I agree he cant be any worse, but to appoint McGregor means were going to burn another 12 months minimum before he gets the sack..and waste any momentum gained from our new players coming.Ok, I know Mary is despised by most Dragons fans, but so is Pricey. In terms of finishing off this season, which is the lesser of two evils - Price or McGregor?
He will not be coaching us in Round 1 in 2014.
Speaking of exposure, we have one match on free to air for the rest of the year - round 22 against the Broncos, Aug 11 at Lang Park.
Much as it hurts me, have to agree. Dragons just don't sack coachesI would not bet on that.
To be honest, I don't know about you guys, but I think I need to take a break from the Dragons for a while. The overwhelming stupidity, ineptitude and the lack of foresight which is in the club at the moment is too much for me to bear. Reading all of the statements and excuses from Steve Price additionally just makes me wonder how the hell he got this job. Right now, my brain is in overdrive with frustration. I need a cooling down period!
By keeping Price in here, not only will we just continue on as a shit team, we will lose exposure, which can lead to losing fans, game revenue and merchandise revenue. We may be arguably the biggest Sydney team across Australia, but we won't be anymore if Doust does nothing about this. All the kids will start choosing teams like Souths, Roosters and Bulldogs, and we'll just be a team relying on the support of pensioners. I take great pride in the fact my local team is such a big entity in the NRL, owing to its fame and support base, and it would hurt to see this diminish
Matey, I've sated this earlier, that the diehard fan from the 60-70-80-90's know the history and legend, but Gen -Y have no idea, young players and fans don't hold the awe and passion like we do. What's is happening, is dangerous to the club, we will just end up another club living on the glory days no one gives a stuff about that now....., look at Souths, 40 years in wilderness, countless wooden spoons, and for a time a retirement village for cash hungry players. I also have a real concern about Dougan getting cold feet and holding off new contract... as soon as that happens watch other teams circle again.
I agree he cant be any worse, but to appoint McGregor means were going to burn another 12 months minimum before he gets the sack..and waste any momentum gained from our new players coming.
The replacement has to atleast be a potential longterm coach.. I dont know this Morgan bloke but he appears to have an amazing record and im also good with Taylor (esp as a halfback and goalkicker along with his record at Parra and experience in the NRL), im ok with others too, but I want it to be a potential long-termer.
I've sat back and watched this unfold and it's ashamedly getting from bad to worse and is now at a point of NO return! Surely it is impossible to continue with Price. This is a results driven game and he just can't get the results! I've never written on here before but wanted to voice my opinion.
What's needed is to replace him with quality and to do it now! The only problem is that there are not many coaches not contracted somewhere else that could be available say next week. Some of the names tossed up are just as bad as Price! I follow both the NRL and UK SL and take an interest in the Aussies over there. When talking to some UK friends about the plight of the Dragons a name was tossed up and I did some more research after remembering watching a few games of his. I remember this person as a player in the NRL before he moved away to cut his teeth in the coaching ranks. And cut his teeth he did.
The person I refer to is Justin Morgan. Some of you might recall him being a Parramatta junior and playing several seasons under Brian Smith. He spent a year in Canberra before playing for the NZ Warriors under Daniel Anderson for a few years. And then he retired. Not a super star player but one that put the hard yards in and got the job done.
He then moved to Toulouse France to start his coaching career. Had had an amateur team and got them up to the Grand Final after a couple of years there after a dominant season. But more noteworthy were his achievements in the Challenge Cup. His part time team defeated a full time SL team and went all the way to the semi finals where he faced Tony Smith's team. A close game by all accounts but they lost to the stronger team of the SL. It was the first time a French amateur team ever played in the Challenge Cup Semi Final.
After this winning streak, he was head hunted by Hull Kingston Rovers who were in the National League then. Again he had a basic team and the goal of securing them a place into the SL. It took him one full season to achieve that and that year his team won nearly all their games over the entire season. Not only did his team make and win the grand final to secure their first year in SL, but back then there was a relegation system in place so they had to stay up in the SL by not getting the wooden spoon - something that happened to nearly all the teams that were promoted.
Morgan's team did more than that. They surprised many and were competitive in the competition and made the play offs every year Morgan was there. He built a formidable team and blooded many UK youngsters and lured many an Aussie player, to name a few, Clint Newton, Mick Vella, Ben Galea, Willie Mason, Blake Green and Michael Dobson. Some of those players have left KR better players. Clint Newton returning to the NRL and Dobson following next season to Newcastle. Morgan's players are loyal with nearly a dozen leaving the year he did and with Dobson leaving this season that's the majority of his players gone.
Morgan stepped into the NRL as assistant coach to Furner at Canberra last year and they made a late surge for the play offs. He was up there in the final three for the NZ Warriors job last year according to the NZ press. Morgan is currently working under Daniel Anderson again as a Video Referee, Mentor and Match Reviewer. He is free from a contract at any club. At the moment his Linked In profile (his CV is quite impressive) says he is waiting for his next NRL Club. Well here is one he can take!
