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Has a coach ever been successful (won a comp) after being sacked?

dragon_around

Juniors
Messages
1,291
The ONLY coach in the NRL era who won their first premiership at their second (or third) club, is John Lang.

Sheens and Bennett have won premierships after leaving a club, but of course they had already won premierships before that.

So if Cleary manages to win it this year, it would be an interesting historical note. Also at Penrith, too.
What about Nathan Brown?

Sacked by the Dragons in '08. Won the 2014 Super League Grand Final with St Helens.
 
Messages
8,480
The "Sack Tipping" and "Sack Kearney" threads would be overflowing!

Dragons forum starter kit.

images
 
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8,480
Yeah isn't there some stat that if a coach doesn't win a comp in the first 3 years of their career or something close to that then they never will?

Cleary has a decent chance to break that trend.

Geez never knew that. And yeah it rings true now that I think of it.. NRL era at least...
 

The_Frog

First Grade
Messages
6,390
Yeah isn't there some stat that if a coach doesn't win a comp in the first 3 years of their career or something close to that then they never will?

Cleary has a decent chance to break that trend.
John Lang won his maiden and only premiership in his 271st game, in his 10th season as an NRL coach. He'd coached in the Brisbane comp for at least a decade before that. Cleary is now in his 14th season as an NRL coach, with 347 games.

Tim Sheens was in his 6th season when he won his first title. Craig Bellamy's first premiership that was not subsequently stripped came in his 10th season.
 
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Valheru

Coach
Messages
19,218
John Lang won his maiden and only premiership in his 271st game, in his 10th season as an NRL coach. He'd coached in the Brisbane comp for at least a decade before that. Cleary is now in his 14th season as an NRL coach, with 347 games.

Tim Sheens was in his 6th season when he won his first title. Craig Bellamy's first premiership that was not subsequently stripped came in his 10th season.

I wouldn't count Bellamy.

Fair call on the other 2 though.
 
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15,497
From this article on the NRL's website (source: https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/09/04/the-recycled-or-the-rookie-how-to-hunt-a-title-winning-coach/)

Since 1990 only two coaches have won their first premiership after more than six seasons of trying at first-grade level – John Lang (Penrith, 2003) and Steve Folkes (Canterbury, 2004).

And only two coaches in that same 30-year timeframe have landed that breakthrough title after coaching 200 games – Lang again, and Manly Immortal Bob Fulton, who coached 229 games before winning the 1987 title, and 348 games en route to the 1996 premiership.

The average numbers of your premiership-winning coach – 99 games, four years into his head coaching career, and roughly 45 years old.

stat-attack-coaches_20200903a.jpg
 

soc123_au

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
19,867
The ONLY coach in the NRL era who won their first premiership at their second (or third) club, is John Lang.

Sheens and Bennett have won premierships after leaving a club, but of course they had already won premierships before that.

So if Cleary manages to win it this year, it would be an interesting historical note. Also at Penrith, too.
If it does happen, then the other similarity is the Father Son connection as well. It would be quite the quinella.
 

TheRam

Coach
Messages
13,907
Ivan Cleary will win one and become the answer.

f**k you Wayne Scurrah. I just read Simon Mannering's book and for someone as non-outspoken as Simon, he's pretty strong on the fact we shat on the next 10 years (and counting) of our club by getting rid of Cleary.

Cleary is and always was a great young coach. I couldn't believe the Warriors and then the Panthers got rid of him.

Well sanity prevailed at the Panthers at least and they have corrected their original error at least.

The Warriors are still a basket case though and Brown will need to really up his game if he wants to turn their attitude around.
 
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15,497
Was going to post this. Souths definitely sacked Jack Gibson in 1979. .

I'd forgotten it actually (it has been a whilst since I read Jack's biography). He was sacked by the Souths Board as in 1979 they wanted him to use a full selection committee, something he'd done away with in 1978. Jack had also asked for pay raises for his assistants. When Jack refused to re-instate a selection committee, they sacked him.

This was public knowledge as after he was told, with Club Secretary Terry Parker present, Jack assembled all 3 grades and told them that he'd been sacked and why.

Earlier that year some Souths ex-players, notably Bob McCarthy, who'd retired at the end of 1978, had turned on Jack because he would not have the side play "the Souths way" (i.e. attacking football) so they were blasting him in the media.As Jack said at the time, outside of Terry Fahey, they didn't have the talent in the backs to play an expansive attacking game.

Jack sat out the 1980 season and only agreed to coach at Parramatta in 1981 as the Parramatta Eels Board gave Jack everything he wanted (namely full control of selection).
 

TheDalek079

Bench
Messages
4,432
I'd forgotten it actually (it has been a whilst since I read Jack's biography). He was sacked by the Souths Board as in 1979 they wanted him to use a full selection committee, something he'd done away with in 1978. Jack had also asked for pay raises for his assistants. When Jack refused to re-instate a selection committee, they sacked him.

This was public knowledge as after he was told, with Club Secretary Terry Parker present, Jack assembled all 3 grades and told them that he'd been sacked and why.

Earlier that year some Souths ex-players, notably Bob McCarthy, who'd retired at the end of 1978, had turned on Jack because he would not have the side play "the Souths way" (i.e. attacking football) so they were blasting him in the media.As Jack said at the time, outside of Terry Fahey, they didn't have the talent in the backs to play an expansive attacking game.

Jack sat out the 1980 season and only agreed to coach at Parramatta in 1981 as the Parramatta Eels Board gave Jack everything he wanted (namely full control of selection).


Shame on souffs! Imagine the idiocy of sacking Jack Gibson!! No wonder they won nothing for 40 years!
 

AJB1102

First Grade
Messages
6,339
Yeah isn't there some stat that if a coach doesn't win a comp in the first 3 years of their career or something close to that then they never will?

Cleary has a decent chance to break that trend.

Flanno took 5 and a bit seasons at Cronulla. 4 and a bit if you take out his ban year, but back to 5 and a bit since he copped a second ban for being too involved during his first ban.

Without looking I'd think that stat would be pretty accurate. I tend to think that probably has a lot to do with how often some clubs sack coaches. The data would be heavily skewed by the likes of Warriors, Tigers and Titans for instance.
 

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