Opinion
If you listen to the noise, the bullets are being loaded into the chamber and the hammer is pulled back.
Brad Arthur is walking the dusty road in the west and all eyes are on him.
The Eels have plummeted out of the top four and the murmurs are growing louder that the coach is in the gun.
But if the trigger is pulled, who replaces him?
Brad Fittler’s name was tossed up over the weekend.
Seriously. Twice. First, on Triple M Radio and then on Fox League’s NRL 360. Prior to that, it was Shane Flanagan.
But the name no one has raised is the one name that everyone should be talking about: Kristian Woolf.
Woolf is head coach at St Helens and recently extended his contract until the end of the 2022 campaign. He won the Super League grand final in his first season in 2020 and won the Challenge Cup in 2021.
Prior to that, he was interim coach of Newcastle following Nathan Brown’s departure and took charge of the Tonga international side in 2014 where he guided them to a world ranking of fourth and a semi-finals appearance in the 2017 World Cup.
He’s building quite the resume. Yet surprisingly, whenever a new position appears or talk of a coaching change rears its head, Woolf is absent from the discussion.
Mind-boggling.
(Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images)
Perhaps he needs to start networking with the Australian media? His credentials certainly make a striking case for why he should be mentioned in any conversation.
For what it’s worth, if Arthur is about to go head-to-head with the Sundance Kid, he’s certainly not showing it.
The Roar understands he has been meeting with potential recruits and very much part of contract negotiations.
Not a practice you’d expect a dead man walking to be engaging in.
Arthur has been in the job for eight years and under contract until the end of next season. You have to think 2022 could be a make or break year for the boss of the blue and gold.
Shift your attention to the inner west and Michael Maguire too has had his future speculated about.
Again, Flanagan’s name has been thrown up by some scribes.
To flick Maguire would be the ultimate mistake.
When Maguire slid into the hot seat, he inherited a roster many would turn their nose up at and a host of legacy issues.
He’s working hard to overcome all those handicaps. He’s developed and slowly brought some talented youth through the system and propped them up with some smart buys in the likes of Daine Laurie.
With Tim Sheens now taking over recruitment and a brilliant football mind for the boss to lean on, Maguire shouldn’t be subject to speculation around his future.
On the rookie front, the likes of Todd Payten and Kevin Walters will be feeling the pinch next year if results don’t turn around – and the same can be said for Canterbury boss Trent Barrett.
So, hypothetically, if an NRL club is looking to make a change in their coaching ranks, who’s available?
Of the rookie coaches ready to take the next step, there’s two names on the list: Cameron Ciraldo and Jason Ryles.
Of the experienced vintage, you have Wayne Bennett, Paul Green, David Furner, John Cartwright, Geoff Toovey and Fittler.
But Woolf sits in that sweet spot.
He’s young, has experience leading a club and managing a list in the UK but is a fresh face in the NRL space.
He comes off contract the same time as Trent Robinson, Anthony Griffin, Walters and Arthur.
I wonder how long it will take for an underperforming club to start enquiring about his services?
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