE fans who want to see local juniors get a run and have the true Dragons spirit that MAKE a club, well Ryles isnt that man, I think we dodged a HUGE bullet as one the boards objections was his request to have free reign bringing in his own players, as in import a whole team basically probably stack us full of roorters rejects at the EXPENSE of budding but passionate red n white juniors...Id rather have a team stacked with OUR kids and give them a go rather than cheer for basically a team 9/ 10ths stacked with imports, call me old fashioned but I BLEED RED N WHITE and want our kids to stack the team, I thank the board for staying true to this one crucial sticking point! The game and club are far bigger than one man, next....move on, well be right! GO DRAGONS!!!

That's all well and good mate but don't dress this up like our BOD are this principled group of wise men who believe our juniors should be front of stage. All they care about is protecting their privileged positions for as long as possible and blame the other side of the JV for the abject failure of the club. These guys would prefer the club fold then give up their positions, that's what we're faced with here.

The changes Ryles wanted would've brought a sense of professionalism to our club that has been lacking for a long long time.

Yes he may have gone to market to attract some good players who would play at the expense of our underwhelming juniors, so what? We are an NRL team and our objective should be to win, not to cover our eyes and ears and pretend the best rugby league players in the country all come from the same part of Sydney/Wollongong.

In case you haven't noticed, our grassroots system has been neglected for many years now and this will only be fixed by having someone with experience managing this (ie Brown) and then allowing time for the quality of our juniors to improve over time.

It's a great shame that Ryles had to fight for a month or more just to get our BOD to consider/agree to these things (a head of football and a head of pathways) when so many other clubs in the NRL all operate under this structure, what a damningly piss poor sign of the times.

 

[Parko1310]

That's all well and good mate but don't dress this up like our BOD are this principled group of wise men who believe our juniors should be front of stage. All they care about is protecting their privileged positions for as long as possible and blame the other side of the JV for the abject failure of the club. These guys would prefer the club fold then give up their positions, that's what we're faced with here.

The changes Ryles wanted would've brought a sense of professionalism to our club that has been lacking for a long long time.

Yes he may have gone to market to attract some good players who would play at the expense of our underwhelming juniors, so what? We are an NRL team and our objective should be to win, not to cover our eyes and ears and pretend the best rugby league players in the country all come from the same part of Sydney/Wollongong.

In case you haven't noticed, our grassroots system has been neglected for many years now and this will only be fixed by having someone with experience managing this (ie Brown) and then allowing time for the quality of our juniors to improve over time.

It's a great shame that Ryles had to fight for a month or more just to get our BOD to consider/agree to these things (a head of football and a head of pathways) when so many other clubs in the NRL all operate under this structure, what a damningly piss poor sign of the times.

Well said. Summed it up perfectly

 

[SAP58]

Can we please just sign Hasler...FFS...

Hasler is a bit of a mystery to me, hasnt been quoted (or his manager) & has disappeared off the potential list. Has he said he is not interested or have they not approached him or have we not been interested ????

 

[Coffs dragon]

Can we please just sign Hasler...FFS...

Only problem I can see is Hasler is managed by George Mimis, the same bloke handling the Rylesy F/up and Des will demand full control & top dollar $$
I can’t see our flogs surrendering any power and be told what to do.
Ben Hornby is also managed by George Mimis , so I reckon that might turn the club off in any dealing, based on being screwed over.
Stand by for Dean Young to make a run at the last turn!

 

[Captn]

Flanagan knows our issues, is stubborn enough to stand up to our board and doesn’t want to be judged by his past maistakes all big ticks for me
or
bomber morris did alright as stand in head coach.
BOTH are passionate about watching junior grades and being involved with the whole club, both “locals” enough to know the dragons fans.

 

[blacksafake]

Could the club be reluctant to sign an experienced coach knowing it’ll likely be the same result but because it’s an experience & quite possibly a premiership winning coach it’ll only throw more pressure on the board for the lack of success.
By signing rookie or Hook quality coaches it gives them an out by saying it’s all the coaches problem??
Just a thought

 

[twinkletoes]

The sticking point in getting the best available coach is handing control of the backroom over to the new man. Apparently Ryles met with Webb & Haran last Monday to finalise details (why would he be still interacting at that late stage if he was not keen) and was told management would not hand over full control over the football department (Haran's domain).
We now have this scenario...any experienced coach will want full control over a football departmnt, including staffing etc. Dragons management will agree to this now or in the future not, evidenced by the fact that their VERY preferred candidate (Ryles) was in the final stages of signing a contract but our management baulked at the final hurdle.
The only coaches who might be prepared to accept this sort of setup are rookie coaches desperate to get a HC role...I'm now hearing whispers that Dean Young will accept this scenario to a certain extent, as he has deep connections within the club and that management are now focusing their attention on him as their preferred coach as this will provide the pathway of least resistance and negotiation. If this is the case the club is absolutely doomed...and I will not be part of it..

