NRL coaches job security ranking.

[C-Whiz]

We rank the job security of all 16 NRL coaches, from endangered to untouchable

Tim Elbra
The Daily Telegraph
January 17, 2014 7:30AM

The 2014 NRL season is a little under two months away and already a number of coaches are in the spotlight, with a dramatic reversal in their teams fortunes necessary to ensure their survival. ...

IT'S only pre-season and already a handful of NRL coaches are well and truly in the crosshairs.

With careers on the line in one of the world's most unstable occupations, we rank the job security of all 16 head coaches coming into season 2014.


16. STEVE PRICE (Dragons)

Former Wayne Bennett protege Price has said it himself: There can be no excuses this season. It will take just a handful of early poor performances for the short-tempered Dragons faithful to dust off the "Slice Price" banners. Price is off-contract at the end of this season, barring an option for another year in the club's favour - which he will only earn with major improvement. The coach has recruited a trio of playmakers in Gareth Widdop, Sam Williams and Michael Witt, some wide strike-power in Dylan Farrell, and forward grunt in Joel Thompson, Mike Cooper and Matt Groat. Price will also hope to get even more out of mid-2013 recruit Josh Dugan, a player with the potential to turn a battling team into a finals contender. On his departure, Bennett was adamant Price was an NRL coach - this season is make or break.

15. ANTHONY GRIFFIN (Broncos)

"Hook" may be signed until the end of 2015, but make no mistake: A club of Brisbane's stature does not take kindly to failure, which is what occurred under Griffin's watch last year. Having delivered the Broncos' worst-ever season, Griffin may get a very short timeframe in which to rectify the situation. Complicating matters is the state of his squad: Four halves options departed after last season (Scott Prince, Peter Wallace, Corey Norman and Luke Capewell), leaving long-time fringe player Ben Hunt to fill the halfback role. Justin Hodges suffered an achilles rupture last August, meaning the man who most defines Brisbane's fortunes will be missing for the first few months of the season. The upside is the signing of superstar Ben Barba, provided he fires, but another key recruit, Martin Kennedy, is in the sights of ASADA.

14. MATT ELLIOTT (Warriors)

Former Canberra and Penrith coach Elliott is off-contract after this season and will need to have his team strongly positioned in the finals mix to have a hope of extending his deal in Auckland. Elliott missed the playoffs last season, having taken up a two-year deal in bizarre circumstances. When Brian McLennan was sacked, Warriors players openly campaigned to have assistant Tony Iro installed to the top job while club officials chased Craig Bellamy and Tim Sheens in the background. Elliott was comically declared the Warriors' first choice when appointed but was well and truly in a position of needing to prove his worth. His team has taken a tremendous punt with its recruitment for 2014, signing English fullback Sam Tomkins for $1 million a season. Whether the move pays off will have a large bearing on Elliott's chances of survival.

13. MICK POTTER (Wests Tigers)

Common-sense prevailed at the end of last year when Tigers officials assessed a dire season and concluded that rookie head coach Potter could not be made the sacrificial lamb for a campaign that ended with a second-last finish. Injuries were rife, superstar Benji Marshall was so out-of-form and disgruntled that he signed to play rugby, while big-money forward Adam Blair bumbled through another poor season. Yet Potter, off-contract this year, will ultimately be held accountable for 2014. The former Dally M Medallist has reshaped his support staff but his list of outgoing players far exceeds those coming in. Potter's fortunes will largely rest on the shoulders of superstar halfback in the making Luke Brooks, 19, while English Super League hero Pat Richards - a 2005 Tigers premiership winner - could prove a top buy.

12. JOHN CARTWRIGHT (Titans)

Three consecutive seasons without a finals appearance have taken Cartwright from enviable job security to the endangered list. The former Test forward is midway through a five-season deal to the end of 2016 but that will likely count for little should his team not be alive in September. Plus, his new assistant Neil Henry is a ready-made replacement. The Titans are operating in a notoriously difficult market for luring fans and the success critical to their health has been lacking. The club lost a big talent and drawcard when Jamal Idris departed for Penrith and there are no big names on the recruit list for 2014. Cartwright will hope for a greater return from enigmatic forward Dave Taylor this year, five-eighth Aidan Sezer remains a player on the rise, yet the club is dealing with a potentially serious health problem for gun halfback Albert Kelly.

