A couple of years ago, following his promotion to the top job in the Shire following Shane Flanagan’s sacking, I penned a piece here on The Roar asking the question: “Is John Morris too nice to coach the Sharks?”
The gist of it was basically that Morris was a hard-working, loyal, decent individual and that he definitely deserved the chance to coach.
But Cronulla had gone from basket-case to premiership winners in a short space of time by leaning into being the heal of the NRL. How would renowned good bloke John Morris get a team of thoroughly unlikeable fellas (when they cross the white line, that is, I’m sure they’re just a treat to catch up with after Mass on a Sunday morning) to buy into his way of coaching?
As I put it, “I just wonder whether [Morris has] got the personality to get this club to fire. Whether he’s sufficiently scum-bag enough to get a team full of grubs to play at their bastardly, brilliant best.”
A little over two years later and Morris is no longer the coach at Cronulla. But my concerns about him being too nice to get the best out of a bad-boy playing group were not at all what saw the lad from Scone receive his marching orders.
Morris’ time as coach of the Sharks was a reflection of his entire career as a player: squeezing every last drop of effort out in order to achieve impressive results from limited talent.
He got serious buy-in from just about all his charges and despite the fact he was thrown into the top job in rushed circumstances, was hamstrung by a smaller salary cap, had underperforming veterans on massive cash, and questionable stability in the front office, Morris achieved a 100 per cent success rate in terms of making the finals.
John Morris (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
What more can you ask of the man?
Well, the argument goes, how about the ability to beat better teams and be a serious contender to make the grand final, rather than just limping into the top eight.
To which the response is, give Morris a full salary cap, the chance to put players who actually perform on the big contracts, and the full support of a settled front office. Then we see what he can do.
He deserved that opportunity.
There was a pretty major level of support and sympathy when Dean Pay got his marching orders from the Bulldogs, with the reasonable punter recognising he had been given a side that was only worthy of wooden spoons, yet he succeeded in avoiding last place throughout his entire, short tenure.
Pay got more out of a team than could have been expected. That he didn’t make the finals once was hardly his fault with the roster he inherited. And he probably deserved to finally have a crack at the gig when salary cap pressures had been eased and he could recruit a legitimate first-grade team.
Instead, ‘next big thing’ Trent Barrett gets to spend the Dogs’ cash. Thus far, the outcome is an 0-6 start to the season.
So the idea that the Sharks needed to get Craig Fitzgibbon because he’s the next big thing is a massive roll of the dice.
That the Roosters assistant wasn’t willing to sign elsewhere until now – despite reported offers from Newcastle, the Warriors and St George Illawarra in the recent past – has fed the myth that he is another Trent Robinson.
But while it may have been difficult to turn down a head coaching gig when there are so few of them, I don’t buy into the idea that Fitzgibbon saying no until now means anything more than that he had a deal keeping him at the Chooks until the end of 2021 and it’s not a good idea to break contracts with a club run by one of Australia’s wealthiest men.
Fitzgibbon will leave Easts with Nick Politis’ blessing. I don’t know that Adam O’Brien necessarily did. And, if it’s ever on the cards, I suspect it’s just a good idea to have a billionaire consider you a mate.
As for what he gets at Cronulla? Well, it’s a pretty sweet deal. Those underperforming veterans are either going to get turfed or accept massive pay cuts to stay next year, giving Fitzgibbon a reported $3 million with which to go shopping.
More importantly, he gets the benefit of all the hard work Morris has done bringing through unheralded rookies like Toby Rudolf, Will Kennedy, Connor Tracey and Teig Wilton (well, probably Teig, he is John’s nephew, so he may not want to stick around after what they’ve done to his uncle).
Finally, there’s a board who need to back him to the hilt given the way Fitzgibbon got the job.
Basically, he gets what John Morris earned.
The idea that Morris had reached his top speed as a coach, as evidenced by his failure to beat a team that placed higher than his eighth-placed side in all of 2020, is completely arguable given the handbrake was firmly on while he was at the wheel.
Why not give him the chance by extending his contract with some basic clauses? Two more years, on actual first-grade coach money, with the proviso that missing the finals would allow the club to terminate the deal.
The fear that they would miss out on Fitzgibbon is such an immature reason to sack someone – “What if we don’t get an untried, untested head coach? How would we ever forgive ourselves?”
Ultimately, I guess my concerns about Morris were founded – he was too nice for Cronulla. Not because his decency put off the players, but because the club’s board ended up being the ones who showed a decided lack of decency.
TIGER
Roar Rookie
(cont) aspect of their operation. Since 2014 the club as a whole has stumbled from poor judgement in regard to player signings and retention, mismanagement to incompetence at a board level and finally a total lack of transparency and honesty with the current coaching issue. As to the sacking of Morris, his number has been marked from the very beginning. Despite all the circumstances his tenure presented he was only ever going to be a fill-in unless success forced their hand to keep him. Unfairly treated perhaps but sport is business and collateral damage inevitable. Hope he finds a home and a role that suits his personality.
TIGER
Roar Rookie
It should come as no surprise that the board at Cronulla would handle this situation as poorly as seemingly every as
Succhi
Roar Rookie
Not a Sharks supporter but gee Morris has every right to feel extremely hard done by. He’s come in at a time when the Shark’s desperately needed a clean skin to rebuild their brand after some damaging internal issues. He reportedly was on the lowest coach salary in the NRL and compared to 50% of other teams - did rather well. The Sharks should have at least giving him the rest of the year. Worst thing that could have happened was they went well and the board got embarrassed! If I’m Craig Fitzgibbon I’d be having second thoughts if this is how they treat their own.
