NRL 2020: Trent Barrett’s Bulldogs coaching team revealed
If Trent Barrett’s choices for his coaching staff are any indication, Canterbury fans have every reason to dream big next season. Now for the playing roster.
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Two internationals, one Dally M Medal winner, the Tongan assistant Test coach and an ex-Manly and Cronulla coaching staff member.
Canterbury’s coaching team for next season is nearly complete.
News Corp Australia can reveal Sharks assistant Craig Sandercock – who worked with Barrett at Manly – has signed a three-deal deal as a Bulldogs assistant coach.
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North Queensland’s David Tangata-Toa – the Tongan assistant - has become a leading contender to join former Test star Barrett’s coaching staff as a development, pathways and transitional coaching assistant.
While no deal has been announced, Newcastle assistant and former Australian forward David Furner is expected to be appointed lead assistant coach at Canterbury.
And completing the coaching roster at Belmore is former Wests Tigers head coach Mick Potter.
Potter will coach Mounties next season – Canterbury’s feeder club - in the Canterbury Cup. He is a former Bulldogs’ premiership-winning fullback who also claimed the Dally M Medal while playing at Belmore in the mid-1980s.
The Barrett-Furner-Potter-Sandercock-Tangata-Toa coaching roster has Canterbury fans confident of immediate success next season.
Sandercock’s appointment on Tuesday clearly shows Barrett has no plans to walk away from Canterbury – as had been suggested by former coach Phil Gould – due to boardroom issues.
Tangata-Toa is the Tonga assistant coach and a former lower grade at St George and Cronulla. He played his first grade football with English clubs Hull Kingston Rovers and Celtic Crusaders.
Some are suggesting Tangata-Toa’s deal would also span three years once finalised. He is currently helping interim Josh Hannay coach North Queensland after Paul Green left the club mid-season.
Furner – a former Kangaroo second-rower - was among the final three candidates for the St George Illawarra job which was handed to Anthony Griffin.
Barrett supported Furner’s pitch for the Dragons job. Furner wants a return to Sydney for family reasons. He has enjoyed success at every club he has coached.
Sandercock is Cronulla’s defensive coach but may be asked to oversee attack at Canterbury.
CAN BARRETT BE SAVED FROM TOXIC BULLDOGS?
By Fatima Kdouh
Canterbury powerbroker Bill Diakos is desperate to restore harmony at Belmore to prevent new coach Trent Barrett from walking into a snake pit of infighting at the Bulldogs.
Diakos met with football club deputy chairman John Ballesty and director Paul Dunn on Tuesday night to broker a peace deal between the warring factions. Ballesty and Dunn also serve on the league club board.
“I only harbour ambitions to mend the rift because we have a new coach coming in and he needs the full support of the whole organisation. Trent Barrett went through similar machinations at Manly backroom infighting,” Diakos said.
Barrett quit as Manly coach in 2018 after a breakdown in his relationship with chairman Scott Penn and then CEO Lyall Gorman and is again poised to join a club being torn apart by political infighting. It’s feared the internal war could undermine Barrett’s attempts to turn around the club’s fortunes on the field in season 2021.
A league club meeting is scheduled for Wednesday night where it’s believed a motion to have Coorey removed as the chairman of the league club board will be tabled.
That can be avoided if Diakos, Ballesty and Dunn can resolve the matter before the meeting.
The Daily Telegraph understands a peace deal between the pair is also the only way to avoid Coorey petitioning for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be called in a bid to remove Anderson from the football club board.
Even if Coorey is removed as the chairman of the league club board on Wednesday night he will stay on as an elected director. Only voting league club members can depose Coorey from that board.
As a director, Coorey has the power to petition for a football club EGM. It’s understood that Coorey has enough support from voting football club members willing to sign his petition, which requires around 110 signatures from the 1000 voting football club members.
“If there is no resolution, George Coorey will press forward with an EGM of the football club,” a senior club figure said.
The senior administrator also told The Daily Telegraph that a ticket to take over from the Anderson-led board is being assembled in readiness if the infighting descends to that point.
Only last week league club directors called four meetings to try and remove Coorey as chairman over allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women, which is believed to be the root cause of the fallout between the two.
Anderson commissioned an independent investigation into the claims that was completed by management compliance specialists, Barrigntons. Coorey was cleared based on evidence tendered to Barringtons investigators.
The falling out between the two is a spectacular one considering it was Anderson who endorsed Coorey’s ticket in the 2018 league club election for the final seat on the board. Coorey’s election helped Anderson and her new football club board claim the balance of power of the rich league club.
“I backed George and had given an undertaking to the Anderson ticket at the time that George would side with the new football club board,” Diakos said.
Coorey was then elected chairman of the league club board by the football club directors from the Anderson ticket, who sat on the league club by virtue of the league club’s constitution.
Originally published as NRL 2020: Trent Barrett’s Bulldogs coaching team revealed