K2G
14-09-14, 02:26 PM
TRAVIS MEYN GOLD COAST BULLETIN (http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/nrl/gold-coast-coach-neil-henry-says-titans-face-uphill-battle-to-make-finals-next-year/story-fnj9yd9w-1227057035254) SEPTEMBER 13, 2014 12:00AM
NEIL Henry lobbed on the Gold Coast a year ago as an assistant to former Gold Coast Titans coach John Cartwright.
He’s now the head coach of his third NRL club and facing arguably the biggest challenge he has in rebuilding the Titans. Henry sat down with TRAVIS MEYN to talk about his plans for the club, Albert Kelly’s future and how long it will take for the Titans to be successful again.
You made it quite clear when you arrived at the Titans that you wanted to become a head coach again but did you ever envisage replacing John Cartwright, especially so soon?
I didn’t think this would happen. I knew Carty had three years to go and that was fine. I thought I’d sign for one year and explore my options. I was still talking to other clubs who hadn’t finalised their coaches. I thought I’d come here for a year then hopefully get a crack at being a head coach somewhere in Sydney.
How has this year been for you?
It’s been a difficult period. Coaches come and go but when you’re working with a guy like Carty, who was the inaugural coach, it’s a difficult situation. I didn’t really see it coming. I thought Carty would still be around. I want to acknowledge the work Carty and Searley (founder Michael Searle) put into the club. It’s been a hardworking team.
You say the club’s been built on a hardworking attitude, is that the same at the moment?
There’s always room for improvement. There were some games where our effort and intensity wasn’t good enough. The players accepted they were unacceptable but we’re a hardworking bunch of players. We don’t lack intensity at training. We’ve lacked combinations and smart decisions at times. We’ve lacked regular halves. There’s no huge cultural issues at the club. It’s more about banding together to work hard, setting the standards high and achieving those standards every week.
What are your plans for the club?
We need to do a lot. We need to be a consistent team. We need to get our junior development and recruitment right. We need local young players to want to play for the club. On the senior side we need to get our roster right with a view to the future and a mix of older and younger players.
What’s held the club back in recent years?
The common theme in the last two years has been injuries. Lack of resources is one thing but the roster is still good enough to get results. Other clubs don’t have the resources of the top four or five clubs but they can still compete. We need to get it right from our strength and conditioning to our training and coaching. Overall your players will dictate and drive the quality of the standards of the club in conjunction with the coaching staff. We all take ownership.
Halfback Albert Kelly spent most of the year on the sidelines. Does he have a future at the club?
He’s contracted next year. We can’t question his ability and talent. He’s got that x-factor that we’ve lacked to score points and create something. His attitude needs to improve. There’s no doubt about that. He needed to apply himself more to his recovery and rehabilitation.
You coached Canberra for two years and North Queensland for five. How does this rank in the challenges you’ve faced?
It’s up there with the challenges to develop the squad again. It’s not too dissimilar to what I’ve done before. At the Cowboys in 2010 (five wins) it was a bit of a disaster but after that we had about 14 players move on and we changed our staff up as well. We made the finals in 2011, 12 and 13 and basically that whole squad is still together for Greeny (current Cowboys coach Paul Green). It was about recruitment and getting it right. We need to get the production line right.
Do you look at the Cowboys, who’ll play the Broncos tonight in a knockout final, and wonder what could have been?
There’s no doubt it’s a good squad. Greeny’s done a great job. They’re at the same point I was at for a few years. They now have to take the opportunity to push towards a maiden premiership. They’re healthy and playing good footy at the right time of the year. It’s taken a while to get to that stage. It’s evolved over three-four years. We’ve got to get to that stage in a few years where we’re playing finals football for four years in a row.
What’s a realistic expectation of the Titans in 2015?
We need to be a bit patient. Ideally we’d like to play finals football next year but if we finish ninth or 10th and are a couple of games out of the top eight and we’re developing then I’d say it hasn’t been a bad year. It’s in the context of how the season pans out. Our progression would be to push towards the top eight next year and you’d like to view that in the second year you could jump into the eight. Ideally for the fans you’d say we’re top eight next year but you’ve got to be a realist.
Crowds have been dwindling for years and the team only won three of 12 home games this season. How do you win back the support of the region?
There’s a lot of support for the opposition here. We’ve got to swing those supporters who have supported a Sydney team for a long time. To do that, you need to market yourself well and get some results. You need to get the links to the community and make sure they feel attached. If we get that going we’ll swing those supporters across. Everyone loves a winner.
You’ve got a reputation for being a renowned tactician but how would you describe yourself as a coach?
That got legs around Origin (when Henry was an assistant to Mal Meninga). I’m not big on statistics. There’s more man management in it than analysis and tactics. You’ve got to play a smart style to your strengths. That’s what we need to work out and get right. You also need to get your support staff right. At this level you co-coach. There’s better tacticians out there. I’d like to think I’ve learnt as I’ve gone along about man management.
You’ve got plenty of potential in the squad. What are you hoping to see from the likes of James Roberts and Dave Taylor?
Dave’s got to eventually be an 80-minute player. He’s played a lot of footy for a 26-year-old. He had a more consistent year this year than he has for a long time and he’s got to get better than that. People think he must be a lazy trainer but he’s one of the better trainers. James is an excitement machine. He could be anything with how strong and quick he is. The key is our halves (Aidan Sezer and Daniel Mortimer) and fullback (William Zillman). We’re potentially getting the strike power we need to put points on teams.
