With three coaches fired in 2020 and more in the line of fire, let’s look at the clubs with coaches under pressure and the competition to replace them.
With Premiership winner Paul Green, currently the best coach on the market, he appears to be the most obvious first domino to fall in the 2021 season.
Read on for our NRL coaching radar.
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COWBOYS
Trainer:: Josh Hannay has taken the reins for the remaining 10 games of the 2020 season after Paul Green and the Cowboys Board mutually agreed to split up. The timing of Green’s departure made many think that he would have another job in the NRL for the next season. The Premier League winner said this was not the end of his head coaching career. Green is widely regarded as the most important domino in the trainer’s carousel. A number of clubs are now looking for his services. Hannay takes over his first game for the cowboys against Manly this weekend on Friday evening.
candidate:: Kevin Walters has reportedly given his resume to the cowboys and would be a leader in this position based on his experience at Origin level and as an assistant with the Broncos. Warrior trainer Todd Payten was associated with the Cowboys top job after being an assistant in awarding the club for the 2015 title. Former Broncos and Panthers coach Anthony Griffin is another name that has been proposed as a potential replacement for Green. Wayne Bennett It would make sense if he could go back to Queensland and have ruled out ever training the Broncos again, but he says publicly that he feels obliged to keep his South Sydney deal for 2021. Shaun Wane was also touted as a possible cowboy assistant last week.
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Trainer:: Anthony SeiboldThe future is no longer in his hands, and the board decides his fate in a 2020 season review. Reports of an ultimatum by the board to win at least five of his remaining games in 2020 paint a grim picture, despite the club’s rejection. Seibold signed a five-year contract in 2019, but could only start looking for a job after two years if he can’t initiate a massive turnaround at the Broncos by the end of the season. Seibold has won 31 of his 62 games as first-class head coach for a 50 percent win rate, but that drops to 40 percent for the Broncos with 14 wins from 35 games.
candidate:: Paul Green is a Queenslander and the best recognized club coach on the market. He also has a close relationship with Darren Lockyer and moving to Brisbane would be the least disruptive step for him and his family. Kevin Walters has had the role of the Broncos head coach in mind for years and if the job becomes available again he will be sure of his name despite his commitments to Origin and Fox Sports and the fact that he has reportedly applied for the cowboys job mention. Craig Bellamy was the last time in the race for the Broncos appearance and was connected to the Broncos job throughout his career. It’s been a long time, but how good would be a package deal from Craig Bellamy and Cameron Smith to go back to their home state?
warrior
Trainer:: Todd Payten is the interim coach after a strong apprenticeship with the cowboys when North Queensland won the title in 2015. His current record is a win and three losses from four games at the top of the Warriors with a win rate of 25 percent.
Candidate: Ben and Shane Walker were linked to the vacant Warriors position, although the club refused to sign the couple’s 2021 deal. The Warriors need an experienced head coach, which means Paul Green or Wayne Bennett would be main goals. Bennett is committed to another season at Redfern, however, and Green is an option for the Sharks he played for during his career. Anthony Griffin has also expressed interest in going over the ditch to revive his first-class coaching career. Nathan Brown has experience building clubs from the bottom up after turning the Knights over, and they’re now in the top four under Adam O’Brien. Neill Henry is another seasoned trainer who could go well with the Warriors.
DRAGON
Trainer:: Paul McGregor has turned things around since a horror 0-4 start to the year his job was hanging on a thread. However, the dragons are still in 11th place outside the top 8 and have to play football in the final to silence the many doubters. McGregor is now in his seventh season as the head coach of the dragons, which is the same tenure that Green had with the cowboys with far more success. McGregor won 69 of his 147 games at the Dragons with a win rate of 46.9 percent.
candidate: The most likely replacement for Paul McGregor is his assistant Shane Flanagan, but the NRL might have something to say about it, as it banned head coach coaching in the NRL until 2022. Tap assistant Craig Fitzgibbon has a history with the club as a player, lives in the Wollongong area and has been associated with the job in the past, but remains committed to the Roosters. Wayne BennettConnections to the club will not go away since he won a Premier League with the Dragons in 2010. However, this could only become a reality when his contract with the Rabbitohs ends, according to master trainer 2021. Jason Ryles to accept an offer from England rugby, but may choose to stay in Australia given the coronavirus pandemic. Ryles has history with the dragons as a player and would fit the club’s culture as a trainer.
Sharks
Trainer:: John Morris has been leading the Sharks up and down the first two seasons since replacing Shane Flanagan. The 39-year-old has won 17 of his 35 games at the top of the Sharks with a win rate of 48.6 percent. The Sharks were bundled in the first week of the final last year and are currently ninth in 2020. You have to play the final to keep the wolves at bay.
candidate:: Paul Green was associated with the Sharks job earlier this season before he left the cowboys. Green has history with Cronulla as a player and it is speculated that his decision to leave the cowboys has something to do with the fact that he was promised a job elsewhere and the sharks are the most likely target. Shane Flanagan has a history with the club, although given the turmoil he and the club have experienced in the past, despite a Premier League win, it might be best for both parties to turn to other options.
THE OTHERS
England rugby coach Eddie Jones was mentioned as a potential trainer in several NRL clubs, including the Bulldogs, before targeting them Trent Barrett. Jones has long wanted to test himself in the NRL, but will have to wait until after the 2023 World Cup for his current contract to end. Former Titans trainer and panther assistant Garth Brennan is another coach who is looking for a new opportunity after parting ways with the titans in mid-2019. Leeds coach David Furner can also choose to return to Australia at some point if the NRL offers the right opportunity.
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