Sack Griffin

[BLM01]

I doubt Hasler would come in as caretaker. He should be probably be negotiated for next year and beyond so that he can start planning and managing roster. Remember, It took Bennet a year to set up Dolphins roster. No point in getting Hasler in OCT as most top players have signed by then. In the meantime one of our lower grade coaches or assistants can run the reminder of this season.

Des is overseas enjoying a last good holiday for a while. Interview done.
Big job ahead.

 

[Phantom V]

That’s if Des wants to go back to coaching, he’s overseas at the moment enjoying

I'm sure the Board knows exactly Hasler's attitude to the job, it is just a matter if the Board wants to allow him to run the football team. Like Bennett, Hasler prefers to appoint his own assistants (including the fitness staff) and also likes to have big say in recruitment. There are Board members who also wish to make the decision in these areas and so, must have to relinquish their desires to gain Hasler's signature

Yes I totally agree, if they are not willing to give him control then remove him from the list of prospective coaches, naturally all the conversations are currently being had with the player managers. I like all of us are getting frustrated watching the rubbish defence & disipline we continue to serve up every week and would like a decisive Board to act sooner than later. It would be a tragety to see this great club get the spoon this year & with Hook in charge we are specials IMO.

I must agree with you Possm
Under Des I think we will blossom
But bad defence on our fringes
Will mean no more hinges
and our club it’s sure gonna cost em

 

[Coffs dragon]

Des is overseas enjoying a last good holiday for a while. Interview done.
Big job ahead.

I hope your info is on the money BLM01.
Would be good to see Hasler with Brownie in charge of our Recruitment and Pathways.

 

[Ghostrider22]

I was wondering why we havent heard from Des about the position & whether he is interested. Do you know when he is expected back into the country ?

 

[Ghostrider22]

In 2 weeks

 

[matPORTS]

We all said at the beginning of Hook's tenure that he was probably the best of a bad lot, as a matter of fact we assume he is the lowest paid coach in the NRL, I think the figure was around the $450k / yr mark. He did have a rep and we knew about it, we knew he was old school, wanted to have discipline brought back in the side. We got what we paid for, a non modern day coach who is very stubborn with his ideas. Here we are 3 years down the gurgler with nothing to show for it except possibly a wooden spoon. And for those of you who consistently bring up the wonderful thing he has done with our salary cap, can you please show me how this has emanated into the Dragons having this money to buy a raft of wonderful players that all want to come to the Dragons because its such a great club.

If there is one good thing Hook has done, yes, it is cleaning up our cap.

When he took over we had a tonne of deadwood on multi-year deals with big salaries. He needed to manage that situation.

In 2021, had we have not signed McCullough (where the Broncos were covering half his wages), we would have been even more buggered because we lost McInnes for the full season due to his knee injury.

To your point though - yes, we haven't progressed and we don't look like being able to attract the necessary talent we need from the outside while he remains in charge. But, we should be able to move deadwood on without our cap going into a mess this time (looking at Mbye amongst others).

The next coach should, hopefully, be credentialed enough to attract some talent from outside the club, and have some cap room to play with in order to help that cause.

Thing is we have got to get moving on who the next coach is going to be, so they can start working, and so that the player managers have the confidence to deal with us.

 

[Wolfgang90]

Ben Hunt is a top 10 player imo, so I think the talk about letting him go is a bit silly. I'd rather have him in our team so Sullivan can continue learning from him for the next couple of seasons. Imo he shouldn't be our captain anymore, I think he's carried that burden for a while & his frustrations have come out in the media this season.

It's time for a change in captaincy & probably leadership at the Dragons. I feel like Jack Bird should be our captain. He's rough around the edges but he's a good player, a local & all the boys seem to love him. He always seems to stick up for others & shows plenty of confidence.

If Su'a sticks around he could be another option as he seems to be loved by the lads too while also showing good consistent performances. I don't think Hunt really inspires the team in the same manner anymore...

 

[qld redvee]

I hope your info is on the money BLM01.
Would be good to see Hasler with Brownie in charge of our Recruitment and Pathways.

Coffs im with you hope its true and if it is lets hope des is in England checking out super league players and comes back with a couple of good ones

 

[Dragon David]

and the thing is ... their attacking plays and structures aren't that complicated. Gees - just copy that! and practice, practice, practice.

I don't think Hook can copy set moves/plays but he can copy team lists - he is good at that!!

 

[possm]

Des is overseas enjoying a last good holiday for a while. Interview done.
Big job ahead.

He might be timing his return to Australia with the announcement of his appointment as head coach.

