Dragons Coach 2021 and Beyond

[Inisai Toga]

I think another issue we have at the moment is ruck control. I did a quick comparison of play the ball times for our games (unfortunately no box option here for me to post it) but rarely are we quicker than the opposition. I think this contributes to us back pedalling and contributes significantly to our meters conceded.

Yeh agree. It would be great if we can improve in this area as I think Hunt could take advantage, more so than McInnes, similar to Damian Cook (ex Dragon).

 

[be55]

Yeah, this is what the speed of the play ball is telling me. We aren't controlling it well enough and our "wrestle" is ineffective. The Broncos even cracked 3 seconds against us (2.98). That was the quickest play the ball speed against us this season.

i saw some stats after the game last week on play the ball speed and Carrigan was one of the fastest i think...man that guy is an absolute beast...from memory i think he ran for well over 200m and made nearly fifty tackles playing the full game and was still able to maintain a quick play the ball speed...when they made him captain i thought that was strange with him being so young but mate he is a weapon...I'd love to see him in red and white...

 

[qld redvee]

yeah, totally see your point on this
Maybe Young has some component talent but to be honest everyone is excited because he simply was honest at a pre and post match interview and a TV interview , so what , I could be brutally honest and say a lot more .
In reality he has yet to do anything good or exciting to date
Defense last year, attack early this year , both total fails
Trained by the peanut, teams selection and last weeks game plan pretty similar to previous.
Yes he has been part of the problem , now for a number of years.
So I can see your point Possm, why reward someone who actually has done nothing
What do these so called experts or other coaches have as evidence he will be good. hes a good bloke and ex player ie more of the peanut

What job is Hook going to give him, he has failed at defense and attack in the past and if I was head coach I would want to select my team of coaches and other personel as Hook will be holding the can if it goes to shit. I guess Hook has worked with him to a very limited degree.

we are also assuming he will be an assistant but who knows , Hook may decide otherwise?
I did hear that at panthers the main issue was Hooks interaction with coaching staff more than issues with players.

Mjab,
Ill give dean the benefit of the doubt re attack coach as how could anyone do anything with supercoachs philosophy of 5 settlers and a kick to the opposition fullback, as a defence coach different matter BUT how much say did he have .. Lets see if there are changes over the next 5 weeks that will show that dean does have "potential " definitely he needs to be mentored by a very experienced and successful coach and Griffin has got teams into the finals . also griffin does bring young talent through so that will also be a plus . In my opinion we need a coach that will give the juniors a go and persist with them . If we can build a decent team with juniors then we can go for a marquee player to fill the gaps and hopefully we can end up like penrith with an embarressment of junior talent . Nathan Brown in an interview a few weeks ago stated that we were not producing enough talent for our area.. anyway all conjecture at this stage and time will tell hopefully we can get over titans on friday

 

[Mjab]

My question with Griffin would be:

Would you take on the role (assuming a 2yr contract), knowing your assistant is the 'preferred' option?. Knowing also, you wont (probably) be offered a renewal after that?

The bottom line is that a lot of these 2 nd tier coaches are otherwise unemployed except for some occasional media money if they are lucky
Eg toovey , Griffin etc etc
Any job at any club for any time length they will take as it’s better than unemployment
It’s akin to actors A grade get to choose and B listers take whatever is on offer
If it’s a B grade ie griffin tell him what he is getting or F off , find yourself another job
2 years plus option in our favour

 

[Mjab]

Mjab,
Ill give dean the benefit of the doubt re attack coach as how could anyone do anything with supercoachs philosophy of 5 settlers and a kick to the opposition fullback, as a defence coach different matter BUT how much say did he have .. Lets see if there are changes over the next 5 weeks that will show that dean does have "potential " definitely he needs to be mentored by a very experienced and successful coach and Griffin has got teams into the finals . also griffin does bring young talent through so that will also be a plus . In my opinion we need a coach that will give the juniors a go and persist with them . If we can build a decent team with juniors then we can go for a marquee player to fill the gaps and hopefully we can end up like penrith with an embarressment of junior talent . Nathan Brown in an interview a few weeks ago stated that we were not producing enough talent for our area.. anyway all conjecture at this stage and time will tell hopefully we can get over titans on friday

