What every NRL coach wants for Christmas in 2018
With Christmas just around the corner, Paul Crawley has taken a look at every NRL coach to find out what they want from Santa this year.
SUPERCOACH: The base stat kings
GREENBERG’S PROMISE: Enough is enough
With Shane Flanagan’s coaching career now in tatters, it caps off a crazy and tumultuous year for NRL coaches.
Paul Crawley looks back on the highs and lows for every coach in 2018, and what should be at the top of their Christmas wish list.
TRENT ROBINSON
Lowlight:
Under huge pressure the moment he signed Cooper Cronk over the top of Mitchell Pearce. From that point he basically had to at least make the grand final for the season to be judged a success. There was even a period when rumours were doing the rounds that Ivan Cleary was in line to take over if he failed.
Highlight:
Say what you like about Robinson having the best roster at his disposal. That grand final performance will go down as one of the game’s gutsiest and most inspirational team efforts. Above all else, it showed the camaraderie Robinson has built within his super squad, the sort of spirit money can’t buy.
Christmas wish:
This is like trying to pick a present for your rich uncle, what do you give the person who appears to have everything?
I’ll tell you what you give them, respect.
What Robinson has done in six years now rivals the start to the careers of Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy. Two premierships in the same time Bennett did in the early days at Brisbane, while Bellamy did it in seven years in Melbourne.
CRAIG BELLAMY
Lowlight:
The low point of Melbourne’s season wasn’t Bellamy’s doing, but rumours relating to a fallout between Cameron Smith and Billy Slater. Of course, it was fobbed off as fake news, same as there was no drama between Smith and Cooper Cronk. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Highlight:
Forget what happened on grand final night. Just to be there again showed what a tremendous coach Bellamy is. I often wonder how Bellamy’s career would have panned out if he chose to start at Wests Tigers and not Melbourne when he had the choice. No doubt, the Tigers would be a powerhouse.
Christmas wish:
New Billy Slater’s don’t just fall off the Christmas tree. But anyone who has seen Scott Drinkwater in action knows this kid is a special talent. The question only time will answer is if he has the other qualities that helped make Slater the champion he was.
ANTHONY SEIBOLD
Lowlight:
Went from Dally M coach of the year to being hunted out of Souths amid talk he’d lost the players’ support. Just as I don’t blame Rabbitohs players and fans for being upset, I don’t knock the bloke for having an ambition to coach Brisbane. Where Seibold let himself down was lack of transparency with the same club that gave him his head coaching start.
Highlight:
Seriously, 12 months ago who would have backed the game’s newest coach to take Wayne Bennett’s job? Basically took the same roster that missed the finals the two previous seasons to a game off the grand final. Having Greg Inglis back helped.
Christmas wish:
An ice bath to keep him cool in Brisbane’s heat. You might remember how the stress the better of Seibold before the Rabbitohs’ game against the Broncos late in the season. Well, he’d better get used to it. That’s the extra pressure that goes with being the face of the game’s biggest club.
SHANE FLANAGAN
Lowlight:
What started as a salary cap investigation developed into a witch hunt by the NRL’s Gestapo-like integrity unit. Did it really surprise anyone Flanagan had contact with the club and players during his peptides ban? It was all a charade at the time, that he had not cut complete ties. Nothing was done about it then, why the fuss now?
Highlight:
You imagine watching his son Kyle make his NRL debut would be hard to top. There is talk coming from people close to Flanagan that this new ban will force him to walk away for good. I’m tipping his desire to play a part in his son’s career will drive him back.
Christmas wish:
A time machine so he could travel back and make damn sure Stephen Dank never stepped foot in Cronulla. But you choose your own path in life.
PAUL MCGREGOR
Lowlight:
That post-Origin period really took a toll on McGregor. God love Dragons fans but, at times, they are impossible to please. Some forget only one win separated the top eight this year. And for a good part of the season Saints led the way. Still McGregor was copping it.
