Merciless attitude of NRL fans towards coaches must stop: Short-term failure doesn’t mean coaches must be terminated
No less than seven NRL coaches have been thrust into the firing line by fans this season. It’s the cutthroat mentality that has made the NRL as callous as the EPL and NFL in terms of coaching brutality – and it needs to stop.
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Des Hasler, Adam O’Brien, Todd Payten, Michael Maguire, Anthony Seibold, Benji Marshall, Laurie Daley, even Wayne Bennett, all under the pump – in just 19 weeks.
Welcome to the cutthroat world of NRL coaching.
No fewer than seven NRL coaches – and a State of Origin legend – have been squarely in the firing line and we’re only in mid-July. That’s 41 per cent of all coaches under scrutiny since March.
C’mon, this is getting ridiculous.
I fully understand that rugby league coaching is brutal and success is absolutely imperative for membership, commercial, corporate and gate takings but the increasing attacks on coaches have become merciless.
Fans are baying for blood after just three to four losses – and the condemnation is vicious. Every coach can be, and should be, critiqued but short-term failure doesn’t mean the coach must be terminated or targeted.
All coaches are accountable – and they clearly need results -— but this collective pile-in is out of control. When did rugby league become so ruthless and cruel?
I can remember starting at The Daily Telegraph in late 1989 when coaches with modest results would continue to ply their trade without substantial scrutiny for up to 18 months. They were given time and breathing space.
Rugby league used to look at the English Premier League and America’s NFL and tremble at the fierce turnover of managers and coaches.
Six clubs changed managers in the EPL last season. Between 2019 and 2024, 47 EPL gaffers were sacked. Since 2015, at least five NFL coaches have been punted each season.
Well my friends, rugby league is now just as brutal.
Since 2021, 16 NRL coaches have been axed. Since 2016, 33 coaches have been dumped. And I’m tipping there will be at least another four to five over the next 12 months.
NRL clubs have become far too swift and reckless in cutting coaches in recent years. Rugby league is travelling down a very harsh and expressive road where coaches are judged so quickly.
Even coaches with excessive injuries or suspensions aren’t immune from the guillotine. The tolerance level for coaches is at rock bottom. No-one wants to stay the course. Win now or get out.
Fans and online trolls now have a voice to vent their anger and whip up a frenzy among their peers inside chat rooms. The rugby league media footprint is also huge these days and regularly prompt and dissect the performances of all coaches.
Seibold is a constant target among Sea Eagles fans while Brisbane’s Maguire was feeling some searing heat just last month.
If you read media reports, Gold Coast’s Hasler is dead man walking while Wests Tigers coach Marshall is fending off critics week-to-week.
Despite getting Newcastle to the finals in four of the past five seasons, O’Brien seems to be under pressure every week — he is just about gone according to speculation – while chat emerged over the weekend that Payten was fighting for his future at North Queensland.
It doesn’t end there.
Despite being among the greatest coaches of all-time, South Sydney’s Wayne Bennett — with six wins and 11 losses — has now been questioned by Rabbitohs fans. Shane Flanagan will probably be next. I wonder whether Parramatta will hold their nerve with Jason Ryles?
Fans now want Daley out as NSW coach. He has coached three games in one series since being recalled. That’s right — three matches, 240 minutes — but people want him gone.
Clearly all these coaches won’t be dumped but the temperature is rising. When did rugby league become so hardened?
Before you say it, yes, I have written multiple stories about coaches under pressure during my tenure as a sports journalist. I’m not claiming to be holier-than-thou in all this and the media needs to hold coaches to account.
I’m not suggesting those stories stop but how about the game as a whole starts giving coaches a little more respite before jittery boards pull the trigger. Ever heard of taking a deep breath?
A Rugby Leagues Coaches’ Association was formed in 2020 to support coaches but the group seems to have gone quiet.
Club boards and chairpersons have to be rigidly strong and repel the pressure. Yet, rather than stay solid, they figure the easiest way to quieten outside noise is by dumping a coach.
Coaches these days aren’t even the primary figures behind building a playing roster. That responsibility belongs to the recruitment and list manager.
But that doesn’t matter. Lose three games in succession and the fans are demanding action.
The NRL has become as callous as the EPL and NFL.
That’s kind of sad.
DOG BITES
This was a face-off that would have sent shudders through rugby league in the 1980s.
It shows ferocious former rival props Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach and Les ‘Bundy’ Davidson getting up-close-and-personal last week after a history of fierce battles against one-another.
This time around, Tigers’ firebrand Roach and the formidable Davidson came together in peace at a function honouring Great Britain international Garry Schofield inside The Juniors in Kensington.
“I have the utmost respect for Les as a player, we played together at Warrington, and also as a bloke,” Roach said. “Mate, you had to have your wits about you when you played against him because he never took a backward step.”
The brutal Warrington pack Roach referred to also included Kevin Tamati, Mike Gregory and Les Boyd.
“We never strung many games together because one or two of us was always suspended,” Roach said.
*****
Which former international posted a disgusting comment on social media because he travelled to Queensland to watch his son play only to discover his boys’ team had been relegated to a second-tier playoff?
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Calls are growing louder from those in-the-know that Roosters’ rugby convert Mark Nawaqanitawase could soon become a dual international.
Nawaqanitawase’s strong form this season has many believing he will be named in Australia’s Kangaroo squad to tour England in October. It will be the first time Australia and England have competed for the Ashes since 2003.
*****
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Former Manly and Parramatta champion Jamie Lyon has come out of retirement to play reserve grade for the Ballina Seagulls.
Lyon, who represented NSW and Australia, played alongside son Jed in a recent 22-0 win over Mullumbimby Giants.
Now 43, Lyon retired from the NRL back in 2016.
*****
Former Sky Sports broadcaster and Liberal candidate for Warringah at the last Federal election, Jaimee Rogers, has been invited onto the North Sydney Bears board.
“Sport has given me so much over the years, so it’s incredibly rewarding to now give something back and what better way than joining the board of the mighty North Sydney Bears,” she said.
“I’m proud to be part of the next chapter of one of rugby league’s most storeyed clubs. The Bears are back.”
Rogers has already started her new role at the club.
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Was that former Parramatta champion and Fox League star Nathan Hindmarsh sitting courtside at a Sydney Swifts netball game? It certainly was.
Originally published as Merciless attitude of NRL fans towards coaches must stop: Short-term failure doesn’t mean coaches must be terminated
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