PRICE TO BE SACKED ,McGregor IN

[getsmarty]

Dragons must ensure history doesn't repeat itself - again

By COMMENT: TIM BARROW

May 26, 2014, 9:30 p.m.

The Dragons look dejected during their round 10 match against the Eels earlier this month.


St George Illawarra’s top priority must be ensure history does not repeat – again.
Paul McGregor continues his remarkable rise from three-time Illawarra premiership coach with Wests, to Illawarra Cutters and Dragons assistant coach.
Now he sits in the hot seat in a caretaker role, with enough time to show his credentials as an NRL coach.
Picking up the pieces of St George Illawarra’s failures so far this year, there’s lessons to be learned in the coaching careers of Steve Price and Nathan Brown.
Price will forever be remembered as a product and part victim of the club’s system, trying to forge a career in the shadow of Wayne Bennett – the man who brought an end to their premiership drought.
Brown is highly regarded in the Super League in England, hardened after the years of hard knocks and near misses since his appointment in 2003 at the age of just 29.
Aside from being a good bloke and Illawarra rugby league great, McGregor’s future as a coach must not be damaged by what happens between now and September.
Late on Sunday, McGregor – on Laurie Daley’s NSW staff for the State of Origin opener on Wednesday – took a flight from Brisbane back to Sydney to start the preparations for his time in charge.
‘‘He told me [Sunday] night what was happening and he needed to get away. It’s a great opportunity for him,’’ Daley said at the Blues’s team hotel on Monday.
‘‘He was torn because Steve Price is a great mate of his.
‘‘He’d spoken to Steve and was torn between taking the job and feeling he’d be able to add something to the team.
‘‘But when I spoke to him I said he should grab it with two hands as these opportunities don’t come around too often.’’
Daley is, of course, correct. There are few chances given in the cutthroat world of NRL coaching.
But consider other examples around the world and the caretaker role can also have a detrimental impact on career prospects.
English Premier League club Tottenham appointed Tim Sherwood to replace Andre Villas-Boas mid-season, then axed him after they missed out on a Champions League place.
Brad Arthur has shown what a coach without previous experience in the NRL top job can do.
He had just six games in charge of Parramatta in 2012, winning just two after replacing New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney.
But when Ricky Stuart struggled to turn the club around and then jumped ship to Canberra, Arthur has now turned the Eels into an NRL finals contender.
McGregor has 14 games to prove to the St George Illawarra board – and the fan base – he should be appointed long term.
In the meantime, the club will start the process of identifying candidates, with Bennett – whose place in Newcastle is in doubt after Nathan Tinkler handed back Knights ownership – at the top of the list.
Price’s time in charge was difficult.
He inherited a roster geared for short-term success with Bennett in charge and it took two years to begin the process of renewal, after Price had the recruitment side of the job taken away from him so he could focus on coaching.
Last year the Dragons were hampered by the lack of depth in their halves, this season they’ve overcompensated - most recently by signing Benji Marshall.
They now have five halfback options, but a dearth of size in their pack, leading to the chase to secure Canberra’s Tom Learoyd-Lahrs before the June 30 transfer deadline.
However, Price never really made the effort to win over the supporters, almost seldom talking publicly outside of a post-game press conference in the first year of his tenure.
McGregor is credited with helping to reshape their attack this year, but the season has since gone pear-shaped.
Five years ago, McGregor was on the NRL scrap heap when he was cast aside as part of Bennett’s clean out of the club.
His comeback is a stunning rugby league redemption story, which must not be ruined by St George Illawarra’s desire to find a quick fix.


http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/...re-history-doesnt-repeat-itself-again/?cs=302

 

[TruSaint]

Dragons coach: McGregor in charge after Price axed

By ADAM PENGILLY

May 26, 2014, 9:26 p.m.



