NRL clubs must remember that a great coach does more than win or lose
MANLY and Penrith must make the right call with their next coaches, because the game is about more than just wins and losses writes DAVID RICCIO.
Opinion
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MANLY and Penrith, take the tip.
Learn the value of care and you’ll find your answer.
In any workplace, in any office, on any job site, you’ll find success is with the ones who care most about the outcome.
There’s simply no number, salary or price you can put on a person who craves results, for someone more than just themselves.
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It’s an ingredient for coaching employment that rugby league clubs are slowly cottoning onto.
The Roosters, formerly a club with a sharp axe and a loaded gun, have a coach they want for the next 10-years in Trent Robinson.
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If it were only about results and winning premierships, there’s no way chairman Nick Politis would’ve re-signed Robinson until 2022.
There’s still plenty of footy left yet in this season.
Because the reality is, it’s not only about W’s.
The Roosters have what Ricky Stuart is to Canberra, Craig Bellamy is to Melbourne, Shane Flanagan is to Cronulla, Brad Arthur is to Parramatta, Dean Pay is to Canterbury and although tested of late, Paul McGregor is to St George-Illawarra.
All of the above understand the impact of wins and losses — not just to their winning records, but their community, their fans and their region.
Knights coach Nathan Brown is striving to be that coach too.
For these men, coaching is only part of their duties.
They’re coaches who are invested in something much more than just block plays and rushing defence.
They’re invested in not just a footy club, but a city or a suburb.
The fans know that when Flanagan roundhouse kicks an Esky, Stuart wants to eat the microphone in front of him and McGregor feels like crying, it’s coming from a place which isn’t only about the scoreboard.
They fist-pump, cheer, scream, argue and whinge for the outcome because they know its about something much bigger than themselves.
On NRL 360 on Monday night, Flanagan said he would “love to be at the club for the next five or 10 years.’’
In the same conversation he began speaking about setting-up academies and pathways “for when I’m not here anymore.’’
The unforeseen value of care and attachment to the club, is the very reason why the Bulldogs appointed Pay.
He bleeds Belmore, stripping white paint from the gymnasium walls and replacing them with pictures of Lamb, Mortimer and Tunks the first week he moved in.
Meanwhile, he knows the club’s salary cap is so shot it will take years to recover. Yet he’s seeing it through.
Put it this way, would the majority of Eels fans seriously cop another wooden spoon, if Arthur wasn’t their coach?
Have you ever heard of a board more supportive of a coach facing the wooden spoon?
Imagine if this were Stuart?
The reason is, Arthur is a bloke that, so guilty with how the way the Eels had performed, wouldn’t go out for dinner with his family until halfway through this year.
Arthur couldn’t deal with the stares because as the coach of local footy club the Rouse Hill Rhinos, he’d be staring too.
He feels the pain of a town, just like Robinson, Flanagan, Pay and Stuart.
The Panthers have their next coach under their nose in Cameron Ciraldo.
A former player, former club welfare manager, former NYC coach, former assistant coach, Ciraldo has stated repeatedly over the past week that he only wants “the best for a club and area I’m so proud to represent.’’
Manly’s replacement for Trent Barrett will be interesting.
Former players and coaches Geoff Toovery and Des Hasler, have been mentioned.
If Manly want their DNA back, the pair would be a place to start.