Matthew Johns: Which NRL coaches have fired or flopped with their new teams in 2021

As if wallowing in their fourth consecutive seriously bad season wasn’t bad enough, North Queensland have to get one of game’s greatest middle forwards firing again, writes Matthew Johns.

At the end of the 2020 season we saw an unprecedented amount of turnover in the coaching ranks.

Five clubs grew impatient with their underperforming teams and brought in new coaches who they hoped could push them towards success. For some of these clubs success seems a far-off land, for others it might be just a change of course.

When a club appoints a new coach in these circumstances, they promise patience and acknowledge the size of the job at hand, but deep down they hope for a spike in success.

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Coaches promise to make the team and the players better through quality coaching, building the roster and delivering improvement in the short term and great success in the long.

In 2021, every new coach/club relationship has had its promises tested, some severely.

Kevin Walters took on the hardest job at the Broncos. Picture: Richard Walker

KEVIN WALTERS — BRONCOS

Kevvie has had the toughest assignment. Trent Barrett took on a difficult task at Canterbury but at least his club was at last rowing in unison.

The Broncos were a club being ripped apart in various ways, one being a war between the old boys and the Brisbane board.

On top of that, the club’s salary cap was, and still is, a mess.

The team was coming off two traumatic seasons which caused enormous damage to confidence. They lost David Fifita to the Gold Coast and had Payne Haas missing early.

On top of that, it’s been a lost year for Kotoni Staggs through recovery and further injury.

When Staggs did play, confidence grew, and performance lifted.

Walters enjoys great respect at Fox Sports but among his old colleagues there were genuine fears things were only going to somehow get worse.

The reward for Kev’s hard work has been the improvement in the last five or six weeks, the simplifying of the game plan a major reason.

The arrival of Ben Ikin has given him a strong ally. They’ve cleared out players who didn’t want to be there, recruited some quality in Kurt Capewell and Adam Reynolds, and player confidence is returning. Kevvie is so far delivering on his promise.

Trent Barrett has made some questionable decisions. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

TRENT BARRETT — BULLDOGS

He applied, and was successful, in getting an enormous challenge.

For Trent the challenge has been two-fold; firstly improving team and players, the second rebuilding his coaching reputation after what took place at Manly.

It’s been a struggle.

I was optimistic that the Bulldogs could push out of the bottom four given some of their performances late last year, combined with the arrival of some good signings.

Like Walters’ Broncos, Trent’s players have experienced some confidence-sapping seasons and, as a result, in many aspects the team has gone backwards.

I don’t think the Kyle Flanagan situation has been handled well. While Kyle was struggling, he wasn’t the major problem. It was a team way down in confidence in a system of play which wasn’t working.

Dragging Kyle off mid-game and then dropping him has destroyed the confidence of the club’s major signing. It was a reactive decision.

On the positives, 2022 will herald the arrival of great player quality. Also, Phil Gould’s appointment will give Barrett support and Gus will encourage him to focus less on wins and losses and more on coaching team and player.

ANTHONY GRIFFIN — DRAGONS

It’s been a mixed year for ‘Hook’.

After a first-round loss they enjoyed a great month, winning four in a row. But from there it’s been the usual inconsistencies.

St George Illawarra need to be really high on energy and emotion to win football games and that’s problematic. That tells me two things.

Firstly the obvious, being they need more quality in the roster. Which makes the decision to allow Cam McInnes and Matt Dufty to leave confusing, particularly when the major signings for 2022 aren’t as creative footballers.

Secondly, the Dragons need to tinker with their style of play. As the season has worn on defences have had little problem reading and shutting down their attacking sequences.

But, to be fair, the Dragons were on course for a finals spot, which would’ve been a solid achievement for Griffin, but for the Covid party at Paul Vaughan’s house.

From that point the side has lost its way.

A real achievement for coach Griffin is how he’s got Ben Hunt’s club career back on track. Some of Ben’s performances have been the best of his career, with the decision to make him captain an inspired one.

The Dragons’ Covid party has thwarted Anthony Griffin’s season. Picture Dragons Media

TODD PAYTEN — COWBOYS

Along with the Wests Tigers, North Queensland are my biggest disappointment.

They had a slow start, then a solid middle season, which provided some hope. But since their round 12 win over the New Zealand Warriors, it’s been pain, pain and more pain, losing nine in a row.

This is the fourth consecutive seriously bad season for the Cowboys and it’s very hard to put a finger on the exact issue.

In keeping with that, Payten looks lost for ideas, each press conference presenting possible reasons for the club’s predicament.

Payten has inherited a lot of this, but if I had to pick something to symbolise the present predicament it would be the whole Jason Taumalolo situation.

If I had been taking over the Cowboys, the one player I knew I wouldn’t want to adjust in any way is Taumalolo, one of the game’s greatest middle forwards.

To me, he’s the most uncomplicated player in that roster, yet it’s somehow become very complicated. First it was conjecture over the minutes he’ll play, and now the experiment of playing him as an edge back-rower.

In the recent match against the Titans I wasn’t sure if Jason was confused, down in confidence or just unhappy.

This situation needs to be fixed, as does the style of the attack and the men who will play in the creative positions.

Huge off-season coming up.

Warriors coach Nathan Brown has got his forwards humming along.

NATHAN BROWN — WARRIORS

Given what’s transpired in the past 12-18 months due to Covid this was a big task for Nathan Brown. It’s been almost a transitional season for the New Zealand Warriors with the club refreshing its roster and putting it in shape for the next few seasons.

But Browny will view it as a ‘what could’ve been’ year.

The Warriors have lost so many close games that they could have easily been about to play finals football. But the fact is this talented team still struggles for consistency.

I’m optimistic for next season. The loss of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is big, but it’s allowed them to change the dynamics of the team.

I love the way the forward pack is starting to look. The successful Warriors teams always had big, strong forwards.

Reece Walsh brilliantly feeds off the time, space and offloads they create.

I’m also excited by Shaun Johnson’s return. If I were the Sharks I would’ve kept Shaun, they also perform best when he’s in the team.

He’ll be invaluable for Walsh and Chanel Harris-Tavita.

The Warriors’ ownership can be pretty ruthless, so Browny will need to start well and then play finals to keep the pressure at bay.

Originally published as Matthew Johns: Which NRL coaches have fired or flopped with their new teams in 2021