The NRL’s coaching mid-year report card: Part 1

With the first half of the 2016 season officially complete and with no coach having been sacked so far it is interesting to weigh up who is excelling and who is struggling despite holding down their position.

Without further ado let’s take a look at coaches ranked 16-9 in part one of the mid year report card.

16th, Andrew McFadden (Warriors, 12th)
The Warriors were instilled by many critics and pundits as 2016 premiership favourites following the acquisition of key personnel such as Roger Tuivasa-Scheck and Issac Luke.

In equal measure there was the widely held belief that anything less than a top-four finish could spell the end of coach Andrew McFadden.

Despite a dreadful beginning to their campaign and a rumoured Round 6 deadline for McFadden to turn things around or face the chop, he remains at the helm.

Ultimately that sums up why McFadden is last in the coach rankings at the mid season point. On paper this is a premiership winning squad. In reality the Warriors are the most inconsistent team in the competition with a serious attitude and culture problem.

Focus and match preparation is one of the most important jobs of the coach and it is clear McFadden is failing to get the best out of his talented squad – Issac Luke’s form has epitomised this issue.

Questionable team selections such as the constant omission of Konrad Hurrel in favour of Blake Ayshford and persisting with Jeff Robson despite having Tui Lolohea in the team throughout the early rounds combined with a lack of injury concerns (Tuivasa-Scheck has been the only real injury and with him in the team the Warriors had a 2-5 record) mean that there should be no reason this team should be sitting as low as they are.

Without a top eight finish you can expect McFadden to lose his job before 2017.

15th, Trent Barrett (Manly, 13th)
Manly sit in a very similar position to the Warriors and not just on the ladder. On paper this is a side that could potentially contest the top four.

A huge recruitment drive over the off season saw them nab representative stars Dylan Walker, Nate Myles, Lewis Brown, Martin Tapua in conjunction with talented first graders Apisai Korisau, Matt Parcell and Darcy Lussick.

Any team containing that many quality players should automatically feature come September but that looks incredibly unlikely.

Almost every player in this side is out of form. They look lethargic, uninterested and disorganized and while those issues don’t fall squarely on Barrett he is the man that needs to be accountable for them.

While the Sea Eagles have had a number of injuries to their backline their losses have not been significant enough to warrant their current position.

They have also struggled to compete with the top teams winning just one of seven matches against current top eight opposition.

14th, Jason Taylor (Wests Tigers, 14th)
Taylor is perhaps the most criticised coach in living memory of the NRL. Fan disillusionment runs high when it comes to Taylor and unfortunately he does himself no favours when it comes to tactics and team selection.

His failure to wield the axe on underperforming players is astounding. To date only Curtis Sironen has been dropped for poor form despite some awful showings from the club with a 5-8 record.

The Tigers right edge defence has leaked points like a sieve all season and there have been no alterations to amend it.

David Nofoluma, Kevin Naiqama and Mitchell Moses, who are all poor decision-makers in defence, continue to be partnered on the right edge.

Naiqama in particular has made awful defensive reads all season yet continues to be selected despite Michael Chee-Kam having been outstanding in every match played in 2016.

Inane selections such as playing three hookers against Parramatta in Round 3 have only worsened things for Taylor.

Further compounding things is his on-going fued with Robbie Farah which includes his frequently bizarre press conferences.

I won’t pass comment on the Farah vs Taylor situation other than to say that the healthiest and most professional move for the club was to have sorted any simmering issues before the season began, instead as of Round 13 they have resurfaced.

Statistically the Tigers have shown no improvement since Taylor arrived to the club despite his assurances to strengthen the Tigers’ defensive frailties.

There have been some positives however. The Tigers by and large have played freer flowing football in 2016 then in 2015 and Taylor has blooded a number of promising youngsters including JJ Felise and Josh Aloai.

The retention of some promising players such as Josh Addo-Carr, Josh Drinkwater and Asipeli Fine will come under scrutiny but that area is one more specifically relating to the Tigers administration and power brokers.

