NRL’s coaching mid year report card: Part 2

With ranks 16-9 sorted in part one of the report card, things are beginning to heat up as we get into the crème de la crème of 2016’s NRL coaches.

In assessing these positions I will be looking at the roster available to the coaches, tactics implemented, ladder position in relation to the roster and how the coach has responded to form slumps, injury concerns and off-field drama at the club.

8th Anthony Griffin (Panthers, 11th)
Griffin was a controversial appointment for 2016 with Ivan Clearly having performed quite well in his time with the Panthers. Ultimately though change is necessary for growth so in stepped ‘Hook’.

Despite a raft of early season injuries and alarming drops in the form of various players, Griffin has kept his team on the straight and narrow. The Panthers have been one of the most competitive sides in the competition, pushing their opponents for the full 80 consistently, which is a sign of great mental preparation.

He has done well to focus on youth development, shifting Peter Wallace to hooker early in the season to accommodate potential superstar Te Maire Martin. Martin was exceptional until his injury and Wallace has flourished in the hooking role.

The Panthers have had a difficult draw to date but have performed reasonably well, winning three of nine against top eight teams, their biggest losing margin against a top eight team being just eight points in Round 1 against the Raiders. That might not sound like much but the Dragons are the only team outside the top eight with a better record against the competition’s elite, however it is worth noting that one of the Dragons’ three victories was against a Cowboys side missing six Origin stars.

7th Brad Arthur (Eels, fifth)
Arthur is perhaps the hardest coach to rank this season. On one hand, he and his Eels were soaring to start the season, but on the other, that was with an illegal roster. Similarly, since the chips have dropped, the Eels performances have slumped.

But even so Arthur has done a great job in keeping his players as mentally focused as possible, with particular care offered to Kieran Foran and Corey Norman for personal problems. That is a sign of great management and ultimately how the rest of the season unfolds will give us a greater indication of Arthurs quality.

6th Wayne Bennett (Broncos, fourth)
This one might confuse a lot of people but really it’s quite simple. I’m not going to get into the legitimacy of the Broncos being salary cap compliant but one look at their roster suggests that even someone out of ‘Dumb and Dumber’ could coach this squad into the finals.

The Broncos sit in an elevated ladder position of fourth but remain two wins adrift of the top spot. With minimal injury concerns this season, a team featuring 13 players with Origin or international experience, plus the likes of James Roberts and Jack Reed, anything lower than a top-four finish should be considered a failure.

The Broncos recent three-match losing streak combined with these factors ensures I can’t place Bennett any higher.

5th Paul Green (Cowboys, third)
Green is in a similar spot to Bennett on this list. A star-studded roster which, for the majority of matches in 2016, has offered Green the leisure of naming the same 17 as last year’s victorious grand final squad.

The Cowboys have been excellent this season and regularly dominate opponents – a sign of a well-coached team. They also play for the full 80 every week, in their four losses this season they have lost by a combined total of 10 points and are on track to potentially go back-to-back.

4th Ricky Stuart (Raiders, sixth)
Love him or hate him, you can’t deny Stuart has done a fantastic job since arriving in the nation’s capital. What has been presented come 2016 is a fantastic football team and the team really does need to be emphasised.

This is a club that features no genuine superstars, instead it is a team full of good players playing to their potential week in, week out.

Hooker Josh Hodgson is playing out of his skin and leading the Dally M racde while his fellow rake Kurt Baptiste has developed into a game breaker. Jordan Ropana and BJ Leilua are both enjoying career-best form and Stuart’s timely promotion and development of youth has been exquisitely handled.

3rd Neil Henry (Titans, eighth)
Henry features as the coaching reports card biggest place jumper in relation to his team’s current ladder position. That can be squarely put down to this club massively exceeding expectations. Pundits predicted the Titans would battle the Knights for the wooden spoon in 2016. Instead, at the halfway point of the season, they find themselves entrenched in the top eight with every chance of remaining there come September.

Perhaps the best testament to Henry’s work is the form of his halves Tyrone Roberts and Ash Taylor. Roberts was a discard from last season’s wooden spooners the Knights, being demoted to NSW Cup midway through 2015, highlighting just how out of sorts he was. Come 2016 he has played with incredible control and consistency to perfectly compliment boom youngster Taylor, who has been thrown into the hot seat following the season-ending injury to Kane Elgey.

Instead of being overawed at the prospect Taylor has been the standout player for the team, culminating in a heroic match-winning field against South Sydney in Round 13.

Henry and his Titans officials have also been responsible for securing some handy mid-season transfers in the form of Nathan Peats, John Olive and Konrad Hurrell, which should ensure the club continues to go from strength to strength.

2nd Craig Bellamy (Storm, second)
‘Bellyache’ is never far from the top of the list. In my humble opinion, he is the greatest coach of the modern era, eclipsing Wayne Bennett.

Despite a season-ending injury to talismanic fullback Billy Slater and an outside backs depletion verging on a crisis, Melbourne find themselves equal top of the ladder.

This is due to the professional set up of the Storm, which has been instilled by Bellamy. The team has a clearly defined structure, players know their roles and they work for one another in both attack in defence. This has allowed fringe players, debutants and mid-season transfers such as Curtis Scott, Ben Hampton, Suliasi Vunivalu, Ryan Morgan, Cheyse Blair and Nelson Asofa-Solomona to not just simply fill a void but excel at the club.

The Storm have produced a number of dominant performances and taken some big scalps in 2016, while players such as Cameron Munster have taken their game to the next level and it is a credit to the incredible work of Bellamy.

1st Shane Flanagan (Sharks, first)
A man who has endured plenty of adversity since becoming a first grade coach, Flanagan thoroughly deserves his top ranking. Many pundits would have viewed the Sharks roster as a potential top four side at the beginning of the season, so the reality of Cronulla sitting atop the premiership ladder after 13 rounds is an incredible achievement.

Flanagan has ensured key recruits have not just slotted in seamlessly with the club but have become the most important players at the club – namely James Maloney and Chad Townsend who are both in career-best form.

Ben Barba is similarly nearing the form the saw him claim the 2012 Dally M player of the year award while Jack Bird’s transition from five-eighth to centre has provided even more danger to opposition defensive lines.

Across the park, Cronulla are completing the one-percenters and competing like a premiership-winning outfit. The club has won nine straight matches, has a 92 per cent tackle efficiency, have won five of six matches against fellow top eight teams and are among the best teams in both handling and discipline while producing some of the most exciting football of 2016.

In short Flanagan has implemented excellent tactics, set plays and a mixture of control and creativity to get the most out of his talented squad.