I think this is one appointment that should be added and much needed to our current coaching staff.
BA is forward and defence orientated. In his own playing career which I watched as I had mate's coming through the junior system with him at both Parramatta and Penrith he was always a back rower/lock who toiled away. No ball player.
Peter Gentle played a handful of games for St George in the halves but no world beater and had a season in England before turning his hand to coaching. As an assistant at the West Tigers in 2011 he was not a specialist assistant (Halves etc.) and was sacked by Hull as head coach so his coaching career to date is not a decorated one.
Steve Murphy role as an assistant to BA is as a tactician. He does all of the video work on both the team and opposition. You may see Steve at half time in the sheds with his laptop showing individuals footage of the first half and areas they can improve or exploit with the opposition.
IMO opinion we need a recently retired half to come in and work with ours. Manly have arguably the best halves in the completion in DCE and Foran but still employ Andrew Johns and this no doubt is a big reason why they are even though Toovey is a former half.. The Roosters have Jason Taylor as an assistant who mentors Pearce and Maloney. Not all teams do but I think ours desperately does. Maybe a few other changes are required also? Luke Burt is the kicking coach, Sandow's goal kicking has gone backwards. Nathan Hindmarsh was a defence coach but out defence and ability to slow down the ruck was again a big problem.
This year our halves looked very lost and indecisive at times, especially when the team needed direction and they needed to take control of a game. Our 5th tackle options were diabolical. In commentary I noted Peter Sterling, Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler, Brett Kimmorley, Greg Alexander (all former halves) were constanly highlighting what Chrissy and Norman needed to do (weren't doing) when our plays were breaking down, the poor options they were taking, or the team was lacking direction from them. It is one thing to highlight this to them on a video session but another to have someone wearing boots and showing you on the training paddock how to do it.
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Yeah I have heard Matty Johns say this. The point being, they have a specialist.
yes I also saw him play there at 6 and 13 but always thought of him as a defensive lock. A solid toiler, solid defence, a tough worker but no stand out when he reached grade who unfortunately didn't have the size for the forwards or stand out skills to make it in the halves. This is by no means a bagging of BA as a player, he achieved a lot. I though he was a very good player coming through school boys and the junior reps sides but as we know it is a big step up to make it at grade level.
The problem being there are very few ex halves of renown who have turned to coaching.
Good point but it is like finding a good half to sign for the team - next to impossible.
We had Joey Johns here and our halves went backwards.
Matty Johns is the man who helped turn Cooper Cronk into a 7 and would be the best option. probably to busy but.
I think that for the large part decision making, keeping calm, and vision can't be taught you have it, you don't, or you can sometimes have it. It's not only an experience thing but a personal thing. What can be taught and is a major factor in the modern game is short and long kicking.
The flaw as I see it, is that just because a player is a good player doesn't mean that they would make a good coach. We had a lousy coach who was a good half, aka RS.
I agree Michael but RS and even the likes of Toovey are not recently retired halves to the modern game. Even the way to hold, pass and kick a ball (and the ball for that matter) has changed from their playing days. That's probably one of the reasons Pricky is a bad coach... is yesterday's hero as a half and still thinks how he played and what he did can be implemented into days game. As mentioned above in a post, it is hard enough to acquire a good half and probably just as hard to get one of the halves coaches who are currently successful at other clubs. They are few and far between but IMO something we need.
Yes, but there's a difference between being a halves coach and a head coach. A head coach has to make all of the decisions on players, their playing style, defensive set-up etc. A halves coach works with the halves a few days a week and works on certain elements of their game. This is where a former professional halfback/five-eighth comes in. They know the game and if you've got the right guy, they know what they're doing.
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