13th, Nathan Brown (Newcastle, 16th)
I truly feel for Nathan Brown and in some ways he should be higher up this list but given the Knights performances and ladder position that simply cannot happen.

Brown has unfortunately inherited the worst roster in NRL history, yes worse than the early 2000s South Sydney rosters, so his hands are largely tied on a week-to-week basis.

To Brown’s credit though he has acknowledged this issue and taken a very literal approach to promoting and developing local youth prospects. More than ten players have received debuts for the Knights this season and while the Knights have been battered from pillar to post, the experience these young players are gaining in the top grade is imperative in helping the club achieve moving forward.

The acquisition of mid-season signings Mitch Barnett and Brendan Elliot are further scalps for the club and it is likely Brown has had a hand in selecting these players.

12th, Trent Robinson (Roosters, 15th)
The Roosters have had a torrid time this season dealing with injuries and off-season departures and so despite their lowly place on the ladder I think Trent Robinson has done a reasonable job this season.

Stars James Maloney, Roger Tuivasa-Scheck and Michael Jennings all left the club in the off season and this loss of quality was severely compouneded by the loss of key playmaker Mitchell Pearce and their two best forwards Jared Warea-Hargraves and Boyd Cornder for the majority of the season to date.

Since the return of the latter three the Roosters have gone 2-2 (plus a bye) following a 1-7 start to the season. Robinson has also uncovered and groomed some truly exceptional rookies in the form of utilities Ryan Matterson and Connor Watson and of course Latrell Mitchell who looks destined for a long representative career.

Despite their low position on the ladder the Roosters have been extremely competitive throughout 2016, which is a further credit to the attitude and preparation instilled by Robinson into his depleted squad. Expect the club to continue to rise up the ladder moving forward.

11th, Des Hasler (Bulldogs, 7th)
This may be a controversial placing but Hasler has a squad that has the potential to be a top-four finisher and a grand final winner and instead his team has been the most inconsistent club next to the Warriors and that says something.

Despite having seven wins for the season the Dogs have only managed to collect back-to-back wins once this year, that was in Rounds 10 and 11 against the teams coming 14th and 15th at present. Not a great advertisement.

They also have a poor top eight record winning two from seven against top eight teams so far. With the squad that Hasler has at his disposal, their performances and present ladder position should be far better.

10th, Paul McGregor (Dragons, 9th)
The Dragons are somehow almost in the eight – I say somehow because without a shadow of a doubt they are the most boring side to watch in the competition.

That said, they do get the job done with a 6-6 record ensuring they are on the verge of playing finals football.

That is a credit to Paul McGregor because on paper his squad is certainly not a premiership winning one.

With a number of injuries and a forward-centric squad, McGregor has focused on a defensive middle third strategy that ultimately puts runs on the board, but if they are to contest for the trophy come September ‘Mary’ will need to spice things up a tad.

9th, Michael McGuire (Souths, 10th)
Michael McGuire’s team have enjoyed some what of a resurgence over the last month, collecting six points on the back of two wins and a bye.

Souths early season form was alarming as their players, particularly Greg Inglis, seemed incredibly lethargic. Many put this down to McGuire’s demanding coaching style. To his credit though McGuire has implemented changes to alter the course of Souths’ formerly flat-lining season.

This has included offering the excellent Cody Walker a larger role in the custodian position, shifting the flat Greg Inglis to five-eighthh and centre where his performances have improved dramatically, altering the struggling Luke Keary’s role from play maker to super sub and most recently providing a transitional pathway for the consistent Byrson Goodwin to move from the centres to the second row which in turn allows the promising Siosifa Talaki a spot in the top side.

Great coaches need to make changes in tough times and McGuire responded well – ultimately he was very unlucky not to be selected in the top eight coaches at the half way point, but I do expect he will feature higher, much like Souths ladder position, come the end of year report.

Part two is on it’s way where I will rank the top eight coaches from the season, what do you think of the list so far Roarers?