Honest question. What does Demetriou have achievement wise to justify being and nrl coach?
Other than being Bennets long term assistant I know little of the bloke.
Well lets look at the four best options on the market.
1. Tim Sheens. Veteran coach but you can question whether or not the game has passed him given how poorly Wests were in his last few years. He could just be the authoritative figure we need in the coaching role to get the best out of the players.
2. Trent Barrett. Maybe he got a raw end of the deal with Manly but I don't have faith in him being a high quality coach even in the long term. He'd benefit from continuing to be a reserve grade coach or an assistant.
3. Geoff Toovey. People look to him for his passion and his enthusiasm as a coach but I think he benefited from being Manly through and through. I doubt he can be any good at another club where he doesn't understand its culture, its history etc.
4. Anthony Griffin. Better than Brown all round but I guess you have the question marks over the fact he couldn't get it right at Brisbane or Penrith. Maybe at Penrith he was hard done by with Gus being the merkin he is but I wouldn't be overly confident with him.
Essentially, the top coaches I know of that are available have some baggage or clear flaws that likely wouldn't be good for us. Demetriou is a bold bet to make. Untested in the NRL but lacks the baggage of Griffin or Sheens, lacks of the obvious doubt of Toovey and Barrett. If there's any a good opportunity hedge your bets on an untested coach, its now with Demetriou with most established coaches being well entrenched in their current deals. It can end up like Brennan, sure, but that shouldn't give us a reason to not take a shot on him.
If there's another option out there then I'm by all means open to them.
