NRL 2016: Jason Taylor, Brad Arthur, Andrew McFadden among coaches under most pressure this season

THE expectation to deliver as a coach in the NRL is intense. MATT LOGUE looks at those under the most pressure heading into the 2016 NRL season.

Trent Barrett, Andrew McFadden, Bard Arthur and Jason Taylor are a host of coaches in the hot seat heading into 2016.

THE morning sun has barely risen in Belmore and Bulldogs HQ is already buzzing.

It’s match review time, so for the next four hours coach Des Hasler locks his players in the video room and leads them through a detailed look at all the mistakes and magic from their previous encounter.

As Hasler meticulously analyses the footage, his focus is suddenly interrupted by a series of phone calls. The first comes after he notices a dodgy call against his Doggies, prompting him to angrily storm out of the room and call the referees boss.

Red-faced and furious, Hasler returns to find out via the football manager that one of his players has been fined and charged with drink driving. This double blow is topped off by the club’s conditioner, who informs the coach of a number of injured players, forcing him to completely reorganise his training schedule for the week.

Welcome to the modern world of coaching in the closest and most captivating rugby league competition on the planet — a high-pressure juggling act that involves much more than simply training or sitting in front of a computer cutting up match footage. The man with the clipboard is also expected to manage his time with board meetings, sponsorship and corporate events, media conferences, player managers and bosses at the NRL.

This extra responsibility is why support staff at NRL clubs have tripled in the past five years and why teams are hiring general managers to oversee the day-to-day operations and let the coach focus on the football.

Matt Elliott is one person who fully understands the expectations on today’s coaches, having lived the full-on experience himself at four clubs spanning 18 years.

“Head coaches are pretty much general managers or CEOs these days — that’s what you sign up for,” Elliott says.

“With specialisation elevating, the coach’s responsibilities increase. The organisations that have done it really well with their coaches are the ones that provide the right amount of resources.

“Craig Bellamy is the best example. He understands the need for specialisation, he’s well supported by his organisation and makes people clear on their roles.

“The coaches in organisations that aren’t as well resourced tend to try and save the world by doing other things. This dilutes their attention and when a head coach does that, the consequences are quite often on the footy field.”

Trent Barrett, Andrew McFadden, Bard Arthur and Jason Taylor are a host of coaches in the hot seat heading into 2016.

The added accountability on a head coach is why the assistants often run the team and carry out the plan and the coach oversees it all and adds expert input.

That said, there is a reason Hasler earns approximately $1 million a year while his assistant Kelly Egan takes home $180,000.

It’s called pressure.

The head coach is on-call 24/7. They’re first to arrive and the last to leave. These long hours for a coach come down to, often to their own detriment, how much of a control freak they want to be.

Some coaches, like Hasler, want to be in control of everything and that means that he doesn’t sleep. He works seven days a week, goes to bed at midnight and his mobile phone is always on — he rarely switches off.

If the team is struggling, no one says the assistant coaches can’t coach. They blame the head coach and then call on the assistant to be elevated into the top job.

There is also little to no job security for a head coach. They can be sacked in their first year of a three-year contract — it’s that cut-throat.

In the NFL they punt coaches after just five weeks and, while the NRL isn’t as ruthless, everybody is under pressure to succeed straight away. There is no grace period.

To complicate matters, success or failure is often out of your hands and governed by outside influences like the club’s board, players and the media.

For all the burdens placed on a coach, Elliott believes the extra stress can bring out the best in individuals.

“People always talk about the pressure, but pressure isn’t a bad thing,’’ he says.

“You achieve your best under pressure. It’s only when coaches are under-resourced that organisations get a little bit impatient with their expectations for success.

“It’s also dealing with the people around the organisation that don’t understand people, players and time frames.

“They are the ones who take too much attention away from the coaches doing the job they need to do.”

At the end of the day, it’s the coach who plants the seed, then creates and shows the direction. That’s why the pressure is placed on them.

As the well-worn saying goes, it starts at the top — and that will be no different for the 16 NRL coaches next year.

JASON TAYLOR

NRL premiership record: 113 matches, 49 wins, 63 losses, 1 draw

Winning percentage: 43.8%

Taylor has backed himself into a corner over his handling of Robbie Farah’s future.

