When did this thread turn into a direct comparison as a coach between Smith and Hagan?
I mentioned a one game comparison, not a career.
Hagan is nowhere near as experienced as a coach as Brian Smith and comparing the two over the course of a career is ridiculous. I still maintain Hagan outcoached Smith in the 2001 Grand Final however ( and the result shows this ), but does that make him a better overall coach during an entire career span? Of course not.
Reading a few posts here, you'd think that anyone could coach a rugby league team to win a competition merely because the team is packed with stars.
For those people thinking a strong playing roster guarantees premierships, you might want to consider Warren Ryans efforts with a gun Tigers team in the late 90's, Nathan Browns efforts with a gun St George team in recent years. How many comps did Gus Gould win with a Brad Fittler led Roosters team?
By using your method of comparison, you are practically saying that Jack Gibson is only a good coach because he benefitted from the stars in his line up.
If I am overplaying Hagans contribution to winning the 2001 grand final, then a lot of you are sure underestimating his contribution, because love him or hate him, he had to coach the team through every round and semi finals
But lastly, the most ridiculous thing of all, is saying Hagan only won the competition because of the groundwork laid by Warren Ryan.
Its ridiculous for one major reason:- Warren Ryan inherited a premiership winning team from Mal Reilly, yet didn't win a competition with the Knights while he coached here.How much more groundwork did Ryan need?
Yet when Michael Hagan wins in 2001, with essentially the same line up Warren Ryan had the year before, its all because of Warren Ryan? Give me a break.
Michael Hagan wasn't even an understudy to Warren Ryan at the Knights when he took over. From memory, he led Canberra's reserve grade team to a premiership win the year before - though it may have just been deep into the semis. Maybe his Raiders reserve grade team were so good they were the reason for success?