NRL 2024 coaches’ survey part one: Why player managers are biggest threat to game

In part one of our exclusive 2024 NRL coaches’ survey, 30 of the code’s sharpest minds speak their minds on the state of the game. TAKE THE SURVEY

See the results from our exclusive 2024 NRL coaches' survey!

A plan to ban tackling at grassroots levels across the nation has divided the game’s coaches, who are also frustrated at scrapping final matches for junior league contests.

The coach’s also outlined their belief that concussion and player managers are the biggest issues in the game.

Thirty of the NRL’s most influential and sharpest voices completed News Corp’s annual survey recently.

Every head coach plus their assistants were invited to answer questions ranging from on-field issues including the player they would love to coach to a host of off-field ­issues.

The first of the two-part series detailed frustrations with plans by the NRL to abolish awarding competition points in junior league’s across Australia until the age of 13.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

A whopping 93 per cent of coaches said they could not see any benefit in the move, which the NSWRL was tasked with implementing because of the NRL’s new national framework. The changes have already started in Queensland.

Other key results included;

• There was a 50/50 split on coaches being supportive of the proposal to ban tackling until halfway through the under-7s at a grassroots level.

• 83 per cent did not support Super League’s rule to ban tackling above the armpits.

Concussion continues to be an ongoing concern for those involved in the game.

Player agents (23 per cent) topped the results when the mentors were quizzed on what was the biggest issue in the game followed by concussion (20 per cent), player transfer system (20 per cent), bunker/officiating (13 per cent), junior participation (13 per cent) and rival codes (three per cent).

Fresh from the Australian Institute of Sports wanting to drastically reform concussion protocols to include a 21-day rest period, 60 per cent of coaches believe the NRL’s concussion protocols are “working very well”, while 40 per cent said they are “working somewhat well but need some adjustments’’.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

NRL boss Andrew Abdo said player wellbeing remained the game’s top priority.

“The commission is committed to player safety at all levels of the game, particularly with respect to head injuries and concussion,” Abdo said.

“The NRL player safety framework is based on the areas of prevention, detection, return-to-play protocols and research to manage risk ­associated with these types of injuries.

“We are continually developing policy, education and management practices to support player safety.”

MAJORITY OF COACHES BACK PERTH OVER PNG

NRL supercoach Wayne Bennett has backed a high-­powered push by the coaches for an 18th licence to be handed to Perth.

News Corp’s exclusive annual poll of NRL coaches has revealed overwhelming support for the code to expand to Western Australia – not Papua New Guinea or the Pacific – as part of a proposed 18-team league.

Perth won the coaches survey in a landslide with 50 per cent of votes, well ahead of rival bids from PNG (13 per cent), Pasifika (3 per cent) and a second New Zealand outfit (13 per cent).

The confidential survey, encompassing the views of the code’s sharpest tacticians, has encouraged the ARL Commission to give the sport a genuine national footprint by going west to Perth.

The addition of the NRL’s 17th team in the Dolphins last season was a resounding success and ARLC chair Peter V’landys confirmed the wheels were in motion for a potential 18th franchise by 2026 or 2027.

“We’re looking at expansion now, absolutely,” V’landys said.

“That (the prospect of adding more NRL franchises) is in progress.

“We’ve already started the process. I don’t know how long it will take.

“We have time and it will take time but we’re hoping we will know more in six months and have a better understanding of when the game is ready for expansion.

“It won’t happen overnight but 2026 or 2027 is certainly a possibility.”

Intriguingly, the coaches shot down a push for a PNG franchise that could be based full-time in Cairns and have major financial backing from the Australian government.

Just three per cent backed a Cairns-PNG franchise, while 67 per cent of coaches believe an 18-team competition is the right number for the NRL.

V’landys has previously flagged the prospect of the NRL expanding to 20 teams but only one-third of coaches (33 per cent) believe the sport is capable of adding three new franchises.

The code’s greatest coach Bennett, who is currently in charge of the newest expansion team the Dolphins, is ­adamant Western Australia is ready for an NRL licence.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

Perth’s Western Reds were first admitted to the big league in 1995, only to be killed off at the end of 1997 as part of compromise talks between the ARL and Super League.

“Western Australia has a market, so we can grow our ­national footprint by going to Perth,” Bennett said.

“Some of our biggest companies in the country on the stock exchange are based in WA, so that region has the money to bankroll an NRL team.

“I went to Perth last year for a Dolphins game and the knowledge of the locals impressed me, they know their rugby league in Perth.

“The Dolphins have been a success and we’re still new, so I think expansion should be another couple of years away.

“But if we put the investment in the right places, like Perth or New Zealand, we will get the right players.

“Peter V’landys has a plan and that’s a good thing.

“I’m a fan of growing the game.”

NRL Coaches’ survey: Silence from HQ

NRL coaches have thrown their weight behind chief executive Andrew Abdo but want to see that backing reciprocated amid revelations the game’s brightest minds believe they are not consulted or supported enough by head office.

News Corp’s annual survey of NRL head and assistant coaches has revealed that two-thirds of coaches believe that Abdo is doing a good job in his role as chief executive of the NRL, having stepped into the position nearly four years ago.

While that was positive for Abdo, the vast majority of coaches insist they are not consulted enough by head office, nor do they receive enough support. Abdo wants that to change and has vowed to work more closely with the coaches to ease their concerns.

“They are in such a unique position in the game because they are the custodians of culture and clubs – they have the ear of the players and those higher up within the club,”Abdo said. “By nature, coaches have influence around anything we want to do in the game. So increasing our communication and dialogue with them is beneficial.

“It is great to hear that they want to be consulted more because I think the game can gain a lot from listening to coaches and supporting them more.”

Abdo also insisted the games was intent on providing the coaches with more support given the high-pressure environment in which they exist.

“You can feel quite isolated,” Abdo said. “We don’t have a coaches association but we do have resources and people that are dedicated to coaching development.”

In part one of the poll, coaches were also quizzed over their views on the prospect of bringing in salary cap exemptions for rugby union players and granting dispensation for players to sign short-term contracts in rival codes.

NRL 2024 coaches’ survey.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

Both issues are on the NRL’s radar. ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys has made no secret of his desire to capitalise on rugby union’s woes by bringing in a rule that would provide NRL clubs with salary cap allowances to sign players from their embattled rival.

Coaches don’t want to see it happen – nearly 90 per cent of those who responded to the poll are opposed.

They were almost as united over the idea of exemptions for cameos in rival codes, an issue that has arrived on the agenda in the wake of revelations that Sydney Roosters star Joey Manu is weighing up a move to Japanese rugby.

Nearly 80 per cent of coaches said no exemptions should be given for short-term stints in rival codes.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

NRL 2024 coaches' survey.

Originally published as NRL 2024 coaches’ survey part one: Why player managers are biggest threat to game