If Farah is benched, he won’t be able to use the veteran hooker’s absence as an excuse if the Tigers struggle next season.

Taylor has given the board a reason to sack him, but Elliott insists there are two sides to the situation.

“You don’t make a decision on a player of Farah’s stature on your own,” he says.

“If the organisation then backs down on Jason because of outside pressure, that’s poor.”

NATHAN BROWN

NRL premiership record: 151 matches, 80 wins, 71 losses

Winning percentage: 53%

Super League record: 193 matches, 115 wins, 76 losses, ­2 draws

Winning percentage: 60.2%

Brown will be given time to deliver results at Newcastle — a club that isn’t flush with cash and can’t afford to pay him out.

The Knights have placed full faith in Brown to rebuild the kingdom and restore pride in the respected Hunter club.

Elliott has no doubts this can happen provided Brown is given the right tools to complete the job.

“It’s about the support they receive from above in time and resources, because you don’t compete if you don’t,” he says.

TRENT BARRETT

Holden Cup record: 24 matches, 12 wins, 11 losses, 1 draw

Winning percentage: 52.2%

Barrett has a three-year deal at Brookvale but if he loses the change room in the first year he could face pressure, given Manly’s premiership-winning history.

The late Jack Gibson once famously said: “A coach should only stay at a club for three years.”

The general rule of thumb is if you sign a three-year deal, it’s really a two-year deal.

“If you succeed in the first season, then you’ll get a contract extension or you’ll see out the three years.

“If you fail, the club can sack you straight away depending on having the funds to pay out.”

Fortunately for Barrett, he has a quality roster at his disposal at the Sea Eagles and it’s hard to see him having anything but success.

ANTHONY GRIFFIN

NRL premiership record: 101 matches, 54 wins, 46 losses, 1 draw

Winning percentage: 54%

This is Griffin’s last chance to prove he is an NRL-calibre coach.

Penrith boss Phil Gould had his sights set on Barrett replacing Ivan Cleary as head coach, which is why he was disappointed when Barrett decided to leave for Brookvale.

Griffin has set the bar high in his first few months at the Panthers by refusing to promise players starting positions, while he has put the squad through punishing sessions in the Western Sydney sun.

The challenge will be converting this high standard to results in the regular season — something that could make or break Griffin’s coaching career.

ANDREW MCFADDEN

NRL premiership record: 43 matches, 19 wins, 24 losses

Winning percentage: 44.2%

McFadden faces the most pressure of any coach given he is at a club which won’t accept failure.

If a new-look Warriors, who will boast star recruits Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Issac Luke, don’t make the eight, McFadden is gone.

You also don’t hire an NRL-ready Justin Morgan as an assistant to stay an assistant. This is why Elliott believes the playing group must step up for McFadden.

“The majority of the players that have been there for a long time, they are the guys who have delivered the results,” the former Warriors coach says.

“If the expectation is on Roger and Issac to come in and take them to the finals, I think that’s unrealistic.

“It’s about the people around them being at that level.”

BRAD ARTHUR

NRL premiership record: 54 matches, 23 wins, 31 losses

Winning percentage: 42.6%

After two years, Brad Arthur finally has the roster he wants at Parramatta, so the pressure to deliver results is on big time.

The blue-and-gold army have been living in the club’s glory years of the 1980s for far too long and are desperate to hail a group of modern-day stars as champions.

New recruits Kieran Foran, Beau Scott and Michael Gordon will all provide much-needed spark, but it’s inconsistency the Eels must master to ensure Arthur’s long-term security.

COACHING BY THE NUMBERS

The longest-serving coach is Wayne Bennett — 29 seasons and 735 games at premiership level

The shortest-serving coach was Harold Johnston, who lasted only five games as Manly coach in their first season (1947). He was sacked after five consecutive losses and replaced by former international Ray Stehr.

19 GAMES — The longest-winning streak is 19 games by Jack Gibson with Easts in 1975.

35 GAMES — The longest undefeated streak is 35 games (31 wins and four draws) by Arthur ‘Pony’ Halloway with Easts from 1935-37.

Source: David Middleton

League Information Services

Originally published as NRL 2016: Jason Taylor, Brad Arthur, Andrew McFadden among coaches under most pressure this season