Highlight:
The final round win over Newcastle followed by that flogging of the Broncos in week one of the finals. With a bit of luck on the injury front I reckon the Dragons would have taken Souths to be playing for a place in the grand final.
Christmas wish:
For Corey Norman to turn up after the Christmas break with an attitude hell bent on proving Parramatta wrong. Make no mistake, a premiership window is now open.
ANTHONY GRIFFIN
Lowlight:
Here’s the definition of rugby league insanity: Sacking a coach with more than two years to run on his contract when the team is coming equal fourth a month out from the finals, to bring back a coach previously sacked by the same administration?
Highlight:
Griffin was never a media darling but didn’t he make up for it with his appearance on NRL 360 that night when he took Phil Gould to task like few people in the game have ever been brave enough to do publicly.
Christmas wish:
The longer you are out of the game the harder it is to find your way back. Griffin deserves another shot, hopefully it comes along in the New Year.
WAYNE BENNETT
Lowlight:
To get sacked from a club you helped build via email and text message because you’d left your phone at home while spending the last Sunday of your holidays with your son stinks. For months we all knew this was going to end one way. Surely it should have been done face-to-face.
Highlight:
For all those whingers who still blame Bennett for leaving Newcastle in a mess. Well, now he leaves behind the game’s best young roster at Brisbane. Getting the Broncos into the finals despite playing most of the season without two of the club’s three highest paid players, Matt Gillett and Jack Bird, was hugely underrated.
Christmas wish:
For Sam Burgess and Greg Inglis to stay fit. Bennett maintains he has never lost his desire to coach, that’s why he’s still doing the job coming into his 69th year. But he also knows you don’t win premierships without the best players.
STEPHEN KEARNEY
Lowlight:
The Warriors set out with the intention of giving Shaun Johnson a gentle backhander to remind him of his obligations as a marquee player, but ended up losing him to Cronulla. For all his inconsistency, Johnson still won his fair share of games. This should have been handled better, by all parties.
Highlight:
Aside from the Johnson drama, Kearney should be congratulated for injecting passion and pride back in the Warriors. My favourite performance was their win over the Dragons in New Zealand that was built on tough, gritty defence. Not flamboyant attack.
Christmas wish:
A game of Monopoly, so Kearney can pick up one of those ‘get out of jail’ cards. I still can’t believe the Warriors let Johnson go without having a replacement ready. Kearney’s coaching career could ultimately hinge on this decision.
IVAN CLEARY
Lowlight:
Here’s the question I still can’t get my head around: Why would Anthony Griffin say publicly that Phil Gould told him Cleary was taking over at Penrith when Griffin was sacked, if Cleary’s “intention” was to see out his Wests Tigers contract?
Highlight:
You have to give Cleary credit for the job he did at the Tigers. They played above themselves early in the season but ultimately ran out of gas. All the commotion about the coach’s future probably didn’t help.
Christmas wish:
A peace pipe to smoke with his old mate Gus. The coaching dramas in recent years has cost Penrith millions. Given Griffin had them in top four contention, so what expectation will be placed on Cleary?
RICKY STUART
Lowlight:
The night the Raiders were robbed by those shocking refereeing decisions at Cronulla would be hard to top. But thinking back, I still shake my head at how they butchered those first three games against Gold Coast, Newcastle and the Warriors. From that point they were up against it.
Highlight:
When pretty much all hope of making the finals was gone Canberra came out and beat the Roosters and Rabbitohs with their two finest performances of 2018. That shows they are capable of beating any team when they don’t beat themselves.
Christmas wish:
For Josh Hodgson to stay fit and Jack Wighton to stay out of trouble. Stuart has a squad capable of challenging for the title, he just needs his players to stop shooting themselves in the foot.
NATHAN BROWN
Lowlight:
Losing Mitchell Pearce to injury. If he stayed fit for the season I reckon the Knights would have played finals football. Now you throw in the likes of David Klemmer and Tim Glasby upfront and they are serious contenders for 2019.
