As the Dragons capitulate to another thumping, the calls for head coach Paul McGregor to leave are now almost unanimous.
This, however, leaves Dragons fans shifting approach from should McGregor go to the much more open-ended: who replaces him?
A valid question indeed, as not many coaches are on the market right now and those that are, Anthony Griffin, Geoff Toovey and Jason Taylor to name a few, are not names that inspire any significant hope.
Then there are always the calls for a new contender to be given their chance, with Craig Fitzgibbon and Jason Demetriou’s names coming up.
A choice with more risk but perhaps a higher reward threshold than the established options, this would seem possible as the Dragons have shown a penchant for giving new coaches their big break.
However, neither of those pathways looks especially promising for a fan-base that has long been known to bay for the coaches head rather quickly. Dragons fans expect excellence and sometimes this expectation is justified and sometimes it is misguided.
At this point in the joint venture’s history, the expectation of results is justified.
As highlighted in last week’s article, the Dragons boast a roster many would kill for, yet on game day they look like a reserve grade squad. They need a good coach to right the wrongs of the past and they need one now.
Enter Craig Bellamy.
As a match it is a perfect fit. Bellamy’s best qualities as a coach are getting his team to play to their potential and transitioning young players into fully-fledged first graders.
These are the two areas the Dragons desperately need help with, especially with a slew of promising youngsters who aren’t quite performing the way the club would like.
But how do the Dragons get Bellamy up to Wollongong? Firstly, it must be pointed out that it is not an unattractive offer for Bellamy. Much of the legwork has already been done in the club’s recruiting, unlike at a similarly coachless team in the Titans, they just need someone to make all the pieces fit.
If Bellamy wants to cement his position as an all-time great coach among the likes of Wayne Bennett and Jack Gibson, he still needs to win a premiership with more than one club, as those two before him have done.
That will no doubt be in his mind as he considers his next professional move and the Dragons could be the perfect route to immortal status.
The biggest hurdle would seemingly be extrapolating Craig Bellamy from Melbourne, as he just signed a new contract that would carry him through to 2021 and the southern club would no doubt fight ferociously to keep him.
This is where the Dragons board would need to be ruthlessly pragmatic. If recent reports of the club’s cash windfall are correct, St George leagues club has around $12 million in the bank and their new investors, WIN Corporation, are far from cash strapped.
To lure Bellamy out would eat up quite a lot of this money, as would the budgeting for the tax on spending over $5.93 million on support staff that comes into effect in 2020.
We know that clubs are willing to do this, as the Ivan Cleary situation last year proved, but no doubt snaring Bellamy away from Melbourne would be another level up.
That is where the Dragons have to decide what sort of club they will be for the next five to ten years.
Are they going to be satisfied with mediocre results with Mary? Hope that a new, but unproven, coach will be their savior? Or, will they dig deep and do everything they can to be winners?
The Dragons need Bellamy and Bellamy could use the Dragons. The Saints are as rich as they have likely ever been and their corporate partners will no doubt be willing to pay for success.
The only question is: will they have the courage to even attempt making an offer at Bellamy? Recent history would suggest not, but maybe the prayers of a few thousand Saints could change the fortune of the struggling club.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Anyone who took the time to look at Warren Ryan's record as a coach would instantly recognise that Ryan is one of the greatest and most successful coaches the game has ever seen. Ryan has a 56% winning record over 415 games in 22 years at 5 different clubs! Warren Ryan's Winning Record: 48% - Newtown Jets (1979 - 82) 66% - Bulldogs (1984 - 87) 66% - Balmain Tigers (1988 - 90) 44% - Wests Magpies (1991 - 94) * 57% - Knights (1999 - 2000) * Western Suburbs (shortened due to formatting). Finals appearances as coach: 11 Pelims/Finals as coach: 7 Grand Finals as coach: 6 Premierships as coach: 2 Back to back Grand Finals as coach: 1984 - 1985 (Bulldogs) 1988 - 1989 (Tigers) In a 9 year period between 1981 and 1989 a Warren Ryan coached side played in 6 of the 9 Grand Finals! In 1978 the Jets won the wooden spoon finishing 12th. That was the year prior to Warren Ryan taking over. In 3 years Warren Ryan took the Jets from Rugby League obscurity to finish 2nd in 1981 before advancing in the finals to the 1981 GF against Peter Sterling's star studded Eels. Quite an achievement! Warren Ryan was also Phil Gould's mentor and had a heavy influence on helping to shape him as a coach. Something Gould has often credited Ryan for. Warren Ryan is clearly one of the coaching Greats without a doubt.
Over here
Roar Rookie
I'm really glad you mentioned the master coach Warren Ryan here. Since he got dragged into the ABC'c political correctness insanity and did the honourable thing and DIDN'T capitulate, he's been the forgotten man.
