The Parramatta Eels board have the massive job of appointing the next head coach of the Eels. Not only will there discussion impact the club for the 2,3 or 4 years the next coach is signed for, it will determine the direction of the club for the next decade or so. It's not a coincidence that many premiership winning coaches win multiple premierships. It's also not a coincidence that many rookie/ first year coaches fail.
Here is a question for the history buffs. How many coaches have been signed by the Eels that have won premierships with other clubs? I can come up with
Jack Gibson
Michael Hagan
Ricky Stuart
Surely there must be a few more.
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Pasting from another blog, Slippery, but I wonder if it really matters who they appoint head coach? I figure that new head coach is on a hiding to nothing.
If the head coach does not extract immediate improvement, for instance the Eels' (projected) 2024 Bottom 4 or spoon position is NOT turned into closer to top of ladder through 2025, it will be 'Parramatta continues losing streak that began in 1986'. The new coach will not get much leeway to talk of 'rebuild'.
Of course, maybe the new head coach turns 2025 around and the Eels go from Bottom 4 (or spoon!) into the Top 8 or 4. Yay, but then the metric would just get changed, from a satisfactory one of 'quick ladder position turn around', to the more nuanced one of whether documented patterns have been changed. These might include wanting to see a) demonstrable reduction in inconsistency, or b) no more utter defensive fragility, or c) the title (because just making the finals is not enough).
Put differently, the likelhood of 'still failed' narratives is high with such a disillusioned fan base, becasue the sporting media can rest assured there will be a ready audience-amplification of doubting thomas media coverage. The Eels only have one route to turning around their poor reputation: they have to be a dominant not just competent team. And dominant teams are defensive juggernauts. Points will flow off the back of possession, territory and the frustration borne of denial of any opportunities enjoyed by the opposotion.
So, I suspect it matters little who the next coach is, because it's an uphill battle for which they will be given no time. Anything short of a dominant team taking the GF (or in the last game vying for it) will be short of what's required to address a disillusioned fan base whom the media can easily pump for amplification of doubt.
Daz, Good point. The other issue, and the Dogs experienced it in a more extreme fashion, is lingering old habits die hard. We've been so used to vulnerable defensive structures & culturally poor habits. Good luck with that! A rookie has buckleys.
1. We have no quality and full 80 Hooker, our Middles are old and the wrong shape for the new style of play in the NRL and our backs are slow and not dynamic enough esp wingers and cannot provide enough yardage from play one.
2. Any new defensive system to rectify this cannot be implimented until the above is fixed
it might be a case of new coach to identify where & how the game will evolve, we try and play catch up and we will be behind the 8 ball again.
Good blog, Slippery.
No one else comes to mind except the great Jack Ryner. He won 5 titles with Souths (during 1950-57), then he came to the Eels (1958-60) for 3 consecutive wooden spoons, winning 7 games in three years (13%). Great times.
In the history of our game in Oz, only one coach has ever won a title or grand final (by hook or by crook) in one continuous tenure with a club for more than 5 years, 7 weeks. Anyone guess who?
It's all a bit academic now. Wayne was the very obvious choice and we should have been talking to him in 2023. He may never have come to Parra but he's an obvious choice.
After Wayne it's really a question of who comes with the best plan to improve the club. Without actually meeting any of the candidates I have no clue who the stand out would be. There's always a stand out candidate for one reason or another. On the surface each has their pros and cons. Many on here are passionate about who they want or mostly, many here are passionate about who they don't (which is any realistic coach available).
BA wasn't perfect and I'm sure the club will want to find someone who overcomes BA's shortcomings.
This is more art than science. Everyone is a rookie at some stage. Melbourne took a punt on Bellamy, that seems to have worked out ok.
Where did Bellamy come from? Was he a assistant at another club?
Yep. Broncos
He actually started under the guidance of Sheens in lower grades at Canberra before Wayne poached him for the big boys. He coached my cousin from Crookwell.
Just because everyone is a rookie at some stage, that's not enough of a reason to go for a rookie - even if it's trend following.
Bellamy came into a good system. They won a premiership a few years back (1999) and had some big business behind that club. Look at the cattle they had from early on in Bellamy's tenure. Origin players like Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Dallas Johnson, Steve Bell, Matt Geyer, Ryan Hoffman, Cooper Cronk coming through, Matt Orford/ Kimmerly (Moses cancels them out).
Rookies like the next big thing Kearney or Benji struggle in poorer systems.
Everyone bought into the romantic dream of Benji at the Tigers. And in a sense, I was hoping for the fairytale too. And then we have the throw away line look at Webster. Look at Payton. It doesn't mean that will be us. That's a very illogical line of reasoning.
Basically, if you're rookie gung-ho it means you accept the Sarantinos/McElduff line "we have a strong roster" that is fundamentally premiership capable.
I suppose if you're going to take a punt on a rookie, you're backing your systems and cattle to a degree, or juniors being on the cusp of being NRL ready with enough of a support structure to ensure they don't go Tigertown like.
You're not pinning all your hopes on one man to turn in around or save a sinking Titanic that needs a rebuild and cleanout like the Dogs needed or the Tigers need and still haven't got right.
But, with our poor defence and relience - poor habits - and ageing squad in a game getting faster, you're taking a huge punt. There is some challenges we face, which is a lot for a rookie.
By next year 11 of our 17 (if Lussick and Krakatoa) will be between 30-32, most 31-32. They're past peak.
If the juniors don't come through (2023 SG Ball etc), the rookie coach is going to be stuffed in all sorts of directions.
Just my two cents.
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