Dragons boss Peter Doust insists a Wayne Bennett return to St George Illawarra hasn’t even registered on his radar, while also leaving the door ajar for caretaker Paul McGregor to be anointed Steve Price’s permanent successor.
Only hours after confirming Price’s rocky 2-year reign as Dragons head coach had come to an end, Doust hosed down speculation the joint venture would try to lure the 2010 premiership-winning coach back to Wollongong.
Bennett’s future is clouded at Newcastle after Nathan Tinkler last week stated he would relinquish his ownership of the Knights.
The four-year deal Bennett signed to leave the Dragons was with Tinkler’s Hunter Sports Group, effectively making him a free agent as soon as the mining magnate hands back control of the Knights.
But Doust was quick to quash speculation of Bennett’s return to the Red V, who have also been linked with NSW coach Laurie Daley, Gold Coast assistant Neil Henry and another former coach in Nathan Brown.
‘‘Who knows what Wayne’s up to with that hullabaloo up in Newcastle? It hasn’t even come within my sphere,’’ Doust told the Mercury.
Pressed on whether the Dragons would seek an outside influence for their next coach, he added: ‘‘We have to explore all options. These are difficult decisions and we’ll explore all options.’’
Price became the first Dragons coach since David Waite in 2000 to be sacked mid-season.
The Mercury can reveal Dragons hierarchy felt compelled to show Price the exit after inserting a clause into his contract extension, announced on Anzac Day last year, which needed a decision by the end of this week.
There was an option in the club’s favour for 2015, but it needed to be triggered before May 31.
Doust addressed the squad on Monday morning to tell them of Price’s axing.
‘‘You don’t get to predict the future, but we felt on balance that the only way we could look forward to some different outcomes was to make the change now,’’ Doust said.
‘‘He’s a great guy and a stand-up guy and a man of great integrity. He’s reflecting on the time he’s spent at the club and contributions he’s made to the club at various levels.
‘‘I’d ask people to remember Steve Price has given a lot to the club over more than 13 years and we’ve got to remember that he was also given the job on the recommendation of Wayne Bennett.’’
Price had been much maligned by Dragons fans despite being left with the remnants of Bennett’s ageing roster in 2012.
He presided over St George Illawarra’s worst ever season last year, which meant they failed to make the finals for the first time in consecutive years in the joint venture’s history.
But he also embarked on a roster overhaul, luring the likes of Gareth Widdop, Josh Dugan, Dylan Farrell and Joel Thompson to the club, while adding Benji Marshall earlier this month.
And Doust, while claiming the Dragons’s recruitment for next year wouldn’t be affected by Price’s exit, said St George Illawarra’s struggles must be shared across the club.
‘‘As we resolved last year in the serious and detailed review into the football club...we didn’t find it appropriate to hold Pricey personally responsible for the outcome in 2013,’’ Doust said.
‘‘At the end of the day, though, these head coaches are well paid and they’ve got significant resources in support of their objectives. Our view is to evaluate their performance and that’s what we’re accountable for.’’
Known as ‘‘Mary’’, McGregor - who flew back from NSW’s Origin camp on Sunday night - will address the playing group for the first time as head coach on Tuesday.
He will then fulfil his NSW State of Origin commitments in Queensland


http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/...h-mcgregor-in-charge-after-price-axed/?cs=302

oops, got it now, its all Waynes fault

 

[getsmarty]

THIS IS THE SCARY PART...DOUST HAS TO BE JOKING..SURELY

.........while also leaving the door ajar for caretaker Paul McGregor to be anointed Steve Price’s permanent successor.

 

[TruSaint]

THIS IS THE SCARY PART...DOUST HAS TO BE JOKING..SURELY

.........while also leaving the door ajar for caretaker Paul McGregor to be anointed Steve Price?s permanent successor.

Yes I saw that buddy.
Its this type of talk that concerns me.
Hope Im wrong... but feels like deja vu

 

[blacksafake]

THIS IS THE SCARY PART...DOUST HAS TO BE JOKING..SURELY

.........while also leaving the door ajar for caretaker Paul McGregor to be anointed Steve Price?s permanent successor.

no no no no no.
Surely he just has to put that in for the sake of not making the situation any worst. I would like to think that the next coach has or will be told soon he has the job so that recruiting players can start asap.:?

 

[dragonreddy]

Dragons coach: McGregor in charge after Price axed

By ADAM PENGILLY

May 26, 2014, 9:26 p.m.



