With the first head of a coach having rolled for the year, losing to the Knights apparently too embarrassing for the Bulldogs board to swallow, it would seem as though the 2022 season has its wooden-spoon-elect.
But to declare that Canterbury are good things to finish the year with the fewest wins seems a bit premature.
Coming last this season is shaping as a bit of a pass-the-parcel type deal.
For the first five weeks of the year, the Tigers were holding the package, having started 0-5 and with whispers about Michael Maguire’s future having grown into a roar.
Then they secured that famous, one-point win over the Eels – who, it’s worth noting, have beaten the Storm and Panthers – and followed that up with another victory by the slimmest possible margin over 2021 grand finalists the Rabbitohs, and suddenly the knives were put away.
These victories were obviously important, but there was also cause to look elsewhere for who would be the worst team of the year, as the Knights – decimated by injury, but then aren’t they always – went on a seven-game losing streak to sit at the bottom of the table.
It’s the kind of form patch that would have any coach sweating over his future, and surely Adam O’Brien realised he was in strife when club CEO Phil Gardner told the Sydney Morning Herald, “We hope that Adam is with us for the next 10 years.”
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
That right there is like receiving the ‘full backing of the board’ – code for ‘dead man walking’.
However, the 16-6 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night was a significant easing of pressure on the Knights’ coach and his charges.
Of course, the heat that left the situation in Newcastle was applied directly to the Dogs, with Trent Barrett quitting (read: jumping before he was pushed) his post as coach.
It was a significant turnaround in the space of little more than a fortnight, the Berries having given the Roosters a 16-12 touch-up on the last day of April, before being beaten (although hardly embarrassed) 14-4 by the Raiders in Round 9.
As for why Barrett is no longer in charge, basically it’s because his roster is not quite top-eight quality, but it’s better than he’s managed to get them to perform.
When you’ve got Matt Burton, Josh Addo-Carr, Tevita Pangai Junior, Paul Vaughan, Matt Dufty and Brent Naden joining a group that already had Josh Jackson, Corey Allan, Jeremy Marshall-King, Aaron Schoupp, Joe Stimson and Luke Thompson, you’ve got some pretty fair players on your books.
Again, not a roster that’ll make waves in the semis, but certainly good enough to improve on 2021’s last-place finish.
And that’ll be why Barrett no longer has a job – because there surely is a belief at Belmore that the right coach will see the parcel palmed off to the next side.
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
As for who that could be, well it’s a little too soon to tell – Barrett has just cleared out his desk, so the Bulldogs will continue to be considered the team most likely for the time being – especially after a wild old weekend at Magic Round.
The Raiders may have been in the conversation but they brought the previously high-flying Sharks back to Earth on the weekend with a thud, Canberra winning 30-10 over a side considered top-four contenders.
The Titans also recorded a relieving win, getting up 20-16 over a St George Illawarra side that should probably be too strong to finish the year on the bottom but have been patchy at best, their wins coming over the Warriors, Knights, Roosters and Tigers.
As for the Kiwi side, there’s just no telling what version of their side will turn up on any given day – or any given half.
The Bunnies were up 26-0 over them by the 35-minute mark on the weekend, only for Nathan Brown’s boys to decide they would play some footy, giving the punters in Brisbane an almighty finish as Souths squeaked home 32-30.
It’s absolutely wild to realise that had the Warriors managed to finish the job, they’d be outside the eight purely on for and against, the Bunnies sitting at the bottom of the finals spots with a 50 per cent winning record for the year.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Which suggests at least one side will make the finals, yet again, without having a winning record – an even mix of victories and losses should be enough to play September footy.
Which also suggests that fans of almost every team continue to carry a candle for their finals fantasies in 2022.
I mean, my brother and I went through the Knights’ draw over the weekend and had the boys in red and blue on 16 points by the start of July (c’mon big win over a Penrith side missing ten players due to Origin).
Delusional? Sure, but that’s what being a rugby league fan is all about.
So I won’t cast any aspersions on other fans and their hopes of seeing their side featuring when a win can mean a week off and a loss can mean six months.
I don’t know if any Canterbury fan believes they’ll make it, but nor should they accept that the wooden spoon will be theirs again this season.
Maybe a bit of a shake-up was required. As for just how shook up they are, I guess we’ll find out when the man who’ll oversee the rest of their season is announced.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Since Shane Flanagan was deregistered in 2018, Cronulla has had three coaches: John Morris, Josh Hannay as an interim after Morris was sacked, and now Craig Fitzgibbon. Hardly a “revolving door” Sharks beat the (higher placed on the ladder) Eels in Round 2. However saying “they have only beaten teams below them on the ladder” does not explain much. I think I’m right in saying that this year the Panthers and the Storm “have only beaten teams below them on the ladder”. The higher up the ladder a team is, the harder it is the beat anyone that is not beneath them on the ladder. From rounds 3 to 9 the Sharks were always a top four team. Do you see what I mean?
