As the Warriors again face an uphill battle to make the top eight and the knives come out for Stephen Kearney, it’s worth reflecting that he is the only NZ coach to bring the Kiwi outfit into the playoffs, albeit only one knock-out game where they were well and truly spanked by Penrith.
In fact, Kearney is now the most successful Warriors coach from NZ in club’s history despite his adequate but uninspiring 44 per cent winning rate.
Prior to last year’s finals, not one of the four NZ coaches – excluding Tony Iro, who coached two games for two losses – had ever brought the Warriors into the playoffs, a staggering outcome and worse when you consider that the previous best season by a NZ coach was when the Warriors finished 11th out of 17 teams under Mark Graham last millennium.
Compare this to the success rate of Australian coaches. Under Aussies, the Warriors have made the playoffs more often than they haven’t – seven times, to be precise.
They also have a minor premiership under an Australian coach (Daniel Anderson), and both trips to the grand final have been under Australian coaches, Anderson and Ivan Cleary.
Ivan Cleary is one of the few coaches who’s cracked the Warriors code. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Wayne Drought)
The data says the Warriors are more than four times more likely to reach the playoffs under an Australian coach than a NZ one.
This is not to disparage NZ coaches as the Warriors have long since become a basket case where the head coaching job is a poisoned chalice that has killed off a number of careers.
Anderson and Cleary’s success overshadows the failures of Andrew McFadden and Matthew Elliott, the latter an NRL and Super League stalwart who couldn’t find any consistency at Mt Smart.
Last year, the Kiwis national team appointed an Australian coach, Michael Maguire, for the first time in its 100-year history, while in last year’s rugby union Six Nations tournament, the coaches of the top three teams were all from NZ and Australia.
Look at the top half of the English Premier League and you won’t see any of those teams with English managers.
The Warriors have had two successful eras despite never winning a grand final. What these eras had in common were smart, relatively young, hard-nosed Australian coaches who were able develop a game plan that didn’t compromise the prodigious raw talent of the team, but harnessed it, persisted with it, and unleashed it on the NRL in a way we haven’t seen since.
This includes the mercurial talents of Ali Lauiti’iti, Clinton Toopi, Shaun Johnson, Frances Meli and Manu Vatuvei, who all thrived under the tutelage of Australian coaches.
As the Warriors limp towards another season of frustration and their supporter base fractures, it may be time to look across the Tasman for a coach who can tame this beast of perpetual disappointment.
planko
Roar Guru
One name Maloney....
Neel
Roar Guru
Absolutely right mate. They just need a good coach regardless of whether he is an Aussie or not.
Neel
Roar Guru
They need more than that bro. A culture change would help a lot.
Paul
Roar Guru
You made an excellent comment in this piece, bcj. "(coaches) who were able develop a game plan that didn’t compromise the prodigious raw talent of the team, but harnessed it, persisted with it, and unleashed it on the NRL in a way we haven’t seen since." I'm wondering if they need to take a different approach and get a really good assistant coach into work with the side for a couple of years, get to understand what it is that makes these guys tick, then let them loose on the squad as the head coach. Maybe get one of Bellamy's assistants who have a great grounding in how the game is played at the top level, but that same guy has to have an open mind, so when the time comes, he can combine what he's learned at Melbourne with the talent pool that is the Warriors. Thanks for this first article, bcj, certainly an interesting issue.
Paul
Roar Guru
don't forget Mary MacGregor as well.
Sylvester
Guest
Ha. I read stat somewhere that only 1 in 15 Aussie coaches win the NRL title each year... Seriously, I don't even know where to start with this article. Outside the grand final, Cleary had an average record with Warriors. And continues to be average at clubs with way more "hard-nosed" Aussies on the roster. Daniel Anderson was just a good coach. But then he did also go down in a screaming heap eventually. PS: You forgot John Monie.
Guru
Guest
I recall Anthony Seibold being the Daly M coach last year now he is struggling. At moment Paul Green, Ivan Cleary, Dean Pay and Anthony Seibold all sit below Stephen Kearney's team on the table and they all Aussie coaches. Let's look at other stats like SK international coaching 5 times beat the Kangaroos. Most successful coach against the Kangaroos with a world cup.
Peter Piper
Guest
I was thinking the same thing. There have been plenty of Australian coaches who have been proven duds this last 10 years. Being Australian does not automatically make you a success but neither does having a team that is almost completely made up of Kiwis. What the Warriors need is to is ditch a lot of their pre-conceived ideas and appoint a great coach using whatever it takes. Let him build the team he needs regardless of where those players come from. Get rid of the "Bro" attitude and find some players with brains who are going to galvanise and lead the warriors as team. Winning needs to be the norm, Losing a disaster and the players really need to feel that. In short, the Worries need to set themselves a target of winning a premiership and making every last member / employee of the club, feel that target with every ounce of their being.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Or… The Warriors have had Australian coaches in 17 of the 25 years they have been in the comp and have won nothing, so what good has it done them? The 8 years of Kiwi coaches have been guys who have achieved little if anything a club coaches. Attract a good coach, regardless of nationality.
R2k
Guest
Surely the word your looking for is good rather than Aussie? I can't fathom that the only coaches able to lead a team to success have to be Australian, especially since plenty of them struggle on a yearly basis. Not every coach is a Bellamy or a Bennett, and in the end their country of origin doesn't make up for a lack of skill. Sure, the majority of good coaches have been Aussies, but I would claim a majority of unsuccessful coaches were Aussie as well.