The dust has barely settled from Paul McGregor’s resignation as Dragons coach and already attention has turned to who succeeds him.
McGregor will lead St George-Illawarra in one final game on Friday night after a tumultuous seven years in charge of the club. As is always the case, the competition for the vacant position is bound to be intense. Here are nine potential replacements for Mary.
Dean Young
Young will be taking the reins from McGregor for the remainder of the 2020 season. If he wants the head coaching role permanently, his interim appointment will serve as an audition of sorts. A Dragons legend – like his father – Young has not been involved with any other club, and no doubt his loyalty to the Red V will be a factor. He is yet to prove himself as a successful head coach, though.
Craig Fitzgibbon
Trent Robinson’s number two man at the Sydney Roosters, Fitzgibbon is widely considered a head coach-in-waiting. He did play for St George but has spent most of his rugby league life at Bondi, winning premierships as both a player and an assistant. He is a Woolongong local and is expected to be courted by the Dragons.
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Geoff Toovey
Clearly keen to make a return to NRL coaching, former Manly boss Toovey’s rejection by the Warriors came as a surprise after he applied to fill the void left by Stephen Kearney. He hasn’t won a premiership as a head coach, but did guide the Sea Eagles to the 2013 grand final.
Todd Payten
Currently the interim coach at the Warriors, Payten turned down the role on a permanent basis and has said he would like to return to Australia. The Dragons would do well to consider him, given he’s steadily worked his way through coaching ranks and was part of the premiership-winning team at the Cowboys in 2015. He is also expected to be in contention for the vacant North Queensland gig.
Shaun Wane
It’s no secret England’s boss has been eyeing off a move to the NRL for some time, and was reportedly one of the three final candidates for the Warriors job. Having won 145 of his 215 games at Wigan and guiding the club to three Super League titles, he holds a deeply impressive record, but a lack of experience in Australia could count against him.
Paul Green
Green, who resigned last month at North Queensland, remains a commodity in the coaching ranks. He guided the Cowboys to their first and only premiership and is the only recent premiership-winner currently available. Probably not too likely to end up at Kogarah, though. He’s already talked about taking a short break from coaching to recharge the batteries and spend time with his family, and as a Queenslander, the potential of coaching the Broncos should Anthony Siebold get the chop would be more attractive.
Shane Flanagan
Current Dragons assistant Flanagan remains prohibited from head coaching until at least 2022, and if reports are to believed the club hasn’t made any approach to the NRL to overturn that sanction. While he would be a controversial pick, he did lead Cronulla to their only premiership in 2016.
Shane Flanagan during his time at Cronulla. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Kevin Walters
Walters is an unlikely option. The head coach of the Maroons, he’s proven himself a successful coach in State of Origin – though that record has been damaged by two successive series losses in 2018 and 2019. He hasn’t coached at club level since a stint with Catalans Dragons, but has worked under Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett since. As with Green, he’s far more likely to stay in Queensland – Walters has been heavily linked to both the Cowboys and Broncos.
Wayne Bennett
A return to the club he coached to their last premiership is the rumour that won’t go away, but Bennett has publically and emphatically said he has no intention of leaving the Rabbitohs.
Andrew
Roar Pro
I’m tired of a lot of the speculation on here, we need to put a line through the following 3 names because they are not available; Wayne Bennett, he’s contracted to Souths Craig Fitzgibbon he’s committed to Easts Shane Flanagan he’s banned until 2022 In my opinion it’ll be either Dean Young or Anthony Griffin
Meatpy Sausageraul
Roar Rookie
Wane is a wildcard. In that he’s the only bloke touted who has consistently won comps as a first grade coach. He’s also one of the best in the game when it comes to developing talent and pathways for youngsters. The only reason he’s never seriously considered is that he’s a Pom and is coming from Super League. And they can’t coach, right? Just ask Malc Reilly or Trent Robinson
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Check your research. Premiership with Redcliffe then Brisbane North in his first year and another with Norths before another with Redcliffe Dolphins (source - wikipedia) that's 4 lower grade premierships before taking over from Ivan at Broncos where he got them back into semis his first year. Griffin's record at Penrith was very good, consistently in semis 4 years running. His axing was a stupid move by Gould as Penrith were running near the top and collapsed afterwards. At Broncos he took them to semis and was replaced mainly because Bennett wanted back in and nobody does well at Bronco outside of Uncle Wayne. Hook has a very good record.
