Come to the end of year 2 of the Ryles tenure, it has led to a slightly more clearer look to what the future of the club under his watch could be like. With two years left on his deal, 2027 poses to be, purely by the way things work, that 2027 is the biggest year of Ryles' short career as a coach. Could be the year of Ryles' coaching career. There are a few things that work against him in terms of feeling comfortable for the upcoming season. I am not saying Ryles should be gone, i am simply leading in that realistically it is how it works in coaching, Ryles himself would admit that.
The pressure has now started to rise, it will continue well into the off-season. Why? Well there are a few reasons why the pressure will be on Ryles.
Third year, no finals as of yet: Very rarely do we see NRL coaches in general make it to year 4 without appearing in the semi's. BA took til his 4th year to make first finals appearance, though his third season he would have made it, if not for cap drama. Benji Marshall right now is into year 4 without a finals appearance, but other than that it is very rare for a coach to last to year 4 without finals. Is that fair to have against Ryles? Depends who you ask. Though let's be real, it is a results driven business and no finals in three seasons means more losses than wins in that time. Making finals can do wonders to a squad a coach.
New CEO leads to uncertainty: This to me is a big factor. Jim Sarantinos is who hired Ryles. Not on his own but he had a big say on who would coach the Eels post Brad Arthur. Now, if Ryles had a bad 2027 and Sarantinos is still here there is a chance he pulls the trigger on Ryles. But, since he hired him, as is the case with most CEO's who hire a coach, there is more patience with people you hire compared to those watching someone they inherited. With a new CEO coming in, Ryles is vulnerable. It goes from is the vision on the right track to what i want, to are they getting results? It is very likely Sarantinos' vision is very similar to Ryles' in terms of what the on field product should be eventually. The new CEO could have a different vision, is Ryles in the way of that vision?
What helps change that? Winning. If Ryles guides us to a top 8 finish, even scraping into the 8, he is safe no matter what happens. He still wouldn't be in the clear but the pressure is off from the media at least. Though if he starts slow again, like previous years, and gets to Round 10 with only 2-3 wins, then questions are going to be asked. CEO i doubt pulls the trigger mid year but he is scouting his replacement. Injuries were in his favour this year, i feel next year not so much with a new CEO. They could very well want their own person. Reason they wait is to not ruffle the feathers of the joint so quickly. CEO's more likely rather get their feet under the desk, see how things run then make changes in accordance to what they want.
Ryles changing staff and some signings indicate his realisation: Signing Luai when he did and moving on Moa and possibly Brown can show Ryles is in survival mode. He is looking for changes. It is healthy for a coach to change staff, though with our defence being so bad over the past two seasons.
Disrupted pre-season: If the board or even CEO (if hired already) had any consideration of moving Ryles now, the thing that would have saved him is the upcoming disrupted pre-season. With a World Cup and Vegas, the teams pre-season is shorter and a lot of the stars, instead of returning late November to early December, return early to mid January. How does that hinder preparation? Who knows. At least Ryles is no longer a rookie where a disruption might be as catastrophic, compared to if it was 2025 or 2026. But there is still disruption. Can that work against him? Well based on our starts in both 2025 and 2026, it could. Considering both seasons we conceded 50+ in both Rounds 1 and Rounds 6. First 10 games in 2025 we had 3 wins. In 2026, 4 wins. So we have poor starts under Ryles, a disrupted pre-season might not help in a push to great start to our 2027 season. If we have a bad start, the snowball could happen in the perception of the new CEO.
Then there is a big position the club are in with Ryles for 2027. Being off-contract, i believe it is so important to have a coach go into a season under contract for the future. Now, granted, Dragons signed players without a coach and NQ did ok with some recruitment while Payten was off-contract. But i feel it is much more safer for recruitment to have a coach signed up into the future. Come to the end of 2027, Ryles either has an extension or is gone. That is realistically how it could be viewed. Big decisions for the club moving forward on their direction for Ryles post 2028. Also, it has been rumoured that Ryles' final season is a CO. That is usually in most coaching contracts that the final season is an option in the clubs favour. That makes is easier to move him after the 2027 season.
Will signings help? Well so far with Su'A, Luai and Leniu, he has added a lot of experience. He has added players that are constant first graders. They are better than what we have. He has made it known a Centre is now the priority. I also think a Winger could be good also. Is it enough, if staying fit, to make the 8? Of course it is. Any squad can scrape into the 8 with a good season. Though the people he wants, Bradman Best the no.1, will Ryles be here to coach? Will he run out of time waiting for the right reinforcements.