NEIL Henry lobbed on the Gold Coast a year ago as an assistant to former Gold Coast Titans coach John Cartwright.
He’s now the head coach of his third NRL club and facing arguably the biggest challenge he has in rebuilding the Titans. Henry sat down with TRAVIS MEYN to talk about his plans for the club, Albert Kelly’s future and how long it will take for the Titans to be successful again.
You made it quite clear when you arrived at the Titans that you wanted to become a head coach again but did you ever envisage replacing John Cartwright, especially so soon?
I didn’t think this would happen. I knew Carty had three years to go and that was fine. I thought I’d sign for one year and explore my options. I was still talking to other clubs who hadn’t finalised their coaches. I thought I’d come here for a year then hopefully get a crack at being a head coach somewhere in Sydney.
How has this year been for you?
It’s been a difficult period. Coaches come and go but when you’re working with a guy like Carty, who was the inaugural coach, it’s a difficult situation. I didn’t really see it coming. I thought Carty would still be around. I want to acknowledge the work Carty and Searley (founder Michael Searle) put into the club. It’s been a hardworking team.
You say the club’s been built on a hardworking attitude, is that the same at the moment?
There’s always room for improvement. There were some games where our effort and intensity wasn’t good enough. The players accepted they were unacceptable but we’re a hardworking bunch of players. We don’t lack intensity at training. We’ve lacked combinations and smart decisions at times. We’ve lacked regular halves. There’s no huge cultural issues at the club. It’s more about banding together to work hard, setting the standards high and achieving those standards every week.
What are your plans for the club?
We need to do a lot. We need to be a consistent team. We need to get our junior development and recruitment right. We need local young players to want to play for the club. On the senior side we need to get our roster right with a view to the future and a mix of older and younger players.
What’s held the club back in recent years?
The common theme in the last two years has been injuries. Lack of resources is one thing but the roster is still good enough to get results. Other clubs don’t have the resources of the top four or five clubs but they can still compete. We need to get it right from our strength and conditioning to our training and coaching. Overall your players will dictate and drive the quality of the standards of the club in conjunction with the coaching staff. We all take ownership.
Halfback Albert Kelly spent most of the year on the sidelines. Does he have a future at the club?
He’s contracted next year. We can’t question his ability and talent. He’s got that x-factor that we’ve lacked to score points and create something. His attitude needs to improve. There’s no doubt about that. He needed to apply himself more to his recovery and rehabilitation.
You coached Canberra for two years and North Queensland for five. How does this rank in the challenges you’ve faced?
It’s up there with the challenges to develop the squad again. It’s not too dissimilar to what I’ve done before. At the Cowboys in 2010 (five wins) it was a bit of a disaster but after that we had about 14 players move on and we changed our staff up as well. We made the finals in 2011, 12 and 13 and basically that whole squad is still together for Greeny (current Cowboys coach Paul Green). It was about recruitment and getting it right. We need to get the production line right.
Do you look at the Cowboys, who’ll play the Broncos tonight in a knockout final, and wonder what could have been?
There’s no doubt it’s a good squad. Greeny’s done a great job. They’re at the same point I was at for a few years. They now have to take the opportunity to push towards a maiden premiership. They’re healthy and playing good footy at the right time of the year. It’s taken a while to get to that stage. It’s evolved over three-four years. We’ve got to get to that stage in a few years where we’re playing finals football for four years in a row.
What’s a realistic expectation of the Titans in 2015?
We need to be a bit patient. Ideally we’d like to play finals football next year but if we finish ninth or 10th and are a couple of games out of the top eight and we’re developing then I’d say it hasn’t been a bad year. It’s in the context of how the season pans out. Our progression would be to push towards the top eight next year and you’d like to view that in the second year you could jump into the eight. Ideally for the fans you’d say we’re top eight next year but you’ve got to be a realist.
Crowds have been dwindling for years and the team only won three of 12 home games this season. How do you win back the support of the region?
There’s a lot of support for the opposition here. We’ve got to swing those supporters who have supported a Sydney team for a long time. To do that, you need to market yourself well and get some results. You need to get the links to the community and make sure they feel attached. If we get that going we’ll swing those supporters across. Everyone loves a winner.
You’ve got a reputation for being a renowned tactician but how would you describe yourself as a coach?
That got legs around Origin (when Henry was an assistant to Mal Meninga). I’m not big on statistics. There’s more man management in it than analysis and tactics. You’ve got to play a smart style to your strengths. That’s what we need to work out and get right. You also need to get your support staff right. At this level you co-coach. There’s better tacticians out there. I’d like to think I’ve learnt as I’ve gone along about man management.
You’ve got plenty of potential in the squad. What are you hoping to see from the likes of James Roberts and Dave Taylor?
Dave’s got to eventually be an 80-minute player. He’s played a lot of footy for a 26-year-old. He had a more consistent year this year than he has for a long time and he’s got to get better than that. People think he must be a lazy trainer but he’s one of the better trainers. James is an excitement machine. He could be anything with how strong and quick he is. The key is our halves (Aidan Sezer and Daniel Mortimer) and fullback (William Zillman). We’re potentially getting the strike power we need to put points on teams.