Quote: Mild Rover "They both took over teams that had got to within one game of the GF. They improved them but I feel like coaches get a lot of credit for doing what’s pretty routine at those clubs. Although there’s a case that it’s easier to make an impact where there’s more room for improvement (e.g. Cas under Powell), and that the last step is the hardest (as seen at Cas under Powell), I’m not sure that really applies to Saints and Wigan in SL.'"
I get your point to agree but when both Holbrook & Maguire joined St's & Wigan respectively both clubs/teams at the time were well below the standards we come to expect. Wigan were an absolute car crash and had an experienced Coach in Noble prior to Maguire coming in. St's were pretty awful under Cunningham maybe his inexperience cost him and St's.
The point is both Coaches went in to clubs at a time when they were poor not just by their own standards but in general overall and clubs that have a huge expectancy to be winners. For me if we'd have had a Holbrook or Maguire as Coach in 2016 to 2018 I believe we would have reached at least 1 GF.
I think with where we are as a club Cartwright does seem a much better fit for us, he has been working alongside some of the best NRL head coaches and at successful teams for a sustained period, which its fair to say you don't do that if you're just average. Also think Cartwright's knowledge & experience with the modern game of RL at the highest level will be invaluable to us as a club in our current state.
Think for a coach like Rowley it will be a huge step if he does end up at Leeds to then be under that weight of expectancy, though with Blease there it would lessen that weight somewhat. Question is if they do team up at Leeds can they replicate what they did at Salford?