From the same article:
The end for Morris began with the club’s continued frustration at his procrastinations along with an inability to carry the same message from the front office all the way through to the playing group.
Morris’s two greatest supporters in the playing group are halves
Shaun Johnson and Chad Townsend.
Johnson is an example of Cronulla’s great frustration with their coach.
Some time back Johnson’s management presented a two-year, $1.6 million deal to Cronulla. They seemed very hopeful at achieving this.
Morris spoke to Johnson and supported the extension. He wanted him at the club. Johnson was pleased.
Privately, though, the Sharks consulted with Morris as part of their retention talks and, in a different meeting, it was agreed that Johnson be offered a one-year deal for about $400,000.
The Sharks have other examples of Morris seemingly incapable of having the tough conversation with his players, telling them one thing while the club another.
Shaun Johnson is a big supporter of former Sharks coach John Morris. Picture: Richard Dobson
For some time now, by way of another example, the Sharks have been in
quiet negotiations to bring Will Chambers to Cronulla.
Chambers left the NRL in 2019 for Japanese rugby but the world’s COVID crisis sabotaged that and now Chambers is back in Australia hoping to secure an NRL contract.
The news broke three days ago that Cronulla was interested and Chambers has been calling Morris for the past three days, wanting to know what is happening.
Yet for reasons that have frustrated the Sharks, Morris has failed to call him back.
When asked, Morris had several concerns.
He asked club officials if Chambers was willing to play for the Sharks’ feeder club, Newtown. Of course Chambers knew there was a protocol to coming back.
More, though, the club saw this as a coach stalling, not prepared to make a decision.
He was also concerned with what he would say to the current centres once they became aware of their interest in Chambers.
Former Storm star Will Chambers has flagged his interest in a return to the NRL with Cronulla. Picture: AAP Image/Michael Dodge
For most head coaches they are bread and butter decisions yet Morris seemed unwilling to make the call. Meanwhile, as Morris procrastinates, Chambers waits.
Morris’s procrastinations form some of the concerns Cronulla officials have that Morris is still developing into a head coach but is not completely there yet.
They are not one-off incidents.
For a club trying to get back heading towards the top of the NRL, the coach’s hesitations are frustrating.
They certainly know he has all the technical nous to be a good coach.
For some years now the Sharks have been weighed down by salary cap penalties, their cap reduced by $350,000 last season and the season before. At various times highly-paid players Josh Dugan, Matt Moylan, Andrew Fifita and Johnson have been missing for extended periods.
Yet still the Sharks have remained competitive.
Morris has steered the Sharks to the finals in each of the past two seasons.
John Morris took the Sharks to the finals the past two seasons. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images
This, despite Cronulla owning the unusual record of not beating a top-eight team last season.
Far from upset with Morris’s shortcomings, the Sharks see it as an indication that Morris is still developing as a head coach.
That is why they began exploring the market, not ruling Morris out as the head coach for next season but not prepared to extend him with a new contract.
But the changing narratives have constantly frustrated the club and confirmed the belief he is still developing into a head coach.
Against that, Fitzgibbon interviewed as a coach with firm beliefs.
Soon after Fitzgibbon signed his deal on Tuesday, Sharks boss Dino Mezzatesta called in Morris to tell him.
He was gone before dinner, assistant Josh Hannay taking over immediately.