Dragons boss Peter Doust insists a Wayne Bennett return to St George Illawarra hasn?t even registered on his radar, while also leaving the door ajar for caretaker Paul McGregor to be anointed Steve Price?s permanent successor.
Only hours after confirming Price?s rocky 2-year reign as Dragons head coach had come to an end, Doust hosed down speculation the joint venture would try to lure the 2010 premiership-winning coach back to Wollongong.
Bennett?s future is clouded at Newcastle after Nathan Tinkler last week stated he would relinquish his ownership of the Knights.
The four-year deal Bennett signed to leave the Dragons was with Tinkler?s Hunter Sports Group, effectively making him a free agent as soon as the mining magnate hands back control of the Knights.
But Doust was quick to quash speculation of Bennett?s return to the Red V, who have also been linked with NSW coach Laurie Daley, Gold Coast assistant Neil Henry and another former coach in Nathan Brown.
??Who knows what Wayne?s up to with that hullabaloo up in Newcastle? It hasn?t even come within my sphere,?? Doust told the Mercury.
Pressed on whether the Dragons would seek an outside influence for their next coach, he added: ??We have to explore all options. These are difficult decisions and we?ll explore all options.??
Price became the first Dragons coach since David Waite in 2000 to be sacked mid-season.
The Mercury can reveal Dragons hierarchy felt compelled to show Price the exit after inserting a clause into his contract extension, announced on Anzac Day last year, which needed a decision by the end of this week.
There was an option in the club?s favour for 2015, but it needed to be triggered before May 31.
Doust addressed the squad on Monday morning to tell them of Price?s axing.
??You don?t get to predict the future, but we felt on balance that the only way we could look forward to some different outcomes was to make the change now,?? Doust said.
??He?s a great guy and a stand-up guy and a man of great integrity. He?s reflecting on the time he?s spent at the club and contributions he?s made to the club at various levels.
??I?d ask people to remember Steve Price has given a lot to the club over more than 13 years and we?ve got to remember that he was also given the job on the recommendation of Wayne Bennett.??
Price had been much maligned by Dragons fans despite being left with the remnants of Bennett?s ageing roster in 2012.
He presided over St George Illawarra?s worst ever season last year, which meant they failed to make the finals for the first time in consecutive years in the joint venture?s history.
But he also embarked on a roster overhaul, luring the likes of Gareth Widdop, Josh Dugan, Dylan Farrell and Joel Thompson to the club, while adding Benji Marshall earlier this month.
And Doust, while claiming the Dragons?s recruitment for next year wouldn?t be affected by Price?s exit, said St George Illawarra?s struggles must be shared across the club.
??As we resolved last year in the serious and detailed review into the football club...we didn?t find it appropriate to hold Pricey personally responsible for the outcome in 2013,?? Doust said.
??At the end of the day, though, these head coaches are well paid and they?ve got significant resources in support of their objectives. Our view is to evaluate their performance and that?s what we?re accountable for.??
Known as ??Mary??, McGregor - who flew back from NSW?s Origin camp on Sunday night - will address the playing group for the first time as head coach on Tuesday.
He will then fulfil his NSW State of Origin commitments in Queensland


http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/...h-mcgregor-in-charge-after-price-axed/?cs=302

Im starting to get worried ,already Doust is talking Mcgregor next year, i was positive yesterday but should have realised not that much has changed.

GOOD of DOUST to point out that STEVE PRICE'S appointment was all BENNETT'S fault ,would DOUST be doing the same had PRICE been successful ,FMD man take some ownership of SOMETHING, ANYTHING ,YOU GREASY SNAKE OIL SALESMAN ,the last time i checked the head coaching position is decided by the board and CEO,not the outgoing coach .As far as PRICE'S CONTRIBUTION ,he has taken far more than he has contributed in the form of a damn good salary and a good job as opposed to his contribution of steering the side through one if its bleakest periods.

Im also sick of hearing about the AGEING ROSTER we had ,its proven that the side has been extremely poorly coached under PRICE tenure, that contributed far more to their performance than age.One thing is for sure from reading this article DOUST is not done with dishing up excuses and rhetoric.

Still interesting times ahead to say the least.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Bennet may have recommended him but giving him the extra year extension was not Bennett's decision.

Majority of the players that Price had bar I think 3 or 4 were below 30 y.o so not sure what they mean by that. Soward was not to old, Prior was not old, etc. Price bought in the slowest human on earth in AuMau who played huge minutes whilst Prior was played at centre, Soward was used poorly and not like he was used previously or how he is being used at Penrith and our best hooker in Fein was playing No.7 and Reins was thrown in the deep end and has since gone backwards.

