Coaches are only as good as their players

Go to agree with Rixy, AR and co here MG. Bellamy's results in Melbourne should put that argument to rest. Who exactly were Bryan Norrie / Jesse Bromwich / Will Chambers / Justin O'Neill / Kevin Procter / Jaiman Lowe before they went to Melbourne?? No disrespect to any of them - they were all outstanding in the semis and GF - but it was the Storm's culture that got them to play to that level. They lose Jason Ryles 2 weeks before the GF, the only 'name' forward in their squad and someone slots straight in and he's not missed at all. That says a lot about the team as a group. Players are given roles and played to them. Yes obviously they couldn't do it without Smith and co but give Bellamy credit for getting Smith and Slater there as teenagers and creating a team around those blokes and a culture and work ethic that everybody buys in to. It's no co-incidence that down there you never hear of any scandal involving their players. And believe me, in Melbourne, they will blow any misdemeanor by a rugby league player into a front page story. Fact is you would not hear of Cronk or Smith being thrown out of a nightclub at 2 in the morning any more than the Pope would be seen leaving a pornshop. Those leaders within the playing group have character - you can't buy it - and Bellamy has identified the blokes he needed to create and propagate that ethos. Good teams rise and fall year to year but great clubs endure and give rise to those successful teams by having a culture of success. Gus Gould says it's "in the woodwork". That gets back mostly to the coach... and 2 or 3 strong-minded players that lead, on and off the field. Oh and as Gibbo said - success starts with the front office - that is, the administration define what kind of organisation they want to be and appoint a coach who can turn that vision into reality.

Good point and you're probably right as well.

You do realise the knights had an even worse outfit in 2011 and made the semis under rick stone....they went backwards in 2012 no matter which way you look at it.

Team of Nobodies = Penrith 2003 Team of All stars = Tigers 2012

On top of that, while there is no arguing the quality of Smith, Cronk & Slater, how much of that is natural talent (a fair bit for Smith & Slater, I'd imagine), and how much of it is a result of Bellamy as coach? All the talent in the world is next to useless if you don't know how to use it, and I would argue that it is through Bellamys coaching that the 'Big Three" are perhaps far superior players to what they may have been had they simply had a mediocre coach. Of course, we'll never really know, now.

Good point RM. Comparing a week-long Origin camp with a full season and pre-season is completely different...and as you say, Queensland was, simply, much much better than NSW during Bellamy's reign.

See it's here that I can't separate the players from the coach. Bellamy's Storm does have a decent record of getting good results from ' journeymen' players but what player isn't going to look better in that team? Forwards on the front foot from the momentum Smith generates, backs getting lots of opportunities from the half-chances that Cronk and Slater throw their way - the fact that the other team is concentrating so hard on these stars doesn't hurt either. I'm not saying that Bellamy doesn't contribute, but I can't say for sure he does either. I would also point out that this phenomenon is hardly unique to the Storm, good teams throughout the comp are brimming with players making big contributions that were previously fringe players elsewhere

Agree with the premise that champion players win you premierships, however champion coaches tend to attract the best players. Coaches are being used more and more as magnets to attract players. Do you think Boyd, Scott, Jeremy Smith etc. would be at Newcastle if not for Bennett? They also get all players to play to their potential, be it average players or great. Do you think Soward will ever play as good under another coach as he did under Bennett?

@Mals, Belamy's failure at SOO level was due to a number of factors 1) His team make up was not selected by him but by a blues selection board 2) He had a relatively short time to work with the team which is contrary to how Belamy works. Ricky Stuart's style (despite him being the worst coach in the comp) is much more conducive to success in an SOO set up than Belamys. 3) The team he had was simply not good enough to take down the maroons. I believe that Belamy is one of the best NRL coaches we have seen in a long while and I think he is at least on a par with Bennett but he is only an average SOO or international coach and should never be appointed to either of these roles.

What a shame the author of this piece has such a poor grasp on the NRL. If Mr Burbank had an understanding of the NRL he would know that allowing the Oldfield try in the Cowboys vs Manly game effectively ended the contest, because in such a tight game in the tightest competition in the world, the 8 point margin was a bridge to far. It's not a fair cop to simply say 'there was enough time for them to score after that'. By your rhetoric Mr Burbank, no contentious try has ever impacted on a game so long as there is (in your opinion) enough time for the team on the end of it to score in return. So the Oldfield try had no bearing, the Inglis try in Origin had no bearing and so on.. "there were many moments after that during which the Cowboys were not able to pierce Manly’s defence and get back into it." the game was over champ and they knew it, we knew, seems everybody but you knew it. Once again a poor understanding of the tightness of the competition. Finally, to undervalue the role of a coach in driving a football team to success, for me, is the nail in your journalistic coffin MG Burbank. Sure the players are the ones on the field, but it's the coach who ensures all players in the top grade are working in the same direction. Unfortunately Rugby League players (many of them kids, almost straight out of high school) need direction. THE COACH PUTS THE TEAM TOGETHER. He brings players to the club that fit his ethos of what he thinks will win the club a premiership. Sure, ultimately the players need to do the job on the field. But for you to be dismissive of a coaches responsibilities tells me you have no real idea about modern day RL in the NRL.

I think the title of this article is completely WRONG. I would sooner my club spend extra dollars on a great coach than on a great player. The coach is hugely influential. Just look at what happened to the doggies when Hasler went there or at the storm despite being decimated of players in 2011. Its true he cannot win it on his own but as he gets to select the team, recruit players, train them and stratagise with them, I think that he is the most important member of any team. Another example would be McGuire, Bunnies done nothing for years, McGuire arrives and in yr 1 they make the finals for the first time in how long ? and I wouldn't put it past him getting to the big one this year. Sure Bennett found the going tough last yr at the knights but who is to say he doesn't get them there in 2013. And is no co-incidence that the Broncos biggest slump for years comes when he leaves as average coach in charge ? The top 4 coaches in the comp are Bennett, Belamy, Hasler and McGuire and I will guarentee that the finalists in 2013 will be played out by teams coached by two of these coaches.

Was it the coach no ,bloody fortune tellers , any player will tell you that they played better under a certain coach , of coarse a coach makes a huge difference if they don't gel with the players they can have a team of under performing allstars and then you can have a team of nobodys who gel with their coach and they are world beaters .

Hard to argue with that AR. Bellamy showed however at SOO level that he couldn't get the best out of the NSW squad (2 wins out of 9) which contained it's fair share of ordinary players.

Champion players definitely make the team. Whilst the Storm have notably had 3 long-term champions holding the side together, not many people would argue that Bellamy has the rare ability to *extract* the best from seemingly average players. Recycled players regularly go down to Melbourne and discover that they can consistently play at a level not experienced by them before. Some of this is due to the champions around them, a lot of it is culture and work ethic...and much of it also must be Bellamy.

Who's to say that Newcastle would have been even worse if he wasnt there?

I have no anger against Hayne. At times when he has the ball he is awesome, no question. Fantastic with it at times. But if you watch him closely while at fullback he dawdles, seemingly as if he doesnt want to be there to make the big play to stop a try. Happy for him to utterly prove me wrong this year. Im pretty sure Ricky will get more out of this guy.