 

[JubileeJeffro]

The drums are beating… Deano coming back to save us after his successful stint at the Cowboys..

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Buying back the farm policy, with due respect to Dean, I’d prefer a new broom.

 

[Mojo]

The sticking point in getting the best available coach is handing control of the backroom over to the new man. Apparently Ryles met with Webb & Haran last Monday to finalise details (why would he be still interacting at that late stage if he was not keen) and was told management would not hand over full control over the football department (Haran's domain).
We now have this scenario...any experienced coach will want full control over a football departmnt, including staffing etc. Dragons management will agree to this now or in the future not, evidenced by the fact that their VERY preferred candidate (Ryles) was in the final stages of signing a contract but our management baulked at the final hurdle.
The only coaches who might be prepared to accept this sort of setup are rookie coaches desperate to get a HC role...I'm now hearing whispers that Dean Young will accept this scenario to a certain extent, as he has deep connections within the club and that management are now focusing their attention on him as their preferred coach as this will provide the pathway of least resistance and negotiation. If this is the case the club is absolutely doomed...and I will not be part of it..

Is it true though that: "Apparently Ryles met with Webb & Haran last Monday to finalise details (why would he be still interacting at that late stage if he was not keen) and was told management would not hand over full control over the football department (Haran's domain)."?

I don't know and I doubt anyone who does know is going to give a clear and explicit answer to the question.

The only comments I've heard from Ryles is that "Andrew and Ryan have been great .. they gave me what i wanted." and "he couldn't resist the offer from the Storm".

I'm pretty sure he simply changed his mind at the last minute. Apparently, he shook hands on the offer two days prior to calling Webb to say he had changed his mind.

The way I see the current status is that we have a potentially very good interim coach. Ryles was going to be as much trial and error as anybody else. It's not the Board's, or the CEO's fault. They got gazumped and Ryles reneged.

 

[justadragon]

The drums are beating… Deano coming back to save us after his successful stint at the Cowboys..

I wouldnt call successful being smacked by the Tigers by 66 !!!

 

[Parko1310]

If it's Young there should be absolute anarchy. We've got to step in before this happens.

Out of left field, and I know it won't happen because it's too complex for the board to compute. BUT: Why do we need to get a coach now? They've dragged this on for so long now that we are completely f**ked for next year anyway. Gone. We will not make a dent next year. Give Carr a year as caretaker, and get Bennett back in 2025, with the view of Hannay/Morris/Whoever taking over two years after that. Yes, we'll be f**ked for 2024. But if we get Dean Young or Hornby, we'll be f**ked for 2024, 25, 26 and probably 27 at the very least. So I ask what the best possible option with the best possible chance of sustained success involves? It does not involve Young or Hornby. As long as the club are transparent and say look we just don't have the right fit to coach the Dragons in 2024 but we're still on the lookout for a coach, we're being patient, yes it'll be met with criticism. But if they pull off the above I'm sure we'll accept one more year of pain, we're used to it

 

[blacksafake]

Is it true though that: "Apparently Ryles met with Webb & Haran last Monday to finalise details (why would he be still interacting at that late stage if he was not keen) and was told management would not hand over full control over the football department (Haran's domain)."?

I don't know and I doubt anyone who does know is going to give a clear and explicit answer to the question.

The only comments I've heard from Ryles is that "Andrew and Ryan have been great .. they gave me what i wanted." and "he couldn't resist the offer from the Storm".

I'm pretty sure he simply changed his mind at the last minute. Apparently, he shook hands on the offer two days prior to calling Webb to say he had changed his mind.

The way I see the current status is that we have a potentially very good interim coach. Ryles was going to be as much trial and error as anybody else. It's not the Board's, or the CEO's fault. They got gazumped and Ryles reneged.

What you say @Mojo is a real possibility & of course we’ll never know the real answer.
Hopefully option 2 is not Young.