11. PAUL GREEN (Cowboys)

Appointed after Wayne Bennett knocked back an approach to come in for sacked coach Neil Henry, Green has signed a two-season deal to mentor a team long expected to win a premiers

hip. The former Rothmans Medallist, who was an assistant coach for the Roosters' title win, will have incredible ammunition at his disposal in the form of champion playmaker Johnathan Thurston, plus Test props Matt Scott and James Tamou. With those kind of troops comes immediate expectation - Green is unlikely to get a grace period to match his fellow newcomers at Canberra and Parramatta. Henry was finally axed for failing to convert exceptional talent into consistent excellence and it remains to be seen how much patience Green will be shown. He will be expected to instil the Cowboys with the defensive grit that powered the Roosters' triumph.

10. BRAD ARTHUR (Eels)

Nocoach in the NRL is facing a rebuilding task that even comes close to what former Eels caretaker Brad Arthur has on his hands at Parramatta. The upside of two consecutive wooden spoons, from Arthur's point of view, is that his madcap board should be patient enough to let him start his three-season contract with urgent remedial work. Any result above last will be a welcome improvement. And let's face it, Ricky Stuart isn't a hard act to follow in the eyes of Eels fans. Arthur, a proud local product, has guaranteed Parra won't win another spoon this season. He has cause for optimism, with superstar Will Hopoate arriving at the club and marquee player Jarryd Hayne hitting outrageous form at the World Cup. Exactly what he can extract from troubled halfback Chris Sandow may define the Eels' season.

9. RICKY STUART (Raiders)

Stuart sealed his shock departure from Parramatta, after just one wooden spoon-winning season, by signing a three-year deal with Canberra. He has been cast in the saviour role, given the club has had little to celebrate since he was the Green Machine's champion halfback in the early 1990s. Stuart's job is safe this season but the bigger question to have emerged is: Can Sticky actually coach? It's an insulting query for a man with Stuart's resume, but his detractors are always willing to pick holes in his record and point to his recent failures. The Raiders have long threatened to re-emerge as a premiership force, yet have infamously lost a raft of star players in recent seasons. A key challenge for Stuart will be extracting the best from gun teenage fullback Anthony Milford, who desperately wanted to join 2015 club Brisbane this year.

8. IVAN CLEARY (Panthers)

Though Penrith didn't make the finals last year, Cleary emerged with an enhanced reputation after his no-frills side showed major signs of improvement. Having overseen a mass player cleanout that claimed virtually every big name in the club, topped off by the exit of Lachlan Coote in 2013, Cleary needed to prove that Phil Gould's "Five-Year Plan" was not just a line to calm anxious fans as the team went downhill. It didn't, and it will be expected to improve further after an impressive recruitment drive. New halves Jamie Soward and Peter Wallace are maligned but experienced, Elijah Taylor and Brent Kite will add grunt to the pack, Tyrone Peachey has massive potential and the recent signing of giant cult-hero centre Jamal Idris was a cherry on top. Penrith again looks like a finals team - its fate rests with Cleary.


7. PETER SHARP (Sharks)

Former Manly head coach Sharp has nothing to lose in his one-season caretaker role at Cronulla - except, perhaps, his sanity. The job of keeping the Sharks running smoothly in the absence of banned head coach Shane Flanagan will be a difficult one, especially given ongoing uncertainty as to what findings will be handed down by ASADA itself in the wake of last month's NRL sanctions. As it stands, a full and healthy Cronulla roster is undoubtedly a premiership contender, but whether the entire squad is available is a matter entirely beyond the club's control. Sharp also stepped up as caretaker when Flanagan was suspended by the Sharks' own board at the start of last season and at least knows he has the respect of his players.

6. WAYNE BENNETT (Knights)

The prospect that rugby league's greatest-ever coach could be sacked has always been preposterous. But hey, the NRL has never seen a club owner like trigger-fingered mining magnate Nathan Tinkler, which pushes Bennett to perhaps his lowest-ever position on one of these lists. The chances of the seven-time premiership winner being moved on from his $1 million-per-season deal remain remote, with the agreement set to expire after 2015. However, Tinkler spent the big bucks on Bennett for one reason: to win the club's first premiership since 2001. Bennett has set about the less glamorous task of restoring Newcastle as a consistently-decent team, and has a preliminary finals appearance from last season to prove he is on the right track. Tinkler will be anxious for his side to go a step or two further this season, but it has copped a horror start with front-row recruit Russell Packer jailed.