Yeah fair points

I am happy to stand corrected if Deano shows something different in next 5 weeks, not the same old dragons footy and drop a few rubbish players like EA

I’m sure peanut would have instructed the broad plan of Dragons attack as you mention which we all know as abysmal

I’m also hopeful that Griff will be an asset for a few years . He has done clean outs , dropped players and promoted and developed youth at various clubs and we definitely need that

it seems Griff will be the man the way they are trotting out press releases from senior players and Young himself

 

[TruSaint]

The bottom line is that a lot of these 2 nd tier coaches are otherwise unemployed except for some occasional media money if they are lucky
Eg toovey , Griffin etc etc
Any job at any club for any time length they will take as it’s better than unemployment
It’s akin to actors A grade get to choose and B listers take whatever is on offer
If it’s a B grade ie griffin tell him what he is getting or F off , find yourself another job
2 years plus option in our favour

Respectfully disagree.

Toovey and Griffin both could have had jobs elsewhere if employment was the issue. They get paid well enough in their media commitments. Options? ESL. Or assistants at NRL level. I'm not sold on Toovey but for mine Griffin is a good "fit" right now .

He has been battered in the media, and by Gould as "old school". Well here's a newsflash, that's exactly what we need.

Let's recall his departures from the Broncos and Panthers in context, and not media hype.

For me its simple. Where we stand right now, there are 3 elite coaches. One maybe past his prime, but say Bennett/Bellamy/Robinson. We ain't getting either of the last 2. So its either Wayne/Griffin or take a punt on Fitzy/Ryles.

If we go with another punt, then this place will be in meltdown. It's not that Ryles/Fitzy maybe have the skillset, its that we have put ourselves after a decade of risk in a position that such an appointment is not tenable.

 

[Dragon David]

Not the cream like Bennett, Bellamy, Robinson left in the barrel to pick from but Griffin with Young can work IMO. So it will be "have a biff with Griff" from now on or "the Griffo and Deano show".

 

[RedVDave]

I'm definitely making this into a banner if Griffin is announced as our coach.

 

[RedVDave]

Or ....

 

[I'm Hornby]

He has been battered in the media, and by Gould as "old school". Well here's a newsflash, that's exactly what we need.

Mate, totally agree on this. A poor coach worsens player's attitudes and over the last couple of seasons or so, the experienced group of players at our club (Hunt, Norman, Sims bros, Frizell and recently Vaughan) have become complete passengers!

It is almost as if these players mentioned above just want their pay cheque and to piss off home, they're not playing for anything and I believe this has been a result of piss poor coaching.

Griffin being old school will put fire back in the bellies of these blokes (not frizz though) and we will look like a completely different team.

 

[blacksafake]

Rumours were that Griffin & Gould butted heads (There’s a shock) over Gould trying to involve himself in selections & coaching.
Apparently Griffin stuck to his guns which pi55ed off Gould & probably led to his sacking?.If so then I could see him standing up to our board & doing it his way. So it’s a yes for me but only with a 2 year contract.

 

[to_ddeath]

For me in order of preference -

Bellamy (most unlikely obviously)
Wane (deserves shot at NRL success)
Bennett (age & lack of post-2010 success the main barrier)
Fitzgibbon
Griffin

 

[SnowDragon]

So I read here Shane Wane wasn’t interested, but on NRL 360 I heard is in running for cowboys job... any explanations?

 

[Dragons 09]

So I read here Shane Wane wasn’t interested, but on NRL 360 I heard is in running for cowboys job... any explanations?

Absolutely, never believe anything you hear on NRL 360.......you heard it here first

 

[possm]

Mjab,
Ill give dean the benefit of the doubt re attack coach as how could anyone do anything with supercoachs philosophy of 5 settlers and a kick to the opposition fullback, as a defence coach different matter BUT how much say did he have .. Lets see if there are changes over the next 5 weeks that will show that dean does have "potential " definitely he needs to be mentored by a very experienced and successful coach and Griffin has got teams into the finals . also griffin does bring young talent through so that will also be a plus . In my opinion we need a coach that will give the juniors a go and persist with them . If we can build a decent team with juniors then we can go for a marquee player to fill the gaps and hopefully we can end up like penrith with an embarressment of junior talent . Nathan Brown in an interview a few weeks ago stated that we were not producing enough talent for our area.. anyway all conjecture at this stage and time will tell hopefully we can get over titans on friday

In my opinion, Mary would have done anything to solve his teams problems. The real problems were:
Mary was not up to the job.
Mary surrounded himself with people he thought were inferior.
When assistants proved to be right or better, he had them removed.