 

[Dragon David]

Ben Hunt is a top 10 player imo, so I think the talk about letting him go is a bit silly. I'd rather have him in our team so Sullivan can continue learning from him for the next couple of seasons. Imo he shouldn't be our captain anymore, I think he's carried that burden for a while & his frustrations have come out in the media this season.

It's time for a change in captaincy & probably leadership at the Dragons. I feel like Jack Bird should be our captain. He's rough around the edges but he's a good player, a local & all the boys seem to love him. He always seems to stick up for others & shows plenty of confidence.

If Su'a sticks around he could be another option as he seems to be loved by the lads too while also showing good consistent performances. I don't think Hunt really inspires the team in the same manner anymore...

Would be great if we had a guy like Cam Smith as our captain. He knew how and when to speak to the refs and he organised the team to reach top 4 in nearly all of the years he was the captain - maybe all? He could read the play so well and he could also kick goals to boot!

Please let there be a guy who can do this for the Dragons.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Benny's lost the plot along with his side kick and I for one have no problem at all if he wants to leave with Hook ......

I'll second that statement

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Ben Hunt is a top 10 player imo, so I think the talk about letting him go is a bit silly. I'd rather have him in our team so Sullivan can continue learning from him for the next couple of seasons. Imo he shouldn't be our captain anymore, I think he's carried that burden for a while & his frustrations have come out in the media this season.

It's time for a change in captaincy & probably leadership at the Dragons. I feel like Jack Bird should be our captain. He's rough around the edges but he's a good player, a local & all the boys seem to love him. He always seems to stick up for others & shows plenty of confidence.

If Su'a sticks around he could be another option as he seems to be loved by the lads too while also showing good consistent performances. I don't think Hunt really inspires the team in the same manner anymore...

Youve raised some good points except your comment regarding Hunt.....I agree regarding relieving him of the captaincy, a role imo he never handled that well but having him hang around to develop Sullivan is futile if Bud continues to be overlooked for 1st grade isnt it

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

He might be timing his return to Australia with the announcement of his appointment as head coach.

Glad you said might be Poss...theres no shred of evidence suggesting hes coming to our joint unless I'm mistaken

 

[Dragon David]

Glad you said might be Poss...theres no shred of evidence suggesting hes coming to our joint unless I'm mistaken

It is all a guessing game. Like what Powerball number will it be that drops this Thursday to win the $20M jackpot prize? (It's probably easier to pick that than picking who will replace Hook).

I agree with you BSE that as far as I have read and heard, there is not anyone pinpointed to be the replacement coach by anyone with authority from the club to disclose this. I don't think they have even decided if in fact Hook should be punted now or at the end of the year or re-sign him?

 

[TheRev]

Hasler may be announced in coming days, but we don't know yet whether that is immediate or 2024.. if its 2024.. he should just stay in the UK and get us some more signings!

As for Benny Hunt, he is joined at the hip with Hook and I have sympathy for him, he's effectively been allowed to captain/coach and it hasn't worked despite his best efforts.. hopefully a guy like Hasler with over 450 games will help remind him how the captain/coach arrangement is supposed to work, and get him back into playing a useful role.. if Hunt throws the toys out of the cot.. well so be it.. but he's on a pretty good wicket, and his family is settled.. so id be surprised.. also im not sure the offers he had in 2022 are still there..

 

[redv13]

Just sack this flog and move on. It’s not too late to do it now. Still have 16 games to play plus 2 byes ffs!!

 

[Wolfgang90]

Youve raised some good points except your comment regarding Hunt.....I agree regarding relieving him of the captaincy, a role imo he never handled that well but having him hang around to develop Sullivan is futile if Bud continues to be overlooked for 1st grade isnt it

well i'm in the camp they should pick him in the halves, so learn from him while playing with him

 

[Wolfgang90]

Would be great if we had a guy like Cam Smith as our captain. He knew how and when to speak to the refs and he organised the team to reach top 4 in nearly all of the years he was the captain - maybe all? He could read the play so well and he could also kick goals to boot!

Please let there be a guy who can do this for the Dragons.

Funny you mention Cam, I was listening to the radio tonight & he was on SEN talking about captaincy! He made a couple of points in regards to his communication with refs. It would always be in a calm manner, not talking loudly & body language wouldn't be extravagant. He would remind them of the penalty count if it was lopsided against his team but do it subtly.

Another interesting point is he would talk to them pre-game, general chitchat about their week etc & then at halftime asking what the ref wants his side to improve for the 2nd half. i.e. too many players offside or a particular playing backchatting heaps or specific areas of infringements.

It was a great listen but I doubt many players would think about these things, even if they're captains.

 

[blacksafake]

Have they sacked him yet