Crawley Files: Tail wagging the dog just a Titanic fail

CRAWLEY FILES: There seems to be an agenda to paint Neil Henry as the bad guy, and there may be Titans players unhappy with his coaching methods. Cry me a river.

YOU think Neil Henry’s reputation took a hit this week. How would you like Graham Annesley watching your back?

For me, the way the Gold Coast chief executive has handled this whole sorry saga from the moment Jarryd Hayne signed until now has been appalling.

Then to put out a statement on Sunday afternoon announcing there would be a crisis meeting on Monday only raised further concerns about Annesley’s leadership.

It was only ever going to end in a public hanging.

On the surface, you’d think it highlights extreme naivety.

But given what’s eventuated since, you are entitled to question if it wasn’t all part of a premeditated strike.

Gold Coast Titans players Jarryd Hayne (right) and Ashley Taylor (left). Picture: AAP

Is Annesley that smart, or that silly? I wonder.

Annesley is often talked up as a top operator, and it wasn’t so long ago some were suggesting him as a potential NRL leader.

But unless Annesley’s prime motivation by making details of Monday’s meeting public was to get Henry sacked, then what he has done to the club, the sponsors, the coach, the players and the fans is inexcusable.

Can you imagine Paul White at Brisbane putting out a media statement detailing plans for a crisis meeting to discuss Wayne Bennett’s relationship with any player?

Then when The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield broke the story on NRL 360 on Monday night, that Henry would be sacked but hadn’t been told, don’t you think it was Annesley’s responsibility to ring Henry and tell him either way?

Maybe he did. But why would Henry then come out the following day and say he wanted to stay?

Gold Coast Titans’ Jarryd Hayne. Picture: AAP

There seems to be an agenda to paint Henry as the bad guy, and certainly there may be players unhappy with his coaching methods. Cry me a river.

And take it as fact that not all feel the same way.

Nathan Peats made his feelings known on Twitter that talk about a player revolt was “a load of shit”.

I was also told three of the most senior players fronted Annesley on Tuesday to offer Henry support.

The mail about Ash Taylor and Kane Elgey being reluctant to stay might be on the money.

But do you think successful NRL clubs would allow two young halves, as talented as they are, to decide a head coach’s future?

Taylor is 22, Elgey 23.

Reckon they’d tell Craig Bellamy what to do? Talk about the tail wagging the dog.

People are also dragging up the fact Henry had similar problems during his time at North Queensland with Johnathan Thurston.

I seem to remember Thurston’s career was at the crossroads before Henry pulled him into line, and brought in players like Dallas Johnson and Brent Tate to try and change the Cowboys’ culture.

It was Henry’s tough love that played a significant part in getting Thurston to where he is today, where his legacy will go down in history.

Henry also built that Cowboys roster to a point where Paul Green came in and took the club to a premiership.

Much like Henry was doing at the Titans when he hand-picked a team of blue-collar battlers every fan was cheering on the run to last year’s finals before Hayne arrived.

Amid the hysteria now, what also shouldn’t be downplayed is the fact it was Annesley and chair Rebecca Frizelle who rushed through the deal to sign Hayne.

It is wrong to suggest Henry wasn’t interested, but at the right price.

Hayne’s manager Wayne Beavis played them off the break.

Beavis was at a game on the Gold Coast when the club got wind Hayne hadn’t agreed to play for Parramatta following his NFL return.

Meetings were hastily arranged. Beavis, the genius he is, somehow convinced the club to sign Hayne to an extraordinary deal that even had a $1.2 million option in Hayne’s favour for 2018.

Gold Coast Titans coach Neil Henry. Picture: Getty Images

Following Daly Cherry-Evans’s backflip, the Titans were so desperate to sign a big name player they raced in with eyes wide shut.

You can only imagine Beavis chuckling to himself as they walked out of the room.

Any number of former Parramatta coaches and players would have told the Titans of potential dangers. I got a text from one this week who was scathing of Hayne’s “sense of entitlement”.

Then over the summer stories emerged it wasn’t just Henry having problems with Hayne, but the club’s strength and conditioning department had basically thrown up their hands.

Now it’s all conveniently Henry’s fault because Hayne’s performing like a player worth a fraction of his salary.

If Henry does get sacked after tonight’s game against Parramatta, which of course Hayne has been ruled out of, any future coach should go to the Titans confident of three things.

Firstly, if Hayne stays he has to be treated with kid gloves.

Secondly, don’t upset the players, especially the young ones or those performing poorly.

Thirdly, if the shit hits the fan you’re on your own.

Like Jack Gibson once said, success starts in the front office.

LOVING BENJI’S HAPPY TIGERS RETURN

BRAVO Benji.

In the same week Parramatta said “thanks, but no thanks” about the likelihood of having Jarryd Hayne back next year, the Wests Tigers announced with great anticipation that Benji Marshall would be returning in 2018.

Significantly, it wasn’t just the Tigers applauding the decision.

Not usually one to talk up players leaving Brisbane, Wayne Bennett didn’t hesitate when we called him.

“He will be really good,” he said about Marshall’s pending move.

Since leaving the Tigers at the end of 2013, Marshall’s career has had its challenges, including his stint in Super Rugby and at St George Illawarra.

Welcome home Benji Marshall. Artwork: Scott 'Boo' Bailey

But the way he has fought back this year at Brisbane under Bennett, on a fraction of the money he was on previously, is a measure of the man.

“He has brought everything (to Brisbane) that his critics said he wouldn’t bring,” Bennett said.

He was talking as much about Benji’s influence off the field as the key role he has played on it, not only adapting to his new role but embracing it.

Former Bronco Corey Parker also gave Marshall a glowing reference, suggesting he would be an “invaluable” mentor for Luke Brooks, Josh Reynolds and Tui Lolohea.

“He is a terrific buy,” Parker said on Fox Sports’ On The Couch with Sterlo.

“In terms of what he is going to cost you, it is not going to break the balance down there at the Tigers. But what he is going to bring you is going to outweigh that. I have seen it first-hand.”

What Marshall has done is a credit to him. It’s also something Hayne could possibly look at given the obvious influence he has had on the Gold Coast.

Originally published as Crawley Files: Tail wagging the dog just a Titanic fail