 

[twinkletoes]

Is it true though that: "Apparently Ryles met with Webb & Haran last Monday to finalise details (why would he be still interacting at that late stage if he was not keen) and was told management would not hand over full control over the football department (Haran's domain)."?

I don't know and I doubt anyone who does know is going to give a clear and explicit answer to the question.

The only comments I've heard from Ryles is that "Andrew and Ryan have been great .. they gave me what i wanted." and "he couldn't resist the offer from the Storm".

I'm pretty sure he simply changed his mind at the last minute. Apparently, he shook hands on the offer two days prior to calling Webb to say he had changed his mind.

The way I see the current status is that we have a potentially very good interim coach. Ryles was going to be as much trial and error as anybody else. It's not the Board's, or the CEO's fault. They got gazumped and Ryles reneged.

I don't know how we can say we have a potentially very good interim coach as he has only coached 2 matches, 1 of which we lost easily and played awful...I think we need to see how the rest of the season pans out before we give him too much credit.

 

[blacksafake]

If it's Young there should be absolute anarchy. We've got to step in before this happens.

Out of left field, and I know it won't happen because it's too complex for the board to compute. BUT: Why do we need to get a coach now? They've dragged this on for so long now that we are completely f**ked for next year anyway. Gone. We will not make a dent next year. Give Carr a year as caretaker, and get Bennett back in 2025, with the view of Hannay/Morris/Whoever taking over two years after that. Yes, we'll be f**ked for 2024. But if we get Dean Young or Hornby, we'll be f**ked for 2024, 25, 26 and probably 27 at the very least. So I ask what the best possible option with the best possible chance of sustained success involves? It does not involve Young or Hornby. As long as the club are transparent and say look we just don't have the right fit to coach the Dragons in 2024 but we're still on the lookout for a coach, we're being patient, yes it'll be met with criticism. But if they pull off the above I'm sure we'll accept one more year of pain, we're used to it

Hopefully plenty of supporters email Webb as I have done letting him know if the board go down the Young path then they won’t be paying for membership etc.
I stopped paying money to the club during the previous person before Hook.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I wouldnt call successful being smacked by the Tigers by 66 !!!

We did!

 

[Slippery Morris]

The reason for the rush is probably for retention but the stupid thing is, if they are worried about retention why not look to hire a good person to head the football dept like RIcho as your first priority then a retention guy. I am sure Richo and whoever can then work together to get the best possible candidate for the HC role based on what they have set up whether it be an experienced coach or a rookie.

Dragons are as usual doing things the opposite way and looking at hiring the coach first who will start next year and then a head of football and R&R guy who can start asap not next season.

To save future embarassement they need a guy for the head of football role. They should have gone with Ben Ikin when they heard there was a sniff he was leaving the Bronco's to take up QRL.

 

[Mojo]

I don't know how we can say we have a potentially very good interim coach as he has only coached 2 matches, 1 of which we lost easily and played awful...I think we need to see how the rest of the season pans out before we give him too much credit.

That's why I used the word 'potentially'.

 

[Slippery Morris]

I must give Webb some credit on 1 thing. Before Ryles he went and sussed out Slater. Watching Origin 1, I think Slater will be a far better coach that Ryles and it looks like they identified that as well so cudos to him. Unfortunately it did not work out.

If Slater wants the job when Bellamy goes, I guarantee the Storm will give it to him as he has been impressive in SOO. This guy will be a great NRL coach. Ryles may be rolling the dice and end up missing Saints and Storm and end up coaching Gold Coast or Tigers. He definitely won't get a look in for future jobs at the Chooks or Saints.

 

[Parko1310]

I must give Webb some credit on 1 thing. Before Ryles he went and sussed out Slater. Watching Origin 1, I think Slater will be a far better coach that Ryles and it looks like they identified that as well so cudos to him. Unfortunately it did not work out.

If Slater wants the job when Bellamy goes, I guarantee the Storm will give it to him as he has been impressive in SOO. This guy will be a great NRL coach. Ryles may be rolling the dice and end up missing Saints and Storm and end up coaching Gold Coast or Tigers. He definitely won't get a look in for future jobs at the Chooks or Saints.

Webb is not the issue. I really like Ryan Webb. He gets such unfair blame from people like Buzz in the media who don't understand the role of CEO. He reports to the board, but can't make their decisions, only give his opinion. They overrule him. Does buzz honestly think Webb wouldn't have given Ryles control of the football department if it was his choice? Unfortunately Ryan seems to be the only one in the club in a high up position who knows what the issues are.