Is Ivan Cleary the new Brian Smith?

[Brutus]

Brian Smith's son (Rohan) is coach of the Norths Devils who made the QLD Cup GF against Wynnum-Manly this weekend.

Let's see if he can get one up on his old man.

 

[roofromoz]

Who's the 'new' Brian Smith now?

 

[age.s]

Who's the 'new' Brian Smith now?

I'd say Brad Arthur but the hairline doesn't match.

 

[soc123_au]

I'd say Brad Arthur but the hairline doesn't match.

Griff Dawg.

 

[Debt Clock]

Shane Perry won a premiership

So did Cronulla.

 

[MugaB]

Who's the 'new' Brian Smith now?

Nathan brown by default

 

[Richard Gay Was God]

I'd say Brad Arthur but the hairline doesn't match.

Got to get teams into a Grand Final to qualify. What Brian Smith did for us at Saints from 91-95 was miraculous. 92 was an absolute miracle!

 

[Westernised Panther]

Short answer…..Not anymore!!

 

[The_Frog]

No, the biggest 'hooray' should go to Wayne Scurrah and Eric Watson, who sacked him at the Warriors. 10 years on, Ivan has a premiership, a GF and other trips to the finals, while the Warriors have a solitary finals appearance in that time - and lost convincingly.

If Ivan was sacked by the Warriors immediately after taking them to the GF, it'd be a first. The truth is he was head hunted by Gus.

 

[Ghostface Killah]

Brian Smith is still a far better coach than Ivan Cleary.

A fluke Grand Final win does not make Cleary better.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

There are couple of coaches out there who have coached ALOT of games with without winning a premiership, having had high quality teams that have got to the GF without taking out the big one.

I give you Mr Stuart and Mr Bennett, the new Brian Smiths…

 

[soc123_au]

Brian Smith is still a far better coach than Ivan Cleary.

A fluke Grand Final win does not make Cleary better.

You should mix your bait up every day or so mate.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

If Ivan was sacked by the Warriors immediately after taking them to the GF, it'd be a first. The truth is he was head hunted by Gus.

Sort of true, he was head hunted but we were in the strongest position to keep him. He wanted to stay, if he was made to feel wanted. John Hart, our Football Manager at the time and former All Blacks coach, implored Scurrah and Watson to keep him. Remembering at the time that we'd made the finals 3 out of the previous five years under Ivan, we would've made it in his first year if not for 4 point salary cap penalty that happened before his tenure then Sonny Fai died in 2009. And we had no one to replace him.

Then we could've had him in 2017 again, but Watson still couldn't pull his head out of his arse.

Oh yeah, and allegedly we could've had Bellamy too around 2013/14 but Scurrah wanted him to break the final year of his contract with Melbourne, and nothing else.

 

[The_Frog]

Brian Smith is still a far better coach than Ivan Cleary.

A fluke Grand Final win does not make Cleary better.

Can't win. Either you get beat and its a choke or you win and its a fluke.

By the way, there has never been a premiership win by any team that was a fluke. Except maybe Souths when the opposition didn't turn up but they would have won anyway.

 

[Munky]

Can't win. Either you get beat and its a choke or you win and its a fluke.

By the way, there has never been a premiership win by any team that was a fluke. Except maybe Souths when the opposition didn't turn up but they would have won anyway.

The troll's a Dragons fan who is well aware the 2010 side lost more games in that one season than PENRITH did in the past two combined.

 

[Westernised Panther]

Brian Smith is still a far better coach than Ivan Cleary.

A fluke Grand Final win does not make Cleary better.

 

[Westernised Panther]

The troll's a Dragons fan who is well aware the 2010 side lost more games in that one season than PENRITH did in the past two combined.

In that case, perhaps Allan Langer was right…….

 

[Panther79]

RIP thread, thought it was a lame comparison by whoever came up with it then the media ran with it. Brian Smith was way more consistent than Cleary for many years making finals, chalk and cheese.

 

[Nealo 12]

14 seasons coaching, at three clubs (one club two twice!). Made two grand finals. Yet he still hasn't won a premiership. Also played for 11 seasons as a player and never won one either.

Is he the new Brian Smith?

Have you forgotten this ?

 

[blaza88z]

It was a really valid comparison, then Cleary coached his side to win a Grand Final, at that point it became invalid.