NSW Blues’ search for an Origin coach should look to the future, not the past
It was a tough old week for rugby league in the Sunshine State, but the Blues’ painful pursuit for a new head coach has those with Maroon in their veins feeling much better, writes BRENT READ.
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Shocking end to last week in Queensland. Sunday was a day to forget for our friends north of the border. The Brisbane Broncos defeat was hard to handle given they lost the unlosable grand final, tossing away a 16-point lead with 20 minutes to go.
Throw in the Gold Coast loss in the NRLW and Brisbane Easts defeat in the State Cup final and it was hard to take. Darkness had descended on the Sunshine State.
By the end of this week, however, the gloom was lifting. One day they were staring in the abyss, the next they were laughing in the aisles thanks to the NSW Rugby League and their search for a new Blues coach.
The only people watching NSW’s pursuit of a new coach with a smile on their face were those with maroon coursing through their veins. After Brad Fittler’s time in charge came to a bitter end, there was a sense that the Blues would be spoiled for choice.
This is NSW after all. Surely they would be inundated with interest. They had hoped to entice Ricky Stuart back into the fold but plans to target the Canberra coach were cut short when reality struck that you can’t combine club coaching and the job of guiding the Blues.
By the end of the week, the pundits had Laurie Daley with his nose in front, although there were at least seven names on a list that was shared with NSW Rugby League directors on Thursday.
Daley’s name was believed to be one of them, appearing on the Blues’ horizon again six years after being rissoled by the state. Daley is one of rugby league’s best blokes. A deadset saint, but his State of Origin record doesn’t make for good reading.
He won six games and only one series during his five years in charge. Granted, it was at the height of the Queensland dynasty when the holy triumvirate – Smith, Slater and Thurston – were running amok.
Oh, they also had blokes by the name of Inglis and Cronk. Not a bad side really. The Blues dispensed with Daley at the end of 2017 and he took up a gig on radio, which is an issue in itself given he works for the TAB.
That job has prevented him taking up coaching roles in the past but it is not expected to be an impediment to NSW as long as he steers clear of promoting odds on the television. The NRL will give him the green light.
Still, hard to imagine the prospect of taking on Daley would put the fear of God into Slater given the job the Maroons coach has done over the past two years. Fittler was no match as Slater transformed Queensland.
It’s a lesson NSW would do well to heed. Far be it from me to give advice to the Blues, but surely if you want to move forward nothing good comes from dredging up the past.
Daley has been a loyal servant to the state and would no doubt do the job, but the Blues only need to look too Queensland to realise what can happen when you take a chance and think a little bit left field.
The list that was shared among the NSW directors on Thursday also included a few rookie contenders. This columnist understands that Mick Ennis was among them and what harm could come from taking a deeper dive into Ennis’ credentials and his potential coaching staff?
Ennis played for NSW. He did so with lashings of passion and pride. He has been around the NRL as a commentator and coach in recent years, keeping abreast of the game, its latest methods and trends.
He will be a part-time member of Manly’s coaching staff this year alongside Anthony Seibold. He isn’t short of an opinion either, which is always handy come Origin time.
Ennis won’t have any qualms mixing it up with the Maroons and he is not the only fresh option out there. Jason Ryles is at the World Cup with the Wallabies at the moment – poor bloke – but few have done better coaching apprenticeships than the former Blues prop.
Trent Barrett has been lingering around Origin for a few years now and has had roles with the Blues. Dig a little deeper, scratch the surface, and you’ll find a few others. Daley isn’t the only option and perhaps it is time NSW went in a fresh direction as they look to end Queensland’s stranglehold on Origin.
No matter who gets the guernsey, they should make an immediate phone call to Melbourne boss Crag Bellamy to see whether he will join their team. If not him, then Penrith coach Ivan Cleary or Raiders assistant Michael Maguire.
There is no substitute for head coaching experience, as Fittler realised a little too late when he had Cleary in his box for the final game of last year’s series. Anyway, that’s enough advice for NSW. They’ll work it out. Good luck to them.
They are going to need it.
WESTS TIGERS CIRCUS
The Wests Tigers’ sideshow rolls on. All this while an independent review into the club is in full swing. Poor Benji Marshall.
He is due to take pre-season training in a few weeks and the Tigers appear in all sorts. By then, who knows who will be leading the club.
One minute, chair Lee Hagipantelis reveals to this masthead that he has had his tenure extended. The next, he looks to be fighting for his job.
Chief executive Justin Pascoe has been under the pump for as long as anyone can remember. Something has to give and it feels like change is coming.
You don’t need a review to understand that. A broom is about to be swept through the Tigers and the fans will have run out of people to blame if Hagipantelis and Pascoe pay the price for the latest season of abject failure.
Hagipantelis, in particular, has the right to be disappointed. He has put his head up when others haven’t. He has made himself the target as the club has lurched from one disaster to the next, shielding Pascoe and the other staff.
He also played a significant part in the appointment and removal of Tim Sheens and his legacy to the club may be Marshall, who is untried but a born winner who refuses to fail.
He has also put his own money into the club. Millions of it. He isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but his overriding desire is to see the Tigers succeed.
You can’t ask for much more than that if you’re a Tigers fan.
Originally published as NSW Blues’ search for an Origin coach should look to the future, not the past
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