Sack Griffin

[Bring back John Fifita]

Nah - Mary's record was 5 in a row - though losing 38-0 to the Dogs at Jubilee was his lowest ebb for me.
Hook is the record holder. The "old-school disciplinarian" who has been in at the helm during our most rudderless and erratic season ever. Ever since round 5, we have served up near-unwatchable, amateur hour sh!te week in, week out. Calling it a Reserve Grade quality side is an insult to anyone who ever played reserve grade. Robert Stone, in fact, spent a fair chunk of his career playing in Reserve Grade. And he wasn't rubbish. He was a f#cking legend who put his soul into this club. Which is a lot more than any of this current crop of pea-hearts would ever do.

mate I was on the hill for that dogs game. The week of Lance’s passing. It was honestly the worst performance I’ve seen as a dragons fan. I was fuming and devastated. Don’t think I’ve ever been that rageful at a game ever. But this season has just made me disillusioned with them like no other.

 

[jak]

Unfortunately I don’t think Hook has the
same salary nor a rich owner that would pay the fine after Nick likely said “Robbo go to town on those pr....s., I’ll cover your fine”

spot on absolutely correct

 

[denis preston]

Griffin deserves next season to make the eight. NRL is a results driven job for coaches. Players can get away with poor results and still forge out a career, look at Corey Norman for example.
But not coaches. He’ll need to make finals next year IMO.
I really hope Hook isn’t extended next year in May when we do our usual and take out the May premiership.

Yes whilst this is a very silly thread , i like the benefit of a 2 year contract with a third at the clubs discretion . Lets give the coach a go. Yes he makes us scratch our head with some questionable selections but he has shown that he is prepared to build. In saying that I agree that top 8 is minimum next season. One or 2 more good ( very ? ) signings will help him as well. Worst case scenario ? Same as the past 10 seasons and lose Sloan, Sullivan & Amone to other clubs !!

 

[Coffs dragon]

He won’t be sacked….end of story! He deserves to see out his 2 year contract & see what happens then.
Sure he seems monotonous & boring in his media conversations, but so to does Wayne Bennett.
We all have no idea what goes on behind the scene with the players.
The only thing I know is Ben Hunt is a fan & seems to speak highly of him as a coach & person.
I don’t think any decent coach could have got the Dragons up this year…..too many Reserve grade quality players behind a pop gun pack.

 

[Kiwi Dragon supporter]

He won’t be sacked….end of story! He deserves to see out his 2 year contract & see what happens then.
Sure he seems monotonous & boring in his media conversations, but so to does Wayne Bennett.
We all have no idea what goes on behind the scene with the players.
The only thing I know is Ben Hunt is a fan & seems to speak highly of him as a coach & person.
I don’t think any decent coach could have got the Dragons up this year…..too many Reserve grade quality players behind a pop gun pack.

Obviously the club is in a bind, hapless and hopeless. Some promising juniors rearing their heads, but really many clubs have young talent coming through. De Belin is not the same player since all his problems. Hook has been faced with a disrupted year which has not helped. The jury is still out on him. It appears that the club has been mismanaged for a long time. Many of the players are not top competition level as Coffs Dragon said.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Yes whilst this is a very silly thread , i like the benefit of a 2 year contract with a third at the clubs discretion . Lets give the coach a go. Yes he makes us scratch our head with some questionable selections but he has shown that he is prepared to build. In saying that I agree that top 8 is minimum next season. One or 2 more good ( very ? ) signings will help him as well. Worst case scenario ? Same as the past 10 seasons and lose Sloan, Sullivan & Amone to other clubs !!

A good point dp, and lost by a few on here. Hook has 'basically' a 3yr contract. The 3rd at the clubs discretion. We are not privy to the details of his contract and what KPI's are attached to it. Making the 8 maybe 1, correcting our culture maybe another, and even development of our juniors from HM to 1st grade another. But, i'm just guessing, as many would.

Given this years disruptive season, it wouldn't surprise me to see the 3rd year activated pretty soon, particularly when you look deepky into our signings, and in particular the length of contract.

Almost 10 weeks since we've had a 'home' game. 9 weeks since the infamous BBQ. As of round 17 we were 7th with a -10 differential, seven games later we are 12th with a -138 differential.
What was the catalyst for this complete collapse?

