I posted this on another thread but I think it's just as relevant here; The problem with your team is that you've kept the style of play Maguire brought over, but your personnel has changed. Your spine are probably slightly less effective runners (Tomkins & Green vs Bowen & Williams), and with Bateman in the centres, your only second rower who is capable of hitting an effective 'in' line is Farrell. With the likes of Sarginson, Bateman, J Tomkins and Gelling, they're the sort of players who IMO rather than playing right at the line, need the ball earlier and be given time and space to use their footwork and hand off. Strikes me as trying to fit your players into a playing style rather than finding the right playing style for your players which is probably where Wane falls down compared to a smarter coach.

My judgement of Wane is that he seems adored by his players who will run through brick walls for him. However, he struggles to innovate or change things, so once a team has your attack figured out you're relying on individual brilliance to get you over the line. The last time you played Saints we kept you out with 6 consecutive defensive sets IIRC. Yet I'd imagine if we had met you in the Grand Final, you'd have attacked in exactly the same way. I'm not convinced that's something he can get away with if he's looking to win trophies.



The best place to scout coaches IMO is either NRL assistant coaches (at the decent clubs) or the top NSW/QLD cup coaches. You'll only get them for two or three years but they'll be driven, they'll have up-to-date knowledge and they've served their apprenticeship and they've made their rookie mistakes at a club that isn't yours. Two decent choices (if possible) would be Garth Brennan and the Walker brothers. Garth Brennan has coached the Penrith NSW Cup team to a premiership last year and they're joint top this year (despite huge injuries apparently). Geoff Toovey would be a great coach as well but think he'll go for the Australia job.

The Walker brothers are really interesting, they coach the Ipswich Jets in the QLD Cup and "are changing the way rugby league is played" - "they don't use second man plays, they kick off/drop out short EVERY time, they don't care about completion rates", which is so far away from the conventional wisdom. Yet it seems to be working - Ipswich Jets won the QLD Cup this year and beat the NSW Cup winners, despite spending less than a third of what the the other QLD Cup Grand Finalist do on player salaries. Both Brennan and the Walker brothers were been linked to the Newcastle job. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 7380230376 This is worth a read on the Walker brothers, would love to see them coach a top level side.

I posted this on another thread but I think it's just as relevant here; The problem with your team is that you've kept the style of play Maguire brought over, but your personnel has changed. Your spine are probably slightly less effective runners (Tomkins & Green vs Bowen & Williams), and with Bateman in the centres, your only second rower who is capable of hitting an effective 'in' line is Farrell. With the likes of Sarginson, Bateman, J Tomkins and Gelling, they're the sort of players who IMO rather than playing right at the line, need the ball earlier and be given time and space to use their footwork and hand off. Strikes me as trying to fit your players into a playing style rather than finding the right playing style for your players which is probably where Wane falls down compared to a smarter coach.

My judgement of Wane is that he seems adored by his players who will run through brick walls for him. However, he struggles to innovate or change things, so once a team has your attack figured out you're relying on individual brilliance to get you over the line. The last time you played Saints we kept you out with 6 consecutive defensive sets IIRC. Yet I'd imagine if we had met you in the Grand Final, you'd have attacked in exactly the same way. I'm not convinced that's something he can get away with if he's looking to win trophies.



The best place to scout coaches IMO is either NRL assistant coaches (at the decent clubs) or the top NSW/QLD cup coaches. You'll only get them for two or three years but they'll be driven, they'll have up-to-date knowledge and they've served their apprenticeship and they've made their rookie mistakes at a club that isn't yours. Two decent choices (if possible) would be Garth Brennan and the Walker brothers. Garth Brennan has coached the Penrith NSW Cup team to a premiership last year and they're joint top this year (despite huge injuries apparently). Geoff Toovey would be a great coach as well but think he'll go for the Australia job.

The Walker brothers are really interesting, they coach the Ipswich Jets in the QLD Cup and "are changing the way rugby league is played" - "they don't use second man plays, they kick off/drop out short EVERY time, they don't care about completion rates", which is so far away from the conventional wisdom. Yet it seems to be working - Ipswich Jets won the QLD Cup this year and beat the NSW Cup winners, despite spending less than a third of what the the other QLD Cup Grand Finalist do on player salaries. Both Brennan and the Walker brothers were been linked to the Newcastle job. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 7380230376 This is worth a read on the Walker brothers, would love to see them coach a top level side.