Young was and is an inexperienced coach with no idea how to implement the things he learned from Bennett when he was a player. The first thing Price did was ditch the brick wall defence and conservative attack that Bennett had implemented.

Then Mary brought in his own fatigue heavy plan that relied on our forwards doing all the work, however, they could not go the full season under this plan; especially when our best forwards were also selected for SOO. Mary refused to change his plan, had poor results mainly because of this, and eventually was shown the door albeit far too late for the Dragons fans.

Young has nothing to offer and needs proper schooling in the coaching arena to be a successful head coach. Dean Young needs to go to a club where he does not have to rely on his father to arrange things for him. He needs to climb the coaching ladder on merit instead.

 

[Dragonslayer]

After listening to Webb on the podcast and the criteria set as desirable qualities they're looking for, there are only 4 candidates.

Young isnt one of them as he doesnt meet at least 2 of the qualities suggested.
One of those candidates is definitely unavailable 'till 2022.
One isnt in the country but ticks every box.
One has a track record of being sacked but does tick the boxes.
One is currently contracted but has a habit of uncertainty around what he thinking and doing (only he knows) but ticks all the boxes.

None of the 'apprentices' tick all the boxes.
It doesnt rule out Young completely if at least 2 of those 4 were appointed as a director of football type role and one as (as is atm) his defacto 'assistant'.

The only 'clean' break is the one o/s atm.

According to the time schedule we should know who it is in about 4 weeks.

 

[possm]

Rumours were that Griffin & Gould butted heads (There’s a shock) over Gould trying to involve himself in selections & coaching.
Apparently Griffin stuck to his guns which pi55ed off Gould & probably led to his sacking?.If so then I could see him standing up to our board & doing it his way. So it’s a yes for me but only with a 2 year contract.

Only the CEO should report directly to the Board. The head coach should report to the CEO. In the normal world, the head coach should be in charge of all things football and have competent staff that can take care of admin work and day to day management.

The prime example at Saints is that Millward is Director of everything bar coaching and so when everything tans, it is Mary that is sacked (well deserved on took far too long to happen) but Millward with a squad that featured the word back 5 in the NRL, a pair of halves in Norman and Hunt who's combined salary is close to 2m and who were both performing way below their pay grade, all together wih a tired pack of forwards who all need a jump start or to be replaced with a fresh and enthusiastic player. But untouchable Millward remains the Director in charge of everything.

Up until 2020 there was a coaching staff that included Dean Young but even after all but Young was dismissed, and replaced with Mary's choice of assistants, Mary was sacked, Dean promoted and the other assistans for now remain.

Surely under a new coach, things will change for the better.

 

[Captain Apollo]

https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/st-geo...ons-on-brink-of-nailing-new-coach-plan_270820

 

[Dragon David]

The Dragons Board has given its' guidelines as to what they want as the next coach to takeover from Mary. Amongst other things, they are after a defence-minded coach with an emphasis on discipline that has experienced a culture of success. They want to go back to the Bennett era which was successful.

So basically they know the type of person they want and to my mind from who is available it will be between Griffin and Wane with Young being one of the assistants. I read that someone on this Forum said that Wane has given us the miss and is more interested in the Cowboys job so if this is the case it will be Griffin. Flanagan was also mentioned in this Forum that he won't be with us next year (if so, where will he end up as he can only remain as an assistant until 2022 so wouldn't it be better if he remained at the Dragons for next year and then he could apply for a head coaches job for 2022 elsewhere)?

The problem is that the Board knows what they want and we know what we want but do we get what we want? Let's see. After the past disastrous 8 years the Club now HAS to make the right decision going forward to make the club 100% more competitive and not continue to be cellar dwellers.

 

[Dragonslayer]

The 4 areas Webb touched were:

1. Defense
2. Discipline
3. Junior development
4. Proven results eg: finals football etc