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The influence any NRL coach has on his players is as powerful as the Pied Piper’s on the rats of Hamelin.
All the associated analytics that come together when trying to determine the winner of any given match means little if the players are not prepared physically and mentally, and equipped with a winning game plan.
The head coach is weighted above all else, and each coach carries his very own individual rating, largely based on his win percentage and an ability to get his team into the big games.
All the great coaches comprehend disciplined defence, the hallmark of how they plan their offence. Most players improve under the great coaches.
The top four rated coaches in the NRL in 2014 are Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy, Des Hasler and Trent Robinson, who is only in his second year. It would be easy to write about these four wonderful mentors for hours on end, but as good as they are and as great as they are, they all have the same weakness – loyalty.
It seems to be a great coach you have to love your players like they are your family. When a coach enjoys success with a player, the bond strengthens. These players are generally just as important to the team and the coach off the field and often act as an unofficial assistant coaches.
But there comes a time when the player stops improving, the coach cannot impart any more knowledge to help him grow and Father Time has entered the dressing room. The coach must make the heart wrenching decision to sack his ‘son’ for another player, or a young gun who has been itching to get his chance in the top grade.
The top four NRL coaches have earned their high rating because they are the very best at what they do, but they are also human, and sometimes loyalty wins over the bleeding obvious.
It is not Wayne Bennett’s seven grand final wins that impresses me the most, but the fact he has never been beaten once his team makes the big one. He has put together an aged forward pack at the Knights and many have followed him from club to club. It is doubtful if he will ever sack Jeremy Smith or skipper Kurt Gidley, even though they are struggling, while Willie Mason and Beau Scott continue to thrive under Bennett.
Craig Bellamy is a creator of great players and turns average journeymen into valuable first graders, but he has also shown that he finds it difficult to tap one of his beloved ‘sons’ on the shoulder – one of the reasons his amazing club record is not reflected as an Origin coach. Bellamy maintains a stunning 67 per cent win record and has won three grand finals for the Storm (2007 and 2009 were stripped of title).
Bryan Norrie and Ryan Hinchcliffe have been wonderful servants and under ‘Bellyache’ have played well above their god-given talent for many years, but are now playing past their use-by date. Still, they keep showing up in the Storm’s top 13 every week. Why? Because they would take a bullet for their coach and he knows it.
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler won two premierships at Manly, largely by sticking with the same squad and he has taken that loyalty to Canterbury. Sam Perrett is a beneficiary and has found himself as the club’s fullback when the Roosters discarded him three years ago as a slow winger. There seems to be a new story breaking every day about who will be the new fullback at the Bulldogs, but you get the impression that Des is in no rush to move Sam on.
When it comes to moving old fullbacks on, Roosters coach Trent Robinson must get sick of people asking why Anthony Minichiello keeps getting the number one jersey over Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. It is like driving a Veedub when you could be sitting in a Ferrari, but Robbo did not win the Premiership in his rookie year because he makes the same decisions as everyone else. He knows his Veedub will get him from A to B without crashing every week.
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