UNTOUCHABLE (FOR NOW)

5. MICHAEL MAGUIRE (Rabbitohs)

The former Craig Bellamy understudy is as secure as any coach can be without having won a premiership. Maguire is off-contract at the end of this season but a new deal is a formality, as South Sydney powerbrokers are rapt with the job their coach has done in restoring the Bunnies as a premiership force. Certainly, Maguire would be hot property on the open market were talks not well advanced to have him stay long-term at Redfern. "Madge" will face a new challenge this season, having enjoyed a steady stream of incoming blue-chip talent during his two-season tenure: the Rabbitohs must front up with a weaker squad than last year, having lost plenty of players and recruited lightly. Beyond that, his only issue is expectation. It's been a long wait since Souths' last premiership in 1971 and fans are growing impatient.

4. DES HASLER (Bulldogs)

Dual Manly premiership winner Hasler remains one of the NRL's marquee coaches and is going nowhere. However, he will certainly hope for better luck this season, having dealt with regular injury problems in his squad and constant controversy surrounding now-departed fullback Ben Barba in 2013. Hasler took Canterbury to a grand final in his first season and is signed with the club until the end of 2015, by which time he will be expected to have delivered a premiership - although whether he has a team capable of going all the way is the question, with few new players and the exit of Barba's inimitable brilliance. An interesting issue posed by recent rumblings on the Bulldogs board is whether Hasler will be upset by the instability - as he was, fatally, at Manly. The other eternal question is whether the Dogs can fly under the radar.

3. GEOFF TOOVEY (Sea Eagles)

A favourite son at Manly who had the seemingly-impossible task of living up to the standards set by Hasler, Toovey showed his qualities as a head coach by taking his salty outfit to a narrow defeat in last season's grand final. Toovey is off-contract at the end of this year but his retention on a new deal is a formality, with the expectation he will re-sign until at least the end of 2016. The Manly premiership-winning captain has enjoyed a remarkable 24-year tenure at the club and will have a squad of roughly the same quality as last season at his disposal. Plus, Tooves has the greatest insurance policy any coach could want: two exceptional halves in Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran, both coming into the prime of their careers. Surely the pair will add to their 2011 premiership in the not-too-distant future, taking their coach for the ride.

2. TRENT ROBINSON (Roosters)

A premiership winner and Dally M coach of the year in his first season as a head coach, Robinson enjoyed a phenomenal 2013. Though he will be up against it winning consecutive titles, something no team has done in a unified competition since 1992-93, there seems little prospect of Robinson and his star-studded Roosters dropping far off the mark this year. Robinson is signed until the end of 2015 and the Tri-colours have made it clear they intend to extend the deal of their one-time defence coach well into the future. Certainly, the improvements he made to the Chooks' defence was incredible. It is believed Robinson could fetch up to $600,000 a season on the open market, heading into just the second season of his career as an NRL head coach. Nice work, if you can get it. And win trophies along the way.

1. CRAIG BELLAMY (Storm)

Bellamy remains the modern-era supercoach against whom all others are measured. Winner of the 2012 premiership (and also stripped grand final victories in 2007 and 2009), Bellyache is a mentor 90 per cent of other clubs would give anything to have - just ask the Broncos, Dragons and Warriors, who have all launched failed raids for his services. The former Canberra premiership player last year re-signed with the Storm until the end of 2016 and likely has the job for as long as he wants it. Although he has had the services of champions like Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk at his disposal, Bellamy's trademark has been his ability to make mediocre players perform beyond previous levels - surely the sign of a master coach. Less celebrated is his promotion of wrestling to control the all-important ruck, yet it has made an enormous impact on the game. Bellamy is a keen student of cutting-edge sports science and team preparation, with his latest fact-finding mission to the Miami Dolphins (NFL) and Heat (NBA). His players will tell you know man works harder. Or works his players harder. Or yells louder.

[DIEHARD]

Looks about right to me. Interested to see how Paul Green goes.