How many times have you heard people (Mat Johns, Tallis etc) say poor Steve Price? That is what annoys me. Did they say poor Matt Elliot, poor Dave Furner, poor Neil Henry, or even poor Stephen Kearney? They say the players did not play for him. Hmmmm, well maybe that was the problem. The coaches role is to make them play for him if they don't then he is not doing a good job.

 

[Dezziedc]

Bennet may have recommended him but giving him the extra year extension was not Bennett's decision.

Majority of the players that Price had bar I think 3 or 4 were below 30 y.o so not sure what they mean by that. Soward was not to old, Prior was not old, etc. Price bought in the slowest human on earth in AuMau who played huge minutes whilst Prior was played at centre, Soward was used poorly and not like he was used previously or how he is being used at Penrith and our best hooker in Fein was playing No.7 and Reins was thrown in the deep end and has since gone backwards.

How many times have you heard people (Mat Johns, Tallis etc) say poor Steve Price? That is what annoys me. Did they say poor Matt Elliot, poor Dave Furner, poor Neil Henry, or even poor Stephen Kearney? They say the players did not play for him. Hmmmm, well maybe that was the problem. The coaches role is to make them play for him if they don't then he is not doing a good job.

FFS he's gone. Move on.

 

[BrissyRedV]

FFS he's gone. Move on.

This. Prices era is over.

 

[bottle]

Yep, need to be concerned about the future now.
Still a heap to be concerned about.

 

[getsmarty]

Steve Price goes to ground after sacking

By MICHAEL CARAYANNIS

May 26, 2014, 9:33 p.m.


RUGBY LEAGUE - DRAGONSWhen Steve Price didn’t front at Jason Nightingale’s engagement party on Saturday night the playing group sensed something had gone awry for their coach.
While the pressure on Price had been building following a string of heavy losses, his players were caught off guard when they were told of Price’s sacking on Monday.
But what most of the players didn’t know was that 24 hours earlier Price was made to front St George Illawarra chief executive Peter Doust about the club’s fortunes for the rest of the year and offer a please explain about recent results. He walked away from that meeting believing his two-and-a-half-year coaching stint at the Dragons was over.
It was expected that Price would have survived until at least Monday night when the club’s board met.
The board had all but made their mind up to not take up their one-year option on Price’s services for next year, but pulled the trigger early on his coaching career. They were loath to sack him, though.
Speak to those close to the club and they believe it was the playing group which had stood so firmly behind Price – who had developed many of the Dragons players during his time as a lower-grade coach - that seemed to have given up on him.
His negotiations with Josh Dugan and and Benji Marshall were pivotal to leading them to the club, even if some Dragons powerbrokers were reluctant to sign the pair.
But after undergoing a review of the club’s start to the season last week, the club withdrew support for Price after the players had failed to respond.
Price had labelled his team’s performance against Canterbury as “soft” and held a crisis meeting with his forward pack where they “laid it all on the line” days after that defeat.
The result was a 36-0 thumping at the hands of the Eels, and left the board with little doubt that the players had lost faith in their coach.
The backlash from the club’s supporters had also built pressure on the club to act swiftly.
The players had a training-free day on Monday so McGregor will get his first opportunity to address his playing group on Tuesday.
Doust and football manager Robert Finch called players on Monday morning to tell them Price had been sacked.
As for Price, a proud Dragons man, he went to ground as he ponders where his coaching future may lie


http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/2308648/steve-price-goes-to-ground-after-sacking/?cs=302

 

[getsmarty]

McGregor ready to step up, says Roach

By ADAM PENGILLY

May 26, 2014, 9:30 p.m.

Dragons interim coach Paul McGregor at training in Wollongong. Picture: ANDY ZAKELI

RUGBY LEAGUE

Among the rag-tag bunch of part-time footballers and full-time professionals stood Paul McGregor addressing them one last time.
Thanking each and every one of them - by his count 50-plus who he had called his player at some stage - for contributing to the Illawarra Cutters in season 2013.
There was no exaggeration either in the number, McGregor had been forced to use more than 50 players just so his semi-professional NSW Cup side could make it through a football season.
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/sport/dragons-den/
McGregor struggled to get his head around it, often seeing his halfback and hooker for the first time all week on a Friday night and expecting them to run his team like clockwork the next afternoon. It's the lay of the land for any NSW Cup coach.
Somewhat reluctantly, McGregor agreed to leave all that behind him when the job as Steve Price's understudy came calling.
The Mercury was told he was even more reluctant to be seen as jockeying for position should Price's job ever pop up. It was the last thing he wanted to be perceived to be doing.
So when Peter Doust finally cut the cord on Price's 2½-year tenure at the top, McGregor's dream of a first NRL head coaching gig with the only club he ever knew might have been anything but.
"The sad thing about all of this is Steve Price would be a great mate of his," said league legend and Mercury columnist Steve Roach, who spent time with McGregor in NSW camp last week.