Highlight:
I was one of the many who thought Brown paid silly money to get Kalyn Ponga down from the Cowboys. It will probably turn out to be the best buy in the club’s history.
Christmas wish:
A huge mirror for the entire team to stand in front of and see how good they now look. Brown has done a terrific job overseeing this rebuild. In 2019 he needs results to reflect the patience of Newcastle fans and his bosses.
DEAN PAY
Lowlight:
I’ve seen first-hand with some mates over the years how some people get carried away listening to Neil Diamond. But I can’t remember any of them getting nude and dancing on tables to the tune of Sweet Caroline, as they played with their genitalia. No, it wasn’t the crime of the century but it probably makes the grand final for dumbest plays ever on Mad Monday.
Highlight:
I loved watching the arrival of Lachlan Lewis. And given all the grief the Bulldogs had with their salary cap, the way they finished off the season after losing Aaron Woods and Moses Mbye spoke volumes of what Pay is obviously building.
Christmas wish:
At his best Kieran Foran is one of the game’s best. And with a young squad like he has, Pay is going to need Foran fit and firing if they are to have any hope of playing finals football next year.
PAUL GREEN
Lowlight:
Seeing the great Johnathan Thurston bow out the way he did was probably one of the biggest disappoints in the Cowboys’ history.
Highlight:
Weren’t too many positives here but the arrival of young gun Jake Clifford should not be understated. You’ve heard how big the raps are on young Flanagan at the Sharks? Well, Clifford kept Flanagan on the bench for the Junior Kangaroos.
Christmas wish:
Green has been a head coach for five years and in that time has won a comp and made another grand final. So he can coach. What he needs in 2019 is for his players to stay fit. With that he will make his own luck.
GARTH BRENNAN
Lowlight:
Put his head on the block when he took the gamble and signed Bryce Cartwright. Brennan knew what he was getting because he mentored Cartwright at the Panthers and yet still chose to sign him on a small fortune.
Highlight:
I’m telling you, the Titans can be 2019’s giant killers. They have a pack capable of matching any of the NRL heavyweights. A young halfback in Ash Taylor who can be anything. And young AJ Brimson was one of the finds of the year. Now throw in the likes of Shannon Boyd, Tyrone Peachey and Brian Kelly.
Christmas wish:
I reckon Brennan has had all his Christmases come at once when Mal Meninga walked through the door. You get a bloke with Mal’s standing in the game and the fact he is the Australian coach, it is going to make Brennan’s job a whole lot easier on many fronts.
TRENT BARRETT/DES HASLER
Lowlight:
It pretty much went pair-shaped for Barrett after that dust-up between Daly Cherry-Evans and Jackson Hastings in Gladstone. The way it was handled reeked of inexperience on several fronts.
Highlight:
I’m not sure you can take too many highlights out of Manly’s season other than the performances of a few individuals, most notably Tom and Jake Trbojevic. And given their support of Barrett even after he was gone, that probably speaks best of Barrett’s coaching potential.
Christmas wish:
The return of Hasler in 2019 is about the best news Manly fans could have hoped for. This club needed to rediscover its DNA. Given it was never going to be Geoff Toovey, Hasler was a wise choice.
BRAD ARTHUR
Lowlight:
Parra went into 2018 rightfully thinking they had a team to challenge for the title. But it was undone because of a glaring lack of discipline, on the off the field. That comes back to recruitment, and leadership.
Highlight:
The fact the form of Jarryd Hayne late in the season was the Eels’ highlight summed up the club’s 2018 perfectly.
Christmas wish:
Not another wooden spoon. Corey Norman’s exit is going to leave the Eels with close to $800,000 in salary cap space. Given Arthur’s contract is up at the end of next year, he’ll want to hope he gets a big say in who the money is spent on.
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