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Womblat: I disagree, sir. I think the problem is a coach that believed the press,and believed that Nicho Hynes was the best thing since sliced white bread, and that dismantling the halves combination would have no adverse impact on team performance.
matth
Roar Guru
It’s amazing how no one remembers you from before the Panthers became a top 4 squad. Funny that.
matth
Roar Guru
Remember at the start of the year when Todd Payton was considered a coach under real pressure leading a wooden spoon contender?
Jimmy Cricket
Guest
Thanks Chuck, I am!
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yep, a lot of (well some) Bulldogs fans were talking about being back in the eight this year when these signings were announced. I never felt that way, but improvement should have been a given Your last question is a good one and I can only guess at the answer. If Barrett was trying to start the Dogs with a basic game plan and build as he went, that’s a solid strategy but he was building way to slow as nothing has really been added in his 18 months If there was another style he wanted his team to play, then they clearly weren’t getting it In Dufty you have a player whose best two attributes are his broken field running and using his speed on sweep plays. In TPJ you have a great offload. I haven’t seen Dufty screaming through in support of TPJ once this season. I’d have had him doing it every time TPJ took a hit up. Can’t remember Dufty joining the backline to create an extra man. There’s other examples of him not utilising players skill sets I could live with 2-6 because of who we played, and there were periods of games when we played very good footy, but just couldn’t score enough points. But the wheels fell off against the Raiders and Knights. 14th and 16th. Both on big losing streaks. They were very winnable games There was a great article here a couple of weeks ago, that perfectly articulates everything wrong with the Dogs attack https://www.theroar.com.au/2022/05/10/is-this-the-most-important-stat-for-an-nrl-attack/
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Length of the field between you and whoever may be the second biggest Dog with a bone.
Danno
Roar Rookie
When teams nearly always win the very next game with a new coach, I think it’s more down to the football gods having a laugh than the coach changing something
Dean
Roar Rookie
TB I saw your comment in an earlier argument around having realistic expectations for the Dogs and completely agree. There's been some disservice to the Dogs in the expectations around their new signings: Burton is an absolute talent but it's a big step from champion team to sole playmaker, Addo Carr is great but a winger can't impact every game, Vaughan is a solid first grader and a bargain buy (think we all know why....), Pangai Jnr a bit of a project player yet to consistently reach potential. Outside of that, the remainder weren't really wanted by their old clubs. Collectively they move the needle but only so far. Only seen a few Dogs games so curious on your thoughts around the lack of shape. Was this a deliberate structure that Barrett was moving them too or were the players unable to implement whatever it was Barrett wanted?
Danno
Roar Rookie
League is a funny game , tigers beat eels but eels have knocked over Mel.and panthers ,good motivational coaches are worth their weight in gold
Danno
Roar Rookie
I think any team would of loved to grab Adam Reynolds, lucky for Brisbane they had the roster/salary cap space , it was a monumental stuff up to not re sign him
Danno
Roar Rookie
Pretty much compacted ladder st this stage , realistically any team in ladder positions 10 to 16 could get the spoon
Nick
Roar Guru
They will struggle to find a coach willing to work with Gould though. Yes I bag him, but objectively his recent record is poor. I don't know what "consultant" work he did with the Warriors, but they are worse than before he signed on with them. I don't know what the actual scope of the review he undertook at the Dragons was (he has changed the story of his role at the Dragons on his podcast 3 times) but they are indisputably worse since then. And who knows what he is or isn't doing at the Bulldogs, but they have taken several large steps backwards this year, and not in the deliberate "one step back, two steps forwards". And as Nick Tedeschi in the guardian has raised, he strongly advised Gold Coast to hire Garth Brennan and fired Ivan Cleary from Penrith. The Bulldogs will need to ask the question of whether he is contributing to the problem there.
Chuck
Guest
Jimmy, you are delusional (hey! You asked for it, literally) but I like it (your plan, not that you asked to be called delusional) OK, moving on......
The Barry
Roar Guru
I don’t know why I bother, you’re a gronk who contributes nothing more than being number one cheerleader for your team, but… You honestly think it takes a week to teach a team an entire new way to attack…?
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Is there room for an outlier in what you posit ? Would any structure, as used by the Dogs, be regarded by them as psychologically un attainable against a team running 18th but confidently gettable against a far more talented and professional Top 4 group of individuals ?
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yeah agreed. Assuming the interim coach they appoint for the rest of 2022 is the full time coach in 2023… although it would still give them a launching pad…
JennyFromPenny
Guest
There seriously wasn't any structure to undo. Of course it can be done in a week.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Not sure if the Sharks are entitled to speak about others. Have only beaten teams below them, and have had a coaches revolving door for years now.
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Yeah Andrew, sorry to say I think the Tigers are now locked in for the spoon. There was a genuine glimmer of hope when they ground out those two tough, ugly wins over good teams. But with Doeihi and Talau out already, and now Brooks, Nofa, Gildart, Kepoa and Laurie all on the injured list, they will get belted by the Dogs on the 'sacked coach bounce'. I'm not alone in thinking it's time for them to move on from Madge. Bring in a new coach now and get a head start on the rebuild for next season.