What happened was Sheens got approached by News to take control of a Cowboys franchise (which is what it was at that stage - certainly not a club) and build it around the style like he had at the Raiders. The request was accompanied with ridiculous money and yes an estate on Magnetic Island just off Townsville. Meninga had retired two years earlier, we'd fallen 1 game short in 95 after being very good things all season and the side was struggling with injuries in 1996 but Sheens didn't neccessarily bail on the team. I think he also realised that maybe his time with the club was up, not in an overstay his welcome sense but the side was loaded with veteran stars and as coaching goes he'd had what 8 years to teach that group and after 8 years your message can get stale especially when you've got a stable of superstars like the Raiders did. He took the money and the opportunity to start things his way again but as he's admitted he thought he could do it on his ability alone and the roster he inherited and then built (with heavy influence by News Ltd looking to distribute some big contracts - Roberts, Walters, Lomax etc) didn't fit the same profile as the talent laiden young group he inherited and built from 1988 onwards.
I firmly believe that Meninga was the wrong option to replace him but the appointment would've agreed with the star player corps because of the respect they had for Big Mal as a player and captain. But as in any sport sometimes a former teammate doesn't work as a coach because that line between teammate and coach gets hard to differentiate. Honestly I think Mal was out of his depth particularly with the stable of stars in his side - do you coach or facilitate a roster like that?
I think we needed a motivator to get the many stars we had out of their comfort zone esp after we threw away a chance at the premiership in 1995. If you read any of the interviews after that game against Canterbury in the preliminary final and almost to a player the Raiders shrugged the big loss off and said something to the effect of 'it's not a worry we'll be back next year'. Opportunities to win a premiership just don't happen and you always have a let down no matter your roster. Injuries killed the side in 1996 and the Dragons dumped us out of the finals despite Daley carrying the side into the end of the season.
1997 was the year we were relatively fit (apart from Stuart's health scare early in year) but had lost Steve Walters and a few forwards) and I think had we had the right coaching we would have won the premiership that year - Broncos or not. I've always had a theory that Daley ran the team from 97-2000 and Stuart when he played and was healthy in 98 when Daley was hurt.
But then again its just a theory.