 

[Gippsy]

Geez, are we forgetting we had a million suspensions this year, a heap of injuries, we lost our captain before the start of the year, sacked our best forward, our best player was injured for a fair chunk of the season and then we lost our only hooker, and we never had any depth to start with. And don't forget he has had only 12 months to try and fix the mess that Price and McGregor created over the last 10 years.

Let's see how he goes next year with a few decent forwards, some more experience in our young guns and no Norman. We just need a good young hooker though.

 

[WA 'S OWN RED V]

Griffins Dragons are painful to watch. Uninspiring. Actually at least McGregor got them up for a game or two

Gus flicked him from the pennies for a reason. So what did we expect.

The only encouraging thing to come out of this year was that some gun juniors played a handful of games by accident.

I hope next year is better but I am hardly brimming with confidence.

 

[mickeylane]

I still think we need a defensive coach ..

 

[OneEyedDragon]

I still think we need a defensive coach ..

We've got one! He's just not very good.

 

[Dragonslayer]

We've got one! He's just not very good.

Mmm going to reserve judgement on Gentle until next year. Reason:
Norman as a 6 or 7 creates a pathway for attackers either because he doesnt move up in defense or he is just passive as a defender. He's also forced to make a lot of tackles because coaches know he'll turn up his toes during the game.
Add to this that Bird is slow turning and tends to rush out of the defensive line.
Thrsr 2 combined let through a majority of our missed or incomplete tackles, ir tackles that should have been made if the player was in position correctly.
Whoever plays 6 next year and whover it is at left centre, have to get in-sync very early in pre-season.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

Mmm going to reserve judgement on Gentle until next year. Reason:
Norman as a 6 or 7 creates a pathway for attackers either because he doesnt move up in defense or he is just passive as a defender. He's also forced to make a lot of tackles because coaches know he'll turn up his toes during the game.
Add to this that Bird is slow turning and tends to rush out of the defensive line.
Thrsr 2 combined let through a majority of our missed or incomplete tackles, ir tackles that should have been made if the player was in position correctly.
Whoever plays 6 next year and whover it is at left centre, have to get in-sync very early in pre-season.

You are correct, but plenty of other players followed their example. The forwards in general were soft, with arm grabbing becoming a popular technique and little effort to try to cover other players defensive mistakes.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

While I am in no way in favour of not giving Griffin at least the full 2022 season, if he was to be replaced I would consider Shane Flanagan. This is a complete change of heart from me. I despised him as Scumullas coach. His commentary during the Cowboys game showed that he knows the Dragons players very well, including the next generation. He sounds like he has a high regard for them and thinks they can play at a very high level and his comments made a lot of sense. Anyway, maybe worth a thought if the situation arises that we need a new coach.

 

[Lovemedragons]

Mmm going to reserve judgement on Gentle until next year. Reason:
Norman as a 6 or 7 creates a pathway for attackers either because he doesnt move up in defense or he is just passive as a defender. He's also forced to make a lot of tackles because coaches know he'll turn up his toes during the game.
Add to this that Bird is slow turning and tends to rush out of the defensive line.
Thrsr 2 combined let through a majority of our missed or incomplete tackles, ir tackles that should have been made if the player was in position correctly.
Whoever plays 6 next year and whover it is at left centre, have to get in-sync very early in pre-season.

I agree that Norman and Bird's defensive misgivings caused a lot of our issues but as defensive coach isn't it his job to identify and correct these or advise the head coach to drop these guys when required to. The fact that they were as bad this week as they were 10 weeks ago is hardly an advertisement to him, I'd be embarrassed actually.

 

[thebigredv]

If you thought the on field performance was bad, try watching the presser. You will have no relief.

I'll say it again, we are that messed up as a club that the coach is just going to be the fall guy no matter what, but his credibility has been reduced to very little being associated with the club but also not helped by calls of his own.

"We were still in it up until 2 weeks ago and we earnt it". That's just Mary all over, just an insult to fans. It is moot point when you can't get your team up for a game in two months.