Morgan could be just what is needed here! He has served as a Head Coach for nearly 10 years and had a great deal of success in turning down and out clubs and players into regular play off teams and according to all reports in the UK he did it with Hull KR on limited funds. We've seen some great things this season in other coaches that have some from the SL; Maguire, Potter and Robinson. It was Morgan who gave Trent Robinson his coaching break when he played in his French team. He became Morgan's assistant.
Price has got to go and we need a replacement immediately, it can't wait till the end of the season. What have we got to lose? I think Morgan would do a better job than Price. And if the board are weary of a non-big name coach then at least offer it to him till the end of the season to see what he can do. The Tigers have taken a punt with Potter. I'd definitely back Morgan. Who else is there for right now?
The other thing to keep in mind is that with three clubs in the hunt for new head coaches we need to be the first off the blocks. When you look at who's out there and available surely Morgan has to be near the top of that list. We can not go on with Price as it's becoming embarrassing and the fans are growing more and more unsettled. I really hope the board ring in the changes this week. And if they read the voice of the fans I hope they talk to Morgan as he is available to coach now and he's got a good track record in the SL.
SOMETHING HAS TO HAPPEN NOW!
To be honest, I don't know about you guys, but I think I need to take a break from the Dragons for a while. The overwhelming stupidity, ineptitude and the lack of foresight which is in the club at the moment is too much for me to bear. Reading all of the statements and excuses from Steve Price additionally just makes me wonder how the hell he got this job. Right now, my brain is in overdrive with frustration. I need a cooling down period!
By keeping Price in here, not only will we just continue on as a shit team, we will lose exposure, which can lead to losing fans, game revenue and merchandise revenue. We may be arguably the biggest Sydney team across Australia, but we won't be anymore if Doust does nothing about this. All the kids will start choosing teams like Souths, Roosters and Bulldogs, and we'll just be a team relying on the support of pensioners. I take great pride in the fact my local team is such a big entity in the NRL, owing to its fame and support base, and it would hurt to see this diminish
Do us all a favour and please do take a break.What dribble,losing fans,you mean bandwagon fans.True supporters don't choose other teams when their team struggles.Look at Souffs fans,they have been awful for a long time but have always had a large supporter base like us.
All teams go through sh*t periods,look at the Broncos,we are going through one now and true supporters who are angry will still stick with the team in their hearts and see this through.
You however better take time off .
Great commentary BOBs. I am a huge fan of Bennett, he is a brilliant leader. My favourite story is when Shane Webke's father passed away, he was a young reserve grader. He tells the story of placing the coffin down as a pall bearer and turning round at the front of the church to go to his seat. He was surprised to see Wayne Bennett stood at the back of the church. Webke said that previously Bennett had barely spoke two words to him because he was just a junior, in fact he didn't think Wayne new he even existed and yet he drove five hours to to be there for his father's funeral. Suffice to say, with leadership like that as inspiration, its no surprise Webke played a grand final with a broken arm.I cannot think of one player that has excelled this year or last for that matter under Price. Dugan maybe but his inspiration is drawn from elsewhere.
?Get the Buy In, Coach the Mind, The Rest then Follows?
- Robin Clarkson, Contributed by Robin Clarkson
I'm or the belief that there was never any need for our Club to struggle to the extent it has. Most of our problems are self-inflicted and most can be traced back to mistakes made by our club officials.
Appointing Price after spending the past 10 years as a reasonably successful coach in the juniors and 3 years as assistant coach to Bennett, was a reasonable decision however, extending his contract after such a poor performance in 2012 was a grave mistake.
Whoever was in charge of recruiting since the Bennett days can only be described as highly incompetent. The recruitment of so many cheap marginal first graders that have not lived up to the desired potential is a fair example that the people responsible either don't know what they are doing or have other priorities other than recruiting the very best players available within the salary cap.
Keep Price on because he is cheap is rediculas. Keeping Price on because there is no other suitable coach available is a cop out. Hinting that Macgreger, Holbrook, Hornby and Young are our options in the future is another example of the rediculas.
The Dragons are in a worse position now than they were in when they recruited Bennett and a much worse position than when Bennett left. It will take a top line coach an enourmus effort to turn things around and none of the names mentioned above have the talant or experience to get the job done. Maybe a couple of these guys may in the future be suitable for an assistant coach postion however, I expect a new top line coach will want to pick his own coaching staff give the size of the job in front of him.
My view is that we need a certain type of coach to turn things around and then another type of coach to keep things going at the right level. For the first stage 'turning things aroud we need a high salary coach like:
Sheens
B Smith
Bennett
Belemy
Maguire
Once things are back on track we would need a level headed coach to keep the team up there, someone like;
T Smith
Brown
Stone
So in my opinion we should terminate Price's contract this week and appoint an interim coach for the remainder of the year. For 2014 we should appoint on a two year deal, with an option in favour of the Club for a further year, one of the only two suitable coaches available;
Sheens - wants to coach NRL again but after his World Cup commitments
B Smith - contracted as an assistant coach for the remainder of this year
For me, I would be comfortable with either of these two guys to be appointed head coach on a two year deal starting November this year.