Ken
Guest
You mention Gibson , I had to google him so he won 2 gf for Easts in 1975 , 76 when Easts leagues club has announced a working profit of $600,000 the previous year which would be similar to $30 million dollars these days , they than went out an bought the best talent from other clubs and he used that to flog every one , Eels used their strong pokie machine money to catch up to Easts in regards to buying talent An Gibson won nothing for the next 2 years , he than jumped ship to cashed up Parramatta and continued to win based on that club buying the best talent in the late 70s-80s , when the money dried up he ended up at a cash strapped Cronulla an won nothing before he retired , great coach ,before his time but you can’t compare a modern Nrl coach to the old amateur hour coaches of the past , like comparing Eric Grothe to Jonah Lomu , Jonah would have left football studs on Grothe chest as he ran over an around him but it’s a unfair comparison
Ken
Guest
Supercoaches ? Who coached in the professional age in the NRL , who are these super coaches you mention ? Would anyone’s under 30 know who they were ?
Ken
Guest
Insider ...M is so jealous it’s funny ???? def storm hater lol An we love it I’m sure he supports a team we regularly flog . Def sounds like it .
Ken
Guest
Great ones ? Ok let’s be real these coaches you mention coached in the NSWRL Comp over 30 years ago at the time , when it wasn’t a national competition , when players still had normal jobs , when pokies money from the strongest clubs paid for players and things like salary cap was not enforced or even thought off , now skip ahead to the NRL not the NSWRL WINFIELD CUP I’m talking the NRL the last 20 years of its existence , the greatest coaches in that time are Bennett an Bellamy , Bennett early on had effectively 2/3 of the Qld Origin team at the broncos , all under the salary cap mind you wink wink ???? but after 2006 the broncos have won nothing under his coaching .
Insider
Roar Rookie
M you sound jealous
terrykidd
Roar Pro
I reckon getting Bellamy is a pipe dream but definitely Mary has to go. He has had enough chances with an excellent roster. It seems he has lost the dressing room ..... again. Who replaces him I am not sure, maybe Anthony Griffin, but definitely new blood needed.
Dirk Diggler
Roar Rookie
Papi smurf the Storm juggernaut has had holes in it and leaked water then was plugged by new players to keep on going. Think Proctor, Widdop, Harris, Green, Glasby, McLean and the list goes on. Other than Widdop I can't think of another player that has left the Storm and taken their game to another level. Oh and Cronk leaves and Slater retires and where are they on the ladder...... nuf said
M
Guest
Underresourced, haha. With Ruperts cash.
M
Guest
Is that all you have Insider, the jealousy idea. I think there are plenty of clubs happy with their coaches. Also plenty of fans who know Ceaig will flop at their club and still want the massive pay cheque.
M
Guest
Maloney, Cronk and Inglis did quite OK after Melbourne. I would suggest the big 3 would have achieved the same success if they were together at any of several clubs. Bellamy is and was lucky in many ways. He knows it too.
bbt
Guest
Bellamy arrived at a club that was a basket case, totally underresourced, in a territory that had no RL heritage and almost no following. He, along with Smith especially, have turned Melbourne and Victoria in valuable franchises for RL media rights. That is his legacy, and that is what he is most proud of. How many other RL coaches have succeeded in doing that?
Insider
Roar Rookie
Baaaaaaaa
Admiral Ackbar
Guest
That is at least somewhat plausible, I've heard that Bellyache owns an apartment on the Gold Coast.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Exactly, well said and good on him for staying put. I mean it. My main interest in him taking a Titan role is for their benefit. They really need someone like him, he just doesn't need them.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
I don't dispute that. But neither can you dispute that these players were exceptional talents who were destined to have a huge impact in the game regardless of Bellamy's input. Yes, under Bellamy they may have achieved greater success and a higher standard but without them Bellamy would have struggled to have even half the success he has enjoyed. It isn't hard to admit Rene that the best way for Bellamy to prove that he doesn't need his current club and players to have success would be to reproduce his system and that success at another club? A club that is currently struggling and is not bursting with elite talent. If Bellamy does that I would happily talk about him in the same breath as Jack Gibson, Warren Ryan, Tim Sheens, Wayne Bennett, Phil Gould and Des Hasler.
Vivalasvegan
Roar Rookie
Coaching is his job. He is no spring chicken. He is no doubt comfortable, with a lovely home, great colleagues and boss, he is adored by his players and the fans, and earns a ton of cash. Moving away from all that, to a toxic culture, starting again somewhere, moving the family, just to make a name for himself? Absolutely mental. Bellamy doesn't care if a load of NRL tragics think he is or isn't the greatest...
Vivalasvegan
Roar Rookie
Spot on Renegade, and that's what's forgotten... How many other potential superstars went elsewhere and never fulfilled potential. Just imagine if the big three had ended up at The Warriors? Serial talent killers... Would they be where they landed without Bellamy? I don't think so.
Renegade
Roar Guru
All players he developed.... each of those players you’ve named contribute much of their success to Bellamy than anyone else