New Dragons coach Paul McGregor at the season’s first training session in January. Picture: CHRISTOPHER CHAN

"As I said to 'Mary' the other day: 'if you get the opportunity and this is really what you want to do, you've got to do it'."
Added McGregor in a statement on Monday morning: "The board wanted the change to be as simple as possible for the players and for their sake I agreed.
"This is a difficult situation for me, Steve Price is a good friend of mine and we have worked closely together and I would have liked us to work through these tough times as one.
"This change will be a new challenge for the players to face but we have a good football team and good group of young men."
If Dragons fans are perhaps dreaming of a back to the future scenario with Price's predecessor in Wayne Bennett, McGregor's return is more jaw dropping.
At the crossroads when the Wayne Bennett era dawned on the Red V in 2009, McGregor took his knocks and went back to the Illawarra Coal League. He was part of Nathan Brown's support staff at the Dragons prior to that, but went all the way back to square one.
He led Wests to three straight premierships between 2009-11, a stepping stone for what would follow in the next two years with the Cutters, whom he led to the finals in their first year.
"He's very pedantic and he's very thorough in everything he does," said close friend and former Dragon Reece Simmonds, who joined McGregor at Wests before taking over the reins in 2012.
"He never leaves anything to chance ... from everything he does in life. He's very methodical and always demands the best out of his players, his staff and himself and that rubs off on his players."
Now arguably the most pressurised job in the NRL has fallen on McGregor's shoulders - at least for the remainder of the season - and it's one many think he's capable of handling on a more permanent basis.
"I wish Saints will say 'You're our man'," Roach said of the Dragons's search for a long-term option.
"He's ready."


http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/2308700/mcgregor-ready-to-step-up-says-roach/?cs=302


Here comes the AGENDA...If he's ready, have him at the TIGERS. Dragons don't need another ROOKIE COACH.

 

[mickeylane]

If anyone saw the ch 9 interview u hopefully did what I did and threw an object at the screen hoping it would pierce the TV screen and hit Mcgregor in the head!
He basically said "he didht want the coaching Job but took it because if he didht someone else would have - he said he still wanted Price there so they could continue w their work"

Why would the board give this muppett the job - he went on national tv to tell everyone he doesnt want the job - he is clueless - check the team he picked "Hunt, Harrison, Debellin still in the squad" . The board Should have appointed Sheens or someone of similar calibre and try to start the rebuild immediately and not waste 16 weeks w still a chance of making the top 8..

Mcgregor is a cancer - people are right saying he plays games behind close doors - cancer that's what he is... Board made a mistake...

Ps: good to see the class of the most useless coach in NrL history - price couldnt even farewell his players 1 he's too busy hiding .. Waste of space ... May he never coach again!

 

[Wizard Sleeve]

He's an A Grade c**k head who rides his jet ski in the break whilst you're trying to surf it .

 

[goodplayer]

his surf break , not yours u grommit tool , who thinks he owns it

its everyones surf break fool

 

[dino2170]

MARY TO GO hes just a puppet cause he will still ask price for advice MARY TO GO

 

[Wizard Sleeve]

his surf break , not yours u grommit tool , who thinks he owns it

its everyones surf break fool

His surf break ? Just because he built that ugly f**king concrete shithouse across the road doesn't make it his surf break you f**ktard .

Mary on his fluro sea doo in his dick pointers is the biggest laugh on the coast.

 

[goodplayer]

you claimed the surfbreak as yours tool gromet

guess what , its not yours

its everyones surfbreak

 

[Wizard Sleeve]

you claimed the surfbreak as yours tool gromet

guess what , its not yours

its everyones surfbreak

As if I did you dyslexic moron . Have another read .

 

[bottle]

Top fred. Full of intelligment.
Wood reed agayn.