Steve Price’s axing by St George Illawarra on Monday finally ended a reign that never looked like lasting from the minute he replaced Wayne Bennett in the Dragons’ hot seat in 2012.
A highly-regarded junior coach, Price was promoted to the top job at the end of the 2011 season and had the uneviable task of filling the huge shoes of a man who guided the joint-venture to the 2010 premiership – the seventh of his illustrious career.
A naturally shy man, Price was as comfortable with the media side of the role as a fattened turkey is around Christmas time.
Subsequently when a side in desperate need of rebuilding failed to make the finals for two successive years, allies within the fourth estate were few and far between as the pressure mounted.
An unashamed public attempt by the Dragons to try and tempt Craig Bellamy away from Melbourne in early 2013 did little to give the impression he was ever on safe ground.
But Bellamy’s decision to stay put at the Storm gave Price a stay of execution.
However, his bizarre request to have his one-year contract extension announced by an email sent out midway through the Anzac Day clash with the Sydney Roosters to avoid media questioning was another sign of a man uncomfortable with all the rigours of modern-day coaching.
Despite this, Price’s standing amongst his players, many of who he’d worked with in the lower grades, was high despite some poor results.
But with the Dragons finishing 14th last year following the worst season in their history as a joint-venture a positive start to the 2014 campaign was imperative in keeping the wolves from the door.
Three successive wins from a new-look side, inspired by star signing Gareth Widdop gave Price a perfect start to the year and there were even whispers of a new contract being offered.
However, they soon vanished after six defeats in seven games and following the heavy defeat to Parramatta two weeks ago Price admitted he was at a loss to explain what went wrong.
And now he’ll never get to find out, with Dragons CEO Peter Doust, himself under pressure from frustrated fans, pulling the trigger and relieving him of the duties, with club great Paul McGregor put in charge until the end of this season.
Julian King
Roar Guru
When Bennett delivered the Dragons its first premiership in thirty years in just his second year at the helm, he set an impossible standard in which to maintain. It took countless coaches countless years to achieve the ultimate prize, and each came up short. Masters, Smith, Waite, Brown... The enormity of the achievement should not be lost on fans. Following (arguably) the greatest coach at the greatest club, trophy cabinet sparkling, did anyone think there was any other way but down? The problem for Price was not the failure to deliver another premiership, but rather the failure to remain competitive. For a demanding club with a proud history, this was unacceptable. He had enough rope and the rest is history.
tigerdave
Guest
Letscut to the chase, he was never going to succeed. I don't know what he is like as a coach, I suspect the NRL at this point is out of his depth. Bennett won the premiership by effectively back end loading many big name contracts, and left Price and the club with no room to move in the recruitment stakes. They lost many a good player to newcastle, who followed the coach down the highway. This year, they finally had room to recruit and they bought very poorly. Whoever is in charge of the recruiting there should be walking out the door with Price, Steves death knell came when he said he finally had the team he wanted. Looking at that team, blind Feeddy can see they are very light on in the forwards, they have two average half backs and Widdop, Morris and Dugan are the only backs worth keeping. Then they recruit a West Tiger discard. A Marquee player who led his team from semi final contenders to fighting for the wooden spoon last year. Not someone one a thinking coach would hang their coaching career on. I feel sorry for Price, he never did have the cattle to be competitive and we never really saw if he could or could not coach. His biggest sin is his inability to ascertain the capacity of his players.