Spartacus
Roar Rookie
Townsend is close to signing with the Cowboys to partner Tom Dearden in the halves. That is the latest "talk". That could give Reynolds the opportunity literally to end his career at the Sharks! Just like Chris Sandow ended his career at the Eels. :laughing:
RLFan
Roar Rookie
Perhaps the Bulldogs could hire him - they could certainly use some help in the coaching department, especially their defence.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
I get the idea that the departure here won't be like Baz from Panthers. I doubt Fitz will chase anyone Roosters want to keep, so it looks like just table scraps will be on offer. Players chooks or Storm let go often don't seem to shine that well elsewhere.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Hear hear. well said Joe. A rookie coach inheriting a dogs breakfast yet still getting his team competitive and into semis is year is successful. Those saying otherwise need to review their expectations. Not every team can win and the semi are a different kettle of fish, it's a different competition and anyone can win. Not Morris' fault the NRL has a cut off at 8 instead of 5, he put them into a position of winning the comp, well done, that isn't accepting mediocrity. When it's knockout it adds another layer. Souths haven't won for a while yet finalists last 3 years; consistent and hardly unsuccessful.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
And Chad on the way out we hear..
Albo
Roar Rookie
I suspect Morris was always a "temporary" appointment, even with the nominal 3 year contract, until the cap issues were over with & some better coaching option came along. It may be tough on Morris as he had all his "marque" players like Johnson, Moylan , Dugan & Fifita regularly injured over the past two seasons and he never really gained the benefit of their abilities fulltime. Still he got the Sharks into the 8 both years, which is a fair effort under those circumstances. The players played for him and he brought some good local juniors through to the NRL grade. I don't think any of this mattered to the Board. They never really rated him as someone who would deliver their 2nd premiership. Instead they have backed that, the touted well credentialed assistant coach in Craig Fitzgibbon will be the next big coaching thing and I suspect they may have a few more incentives to go that way. If they also get the highly credentialed Cameron Ciraldo as an assistant to Fitz, which has been widely reported, they have a pipeline to a number of Roosters & Panthers players all coming off contract next season. And whether Fitzgibbon has a greater pulling power for new recruits than Morris and even whether there are some good bargains here or not will need to be seen in time . But I suspect the Board sees some benefits here that outweighs any loyalty to John Morris.
Sam
Guest
Salary cap penalties yes, although a $375K penalty is roughly 4% of the cap and basically equivalent to an average player getting a season ending injury. As far as underperforming players, it's the coaches job to get the best out of them. The Sharks dropped from 4th to 7th in Morris's first year, 7th to 8th in his second year, and were sitting in 9th before he got sacked. They haven't showed any improvement under Morris and it's well documented that they haven't beaten any of the heavyweights since 2019, it's not such a roll of the dice to move him on.
Ghosthound
Roar Rookie
Perhaps the Broncos can hire Morris as an assistant coach, on more money than the Sharks paid him as head coach. The Broncos have plenty of young talent that he could help.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Clubs , coaches and players are regularly making tough calls and I don't get why it creates so much drama. The Sharks clearly think they have a better show of another title under C.F and if that's their view , they would be a bit crazy not to follow that path. I don't agree with telling porkies about it but the games most experienced coach , W.B ,has worked out that telling porkies is pretty effective and he may have a good point. The Storm tapped Brodie Croft on the shoulder the end of a season which at the time (before the finals) was described as their best season ever by someone at the club. The club thought they had better options and did the right thing by that club. They didn't persist with Croft even though he was probably a decent and loyal human , they are after the gold medal , like all the clubs. Hook was hooked at the Panthers because they thought Cleary was a better option. It's the nature of the beast.
mushi
Roar Guru
Well if he needs to spoon feed the context after the article provides it sure…
mushi
Roar Guru
When you have cap penalties and poorly constructed roster, cap wise, average is by definition out performance
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Unless Fitzgibbon has been secretly coaching first grade somewhere year on year, they don't have anything to see he is a proven first grade head coach. The reality is when he's fully responsible, he actually could be a worse coach that Morris for all they know. I think this is extremely important to consider, because a good assistant coach isn't necessarily a good head coach. Much in the same way some good head coaches won't necessarily be good assistant coaches. Assistant coaching is hands on. Head coaching is more management.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
It is humorously ironic, the bloke who had a big part in our one and only premiership is rewarded with a couple o ' hundred grand contract.
Tom
Guest
I would consider it a success in the context of having a salary cap penalty, and under performing players taking up big chunks of cap space like Moylan, Dugan, Fifita and to a lesser extent Woods.
Nat
Roar Guru
It is. Maybe they know something we don't? It wouldn't be my course of action.
Broken Shoulder
Roar Rookie
As a Sharks fan, I'm incredibly disappointed in the way this has played out. Whether John would've won us a premiership or not, no one knows. But he was not given the chance to show if he could. Thrown into the deep end after a scandal and hamstrung with a roster and cap that he could do nothing about whilst also dealing with significant injuries to key players would be incredibly difficult, even for Craig Bellamy. He deserved a proper crack with a roster and team of his own design. He could live and die by that sword. Instead, we get another assistant coach with no track record and a season that will most likely end in disappointment due to the timing and handling of this.
Walter Black
Guest
I fully accept that but I was responding to the statement “Morris achieved a 100 per cent success rate in terms of making the finals. What more can you ask of the man?” It is this acceptance of mediocrity as being ok that I object too. If you said Morris got them into the finals despite xxxxxxx then fine that might be a constraining factor, something or someone else failed, but lets not pretend that merely making finals football is a good result for a club.