An added point is if the club decide to move on after 2027, the club need to know who they want and get them. But who? Bennett? Cleary? These are long shots but whoever it is they choose, they have to have their man and go for them. Another rookie is not the way to go, but if they choose to go with a rookie, choose one from the start and get them. None of this interviewing and see who comes out on top by process of elimination.
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I'm not sure why we need to speculate on the coaches future at this point in time. Meaningless dribble only serves to undermine him and the media pick up on this and all of a sudden the coach feels like the weight of the world is upon him.
Even Chiefy makes the point of supporting the coach at this stage, the continued support to the coach by all 1EE members should be the most desirable message we can send.....it is not as if we have or even recognise the type of replacement required to make a decision before time's present their own situation.
It seems that all the wood be's that could be's amateur jornalists want to prepare the pig for roasting. I will withold my view to I can see some events that require some sort of commentary outside of understanding the internal mechanations of the club.
The writer of this blog makes the importance of the new CEO's position in this equation, I agree that this move is one of the key determiments that has to be judged and addressed. If something doesn't emerge as logical or clinical than I have some doubts as to what plans they intend to enact......surely they have someone in mind, despite the rhetoric.
Personally and I have no factual understanding and I am not aware of anything that Saratinos did was wrong, so I am hoping that we have something cooking that involves the finals being over and that an existing person with some reputation is ready to go. This could even have involved Jim himself stepping aside to make such a transition as easy and constructive as possible.
Let's stay optimistic to we can see past the immediate horizon.
I was hoping for this but I was a little surprised by the clumsy way that his exit was handled by Jason Ryles in his end of game pressor last week, maybe he just had other things on his mind.
Can anyone tell me has Jim left the building or is he staying on till a replacement is announced/found?
I am optimistic fyi and I back Ryles. I've seen mostly good signs over the two seasons tbf.
Yehez, Ryles seems to have some passion for the club. He has a hard task considering the recruitment is almost non existent to date . Looking at our Temu roster it is the equivalent of say New Zealand or Sudan on the world scale should a word war break out fighting against super power countries.
In saying that ,he's super green and not even remotley qualified to rebuild our rubble as quick as we'd like . If he lasts this contract , it's highly unlikely he'll be offered another one unless there's a huge improvement in 2027. 2028 will be the " Ryles under extreme pressure " season and the pressure will be on the club to hire a new coach. , Hence why I don't get why he's surrounding himself with more rookies now when it crucial he makes the 8 next season. .
He has plenty of mitigation. And despite the recruitment I would be looking to see how he develops and uses the squad. I love Kautoga, but he needs to get better; Tuivati/Brown and our young forwards need to be used well and improve; figure out Ryley Smith. i.e., just use the most of the squad available.
Basically, make it clear the excuse is the recruitment. At least by 2028. Then I'd give him another year or two go.
Like compared to NRL, he'd be middle of the road in terms of pressure. Payten, Ciraldo, Marshall, Robinson (if Roosters don't get to GF), Fitzgibbon (if Sharks limp out again), Maguire, even Bennett if South's crash out of finals would all be under more pressure start of next year.
Hey Pops, heard a whisper that a former premiership winning player with administration experience has applied for the CEO position.
Sounds good Mick, is it implied it could be a done deal as against just an application or too early on your grapevine at this point?
I think if we have a season in 2027 where we have no injuries and everyone is available yet the results are still the same then I think it will be Ryles final year. The first two seasons he's had there has been so many injuries and disruptions it is fucking ridiculous. That being said, other teams have injuries to key players as well yet still find another gear.
I could argue we did find another gear and a lot of improvement with the cattle we had and the obvious shortfall of those key players they now seem to be recruiting.
Every coach who did not make finals is under some pressure; Robinson has how many rep players? Canberra also failed; It must be the off season; teams miss the 8 each and every year; we have not come last under JR and this year he had more injuries than many as well as Matterson who took a large whack from the cap. Few more wins and he makes 8....but he didn't.
Melb also copped it with players not playing / injuries etc. Madge....fck me
12 Months time we can judge him more failrly I believe and again recruitment has been v quiet; and we have only player of note coming for more than 2 years with Sua; Leniu could be another but we need more.
So Hannay is under pressure right now? Stuart is under no pressure. Not every team that misses the 8 in a given year is under immense pressure. Missing it two years in a row can do that. Missing three years is the end.
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