Is McGregor the right man to coach the Dragons?

As a Parramatta fan I think he is perfect to coach the dragons. One less team to worry about taking up a top 8 position.

People saying Dragons had a poor roster in 2016 need to do some research. Had Australian centre at fb, Kiwi legend on the wing, Aitken - in those days was on the verge of rep football - selected PM's XIII, another Tier 2 international centre, British international 5/8 Kiwi international half, 2 kiwi internationals in the front row, Rein at hooker and playing rep football, Frizell, Thompson and Debelin in the back row. That's a top 8 roster....

What is the Dragons measure of success? Has he failed to reach that level or has he exceeded that? What are the current circumstances surrounding the club, both intrinsically and extrinsically that have affected the performance of the team? How are these measured? What is their current financial situation? Dozens of other questions that are asked We don't know any of this. If fans are disappointed then it is up to them to change the people who determine how success at the club is determined

The headline is simple and you've misinterpreted it - "is Macgregor the right man to coach the Dragons" and the simply answer is no. It doesn't ask if he can coach a side, it asks whether he's the right coach for this team. Good players will neither come to the Club, nor stay, if there is no expectation of success. In that respect, Mary has singularly underachieved with the players at his disposal.

there doesn't need to be a long line of better coaches, just one, who can take the roster, perhaps make some tweeks and make it competitive

''Can't coach'' , nice neat little saying that one, no room for grey areas. Must be sending the TAB broke the people armed with such insight. Wish they would tell us how the season will unfold in May, it would save a lot of false hope.

"It comes down to the assumption that our analysis of players is flawless..." No mushi. It comes down to a coaches win/loss record, finals appearances, GFs and premierships won and Mary is in the red for all 4. Mary's win/loss record is 48.8% in 5 and a half years which has dropped to 35% in 2019. Finals appearances: 2 in 6 years! GFs: 0 Premierships: 0 Chances of surviving 2019: 0

So who is then? The problem with "fire the coach" is there's the assumption that a long line of better solutions exist... despite us complaining about most of the employed coaches.

Yep I'm a McGregor fan from way back... I just haven't seen anything to suggest anyone on this site has the vaguest clue about coaching or any real credible analysis around apportioning influence on results. It comes down to the assumption that our analysis of players is flawless and only coaches can vary our preordained results... which of course vary largely on media momentum.

Any idea about coaching? We didn’t consider it talented when he started. It’s revisionist history masking our own inadequacies. Everything in your statement hinges on the accuracy of expectations (which were wrong at the start) and the certainty that McGregor is the cause. The only coach I haven’t read a “he can’t coach article” about here is Bellamy.

This year is the only year i can truly call a failure for Mary. 2014 to 2016 there roster wasnt great and i think they finished about where they were expected. 2017: This was the first year Mary proved he could get the dragons playing good football as they were among the competition leaders after 2 months. But there form fell away to ultimately miss the 8 (9th). Firstly whilst i dont excuse the complete fall from grace they had that year (and believe Mary has to take some responsibility for it) i think some of it can be also be attributed to just how much Mary had them overachieving at the start of the season more so than the (seemingly annual) fade out. 2018: 7th But remember the oddity of the ladder, 7th was equal 5th and one win behind 1st. This was the first year they had what i believed was a top 4 squad, but also when i said that prior to the year starting everyone laughed at me and said they might be one of the teams battling for the bottom half of the 8. Whilst the fade out was a concern and something that needs to be addressed he managed to rally his team, which was down on troops to a couple of strong yet ultimately unsuccessful finals appearances. 2019: currently 14th. Ok, looking at their roster on paper they should be going better but the excuses this year for a poor season are never ending. Noone knows how much the JDB scenario is effecting the team mentally, yet alone the fact theyre missing their 2 best players for the season. Add the constant injuries theyve had to key players this year. Remember how the Roosters performed in 2016 after Pearce's suspension? Did Robinson forget how to coach that year or did off-field issues and a couple of injuries, nothing to the extent Dragons have faced this year, ruin their chances of a good year? I understand many of the criticisms surrounding Mary, and even agree with some of them. Certainly i dont think the board should have been in a hurry to re-sign him, because where else was he going? But is he the right man to lead them next year? Well, maybe,? I mean it certainly wouldn't suprise me if he actually is.

The Dragons recently organised a tribute lunch for McGregor at a beach side hotel in Wollongong. The theme was 'There's Something About Mary'. This sort of bash is usually bunged on at the end of someone's career when everyone looks back through rose colored glasses and an alcoholic haze to heap praise on the recipient, not in the middle of a busy game schedule. This knees up seems as bizarre as his contract extension after a handful of games early this year and a mediocre five previous years. Perhaps the theme should have been 'There's Something Wrong About This Whole Thing'.

Mcgregor must go he is not up to first grade standard yes some of the players need to look at themselves iv been dragons fan for ocer 20 years and before that the illawarra steelers . I am disgusted tgey way they are playing but i think mcgregor and his team needs a clean out and new team brought in shally he cannot stay bring in toovey with trent barrett time will tell.

Taking option A means no one will ever know what would have happened, yes that's exactly what I'm saying. Trouble is it doesn't stop the punters pretending they know what would have happened as they very often do. A guess becomes gospel and it's not very clever.

well McGregor likes using excuses, perhaps he will borrow that one from Gould in his next presser - "all that drivin to an from trainin' is hurtin' the boys"

Ok, but what are actually saying here...? That if you take option A, no one will ever know what would have happened if you’d have taken option B. That’s true for everything. You should check out the movie Sliding Doors, you’ll love it...

So the general consensus on this site is Marys card has been marked and we're just waiting for the news "the Board has every confidence in him" . So who replaces him -Trent,Pricey,Toovs,Kevvie ????

SG They could also consider Cityrail there' a good service from Dapto @7.15a.m (runs on time most mornings)

I think McGregor can coach. I believe the issue is around his support staff and recruitment. Looks like too many of his ex team mates are on the gravy train. The board need to take some responsibility for the overall appointments.

Lol. Well, Westconnex will change that right? Trim those commutes for the long suffering Dragons players trying to get to training by 10am.