Still talking up Corey Norman as a decent pick up for an NRL club and touted as a 'polarising player'. Polarising??? there's not a single Norman supporter left and he is well aware the fans have been calling for him to be dropped for ages. Stubborn.

Questioned about Sims. Rambled and spluttered over himself, no conviction whatsoever. Should just back his own decisions. Speak some truths, not some political BS. The fans deserve so much more for what they've endured under his own staff's poor performance.

Shame on the board.
Shame on the coach.
Shame, shame, shame on the players.

3 years straight.

 

[Saints Forever]

If you thought the on field performance was bad, try watching the presser. You will have no relief.

I'll say it again, we are that messed up as a club that the coach is just going to be the fall guy no matter what, but his credibility has been reduced to very little being associated with the club but also not helped by calls of his own.

"We were still in it up until 2 weeks ago and we earnt it". That's just Mary all over, just an insult to fans. It is moot point when you can't get your team up for a game in two months.

Still talking up Corey Norman as a decent pick up for an NRL club and touted as a 'polarising player'. Polarising??? there's not a single Norman supporter left and he is well aware the fans have been calling for him to be dropped for ages. Stubborn.

Questioned about Sims. Rambled and spluttered over himself, no conviction whatsoever. Should just back his own decisions. Speak some truths, not some political BS. The fans deserve so much more for what they've endured under his own staff's poor performance.

Shame on the board.
Shame on the coach.
Shame, shame, shame on the players.

3 years straight.

I felt Griffin effectively said the decisions regarding Norman and Sims were made by “management”. Most probably Ben Haran.

 

[thebigredv]

I felt Griffin effectively said the decisions regarding Norman and Sims were made by “management”. Most probably Ben Haran.

That just speaks to the mess of the place. Compare that to Bennett or Bellamy's absolute authority. We are a rabble and it is just so obvious on and off the field. Bad and getting worse.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Last night made me realise that Mary is a better coach than Hook. Wow. Just when we think we can't get worse. Actually Price was even worse. There you go Mary has actually 2 coaches worse than him. Well done Mary.

I was really hoping Hook can prove people wrong but he really justified the bad press he got when he got the job. Goes to show how poor our criteria is for selecting a coach not that they had much choice. It was Hook, Young or Furner. All 3 duds.

Flannagan needs to be snapped up ASAP as he is the only NRL GF winning coach available. Bennet will go to Qld. He is eyeing out the new Qld team. I would even go Fittler. If Arthur gets the boot and Parra get Fittler, Saints should maybe go for him. They need a good experienced coach. No rookie or a dud who has been booted by clubs before due to poor coaching.

People seem to blame the BBQ but the downward slide started way before that. Losing to Dogs and Tigers was before the BBQ and if they won those 2 before the BBQ they would have been on 22 pts equal with the Sharks. The for and against is all Hook and the poor defence / attack due to his coaching and poor team selections. The way Hook also handled the selections post BBQ was terrible. If he is not sacked it really shows that the guys making the decisions do not watch the games. Looking at the score yesterday 20-16 and not knowing anything about the game, they would think, geez Saints did well. Lost to the 3rd best side by 4. Wow , top effort, Well done Hook. No idea it was a reserve grade Souths that actually bombed 3 tries and should have been out to 30+ before they put the cue in the rack and lets Saints score points.

You can see why Gould sacked Griffin when they were 4th as well. He knew the style of footy they were dishing up was not NRL standard let alone Finals and made the call before it was too late. In fact the Penrith squad was that good that it masked the dull tactics to be in the top 4 under his guidance. Cleary comes in puts some tactics around the players and they are world beaters. This is what Saints need now. We have the talent just need someone with tactics that can actually make them play to their strengths. And most of all respect the club and the jumper they are wearing because there is none of that at all at the moment. They can use Hook as the guy who weeded out the poor performers which he has now done and they can look for someone to apply the finishing touches to make them finals bound.

 

[Gourley's Socks]

Left field suggestion (channelling my inner Possm): Cameron Smith coach for 2023.

 

[Ghostface Killah]

First full season as coach. Compare the pair

Mary 2015 - 12 wins - 8th
Hook 2021 - 8 wins - 11th

Mary > Hook

That's how shit Hook is.