Rossi
Roar Rookie
Really, Griffin? The bloke did poorly at Brisbane and Penrith, may as well recall Mary if you're just gonna hire another coach with a bad record
jamesb
Roar Guru
The two options they should go after is either Fitzgibbon or Griffin. Bennett is getting long in the tooth. He could be used as a director of coaching, but they also have to pay out Mary.
Tony
Roar Guru
I wonder what Gus' position would be if the Dragons were leading the comp?
andrew
Roar Rookie
Gus has a 20year plan for the Warriors.
Andrew
Roar Pro
Typical Gus Gould style he’s coving his tracks regarding the review he undertook last year. Throwing Brian Johnston under the bus. https://amp.news.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-2020-phil-gould-slams-paul-mcgregor-dragons-review-after-coach-walks/news-story/ea9ba1e8cd3380b33b864b4225271b93
Andrew
Roar Pro
We don't need Wayne back anyway. First time around Brown left him a club in good order he just needed to add his own finishing touches. This time we are a bit of a mess. We need a experienced hard working first grade coach to clean the place out.
Andrew
Roar Pro
Yes I know they sold him a dud. No chance Bennett is returning to us anyway. The timing is off & lightning doesn’t strike twice.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Well, you won't get Bird and Uncle Wayne at the same place. Bennett was filthy that Cronulla passed him a lemon and he hadn't checked under the hood properly.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
That’s the list. Just about stop there. First, the (IMO) clear first choice would have to be Fitz. Just call him and say it’s yours (subject to the right money – don’t throw the bank, he is untested in the hot seat and have some sensible KPI’s) if you can get clearance from chooks. If he knocks it back, then look at options, Griffin, maybe Wane or Flanno?. No Novices, no old boys. Keep Young and Flanno (if they can work together) until the right person steps up. I used to think Wayne Bennett was an option, but Mr Beath is cleansing my mind there. Perhaps Wayne as Director of Coaching? Unfortunately the list of better options than Mary is quite long, but they aren’t necessarily good ones either. Hook is head and tails above anyone else available. (Please, not Green.. He and Mary went to the same tactical school last year)
Andrew
Roar Pro
Are you sure? That’s not what I was told.
max power
Guest
they were worried about a degenerative back disease. and it had nothing to do with Benji marshall
Andrew
Roar Pro
Well don’t forget Jack Bird is a Illawarra junior, at the time he was let go in favour of Benji Marshall. How’d that work out? Another great recruitment decision made by the McGregor/Millward brains trust. He’s been a dud in Brisbane but he played Origin while at Cronulla.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
You really don't like us.... :unhappy:
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
My simplistic read is that Fitz has an agreement to wait until Robbo steps aside then has first dibs at the job. I read that Robbo might take his family to France for a couple of years. If Robbo won't go soon, the Dragons job would be the only one to entice Fitz away and even then he'll seek the blessings of Uncle Nic. I can't see them standing in his way if he wants it and Robbo is staying too long. Almost certain though, if Fitz isn't the next Dragon coach rest assured he'll be Rooster's next within 2 years or so.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Yes, Along with Milford Bird is one of the Broncos highest paid players. With the injuries he's had his pace will be nowhere as fast as before.
Andrew
Roar Pro
I was surprised to read Bird is on $900,000 at Brisbane apparently they will eat half of it to offload him.
Tony
Roar Guru
1. You wouldn't sign Bird. 2. You would get rid of Norman. That's called a win win.