Our next head coach

Who should be the head coach in 2026?

  • Blake Green

    Votes: 5 5.9%

  • Brian McDermott

    Votes: 14 16.5%

  • Brad Arthur

    Votes: 13 15.3%

  • Willie Peters

    Votes: 40 47.1%

  • John Morris

    Votes: 18 21.2%

  • Justin Holbrook

    Votes: 42 49.4%

  • Des Hasler

    Votes: 1 1.2%

  • Sam Burgess

    Votes: 1 1.2%

  • Billy Slater

    Votes: 6 7.1%

  • Other (name below)

    Votes: 1 1.2%
  • Total voters
    85
Yeah Billy sounds good just saying it but we would have to peel away one of these top coach’s from another club. Just throwing out a list.

Current top coaches.
1. Graig Bellamy
2. Ivan Cleary
3. Trent Robinson
4. Ricky Stuart

Possible top NRL coach's
Cooper Cronk
Billy Slater
Matty John’s
Micheal Checka
Willie Peter’s
 
Jar head said:
Who would you target Billy? Do you have any names in mind?
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Everyone knows who the successful coaches are.
I don't know who we could tempt or when we could get them, because that's not my job - but the 5 guys in charge of finding us a new coach should be discussing everyone, talking to all their manages, putting together offers etc etc etc.
If they can't get someone now - keep looking till they can.
 
Honestly don’t understand your argument Billy, there seem to be a lot of baked in assumptions in there which don’t make a hell of a lot of sense to me.
- The assumption that if Blake gets the job, he’ll be on this huge immovable salary if the circumstance arises where a “top coach” (who?) becomes available.
- That Blake getting the job would be “bad for recruitment”, but appointing a “permanent caretaker” for an undetermined period wouldn’t be absolutely horrific. What vision do you sell to players then? “Yeah we’re just sort of waiting around and hoping Robbo gets fired”.
- That Wests - very well-resourced, yes - can outspend Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne on a head coach. They can not. If it came down to a bidding war we would lose. We can not, in fact, “afford anyone”.

I think you’ve got it totally wrong on the recruitment front if we appointed Blake, too. New head coaches get this little window early on while they’re still something of a “mystery box”, so the narrative about where the club is going is something they have control over if they can sell it well. Young guys who were still playing a few years ago seem to do really well in signing players too. Payten did really well in the market initially for example (by the standards of North Queensland) but is struggling now as players look at the Cowboys under him and think, “soft, no resilience, not a serious contender”. This all goes double if the team improves any significant amount next season - all of a sudden, a bit of hard data to point to when you’re saying this is a club on the rise. AOB’s biggest signing, Tyson Frizell, happened in early 2020 just after we’d started the season really well for example.

Just not convinced at all “top coach” = “top recruiter”, either. People talk about the players Nathan Brown and his wife got across the line for us. Well, what evidence was there he was a “top coach”? And you know which club still is absolutely not a recruitment destination? The Penrith Panthers.
 
There is just no point pretending we can get anyone.

I do believe Wests can afford whoever they want. So for me the money issue is a non issue.

But hiring a top premiership coach, is where the suggestion falls down. The suggestion is we can just headhunt an established top coach, already under contract to a club and somehow bring them here. It's not realistic.

Secondly, those top coaches are top coaches due to the clubs they are at as much as their coaching ability. It certainly helps being at a club that is chock full of star players and depth to match. What is their motivation to go hey, I know, I'll leave and coach at one of the biggest basket case clubs in the NRL and prove myself. They don't need to prove themselves, done that already. Wayne tried that route to varying success.

End result is we aren't getting Bellamy, or Cleary, or Robinson, or Wayne, etc etc.

There is a reason those names aren't on the lists, they aren't coming here. The 5 guys likely have thought of every option, and quickly removed them from the lists as it's not going to happen.
 
Kurriboy said:
There is just no point pretending we can get anyone.

I do believe Wests can afford whoever they want. So for me the money issue is a non issue.

But hiring a top premiership coach, is where the suggestion falls down. The suggestion is we can just headhunt an established top coach, already under contract to a club and somehow bring them here. It's not realistic.

Secondly, those top coaches are top coaches due to the clubs they are at as much as their coaching ability. It certainly helps being at a club that is chock full of star players and depth to match. What is their motivation to go hey, I know, I'll leave and coach at one of the biggest basket case clubs in the NRL and prove myself. They don't need to prove themselves, done that already. Wayne tried that route to varying success.

End result is we aren't getting Bellamy, or Cleary, or Robinson, or Wayne, etc etc.

There is a reason those names aren't on the lists, they aren't coming here. The 5 guys likely have thought of every option, and quickly removed them from the lists as it's not going to happen.
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Lost me at Wayne, wouldn’t want him even if it guaranteed a premiership, which it doesn’t as we have already seen.
 
Absolutely right Kurriboy. The Ivan Cleary at Penrith right now is the same bloke who had a losing record elsewhere.

People talk about Bellyache turning “ordinary players into world beaters” like he’s being handed these mid plodders and somehow making them bigger, faster, stronger, smarter. No the coach can only get stuff out of players that’s already in there. He can’t turn them into something they’re not. And we’ve never seen him coach a side that didn’t have one of the best, and usually clearly the best, spines in the comp.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Absolutely right Kurriboy. The Ivan Cleary at Penrith right now is the same bloke who had a losing record elsewhere.

People talk about Bellyache turning “ordinary players into world beaters” like he’s being handed these mid plodders and somehow making them bigger, faster, stronger, smarter. No the coach can only get stuff out of players that’s already in there. He can’t turn them into something they’re not. And we’ve never seen him coach a side that didn’t have one of the best, and usually clearly the best, spines in the comp.
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I've said before, no coach ever, has had a career where you could say over their entire career their side was favorites to win each game something like 80% of games? Maybe that is an overshoot but I think it's fairly accurate, maybe even lowballing.

But the bloke has had a spine full of some of the best players to have ever played RL, let alone just quality rep players, but the best or in the conversation. I don't argue he is a great coach, but hasn't tested himself anywhere else.

Wayne has copped it and rightly so, I wouldn't want him back here. But he hasn't just sat at one club chock full of elites. He has moved around (sometimes not at his choice sure) and tested himself at various clubs. You can't argue Wayne isn't one of the top coaches.

Cleary, lets see how he goes once his, again one of the best players ever to wear the 7, retires or he moves on. You know they are forever going to be a package deal. But I'm betting cleary at the Knights suddenly loses a lot of his shine.

It ****s me when coach of the year goes to bellamy, when another club like the Wahs have performed well above expectations, now thats a coaching performance worthy of coach of the year.
 
Ricky almost unbackable odds to get it this year and every comment about their off season etc just makes it sound to me like the main thing he did was get out of his players’ way 😆
 
I guess Maguire was the one “big name” premiership winning coach that was available recently. But there were pretty big question marks around him after the end of his Souths stint and his time at the Tigers.

Really struggling to think of any upper echelon coaches that have even been on the market recently? Other than Wayne Bennett who’s pretty much on life support at this stage. Cleaner knocking the plug with their vacuum could be the end of him.
 
Sign up the best available, if that’s Holbrook then good, offer/give him two year contract to see how he goes, if great extend but in meantime keep looking and offering and then decide on ext or new Coach.
 
Just on there experience and results Willie Peters and Hollbrook are the best option available. Then I would consider Morris.

From all accounts Peter’s does not want to do an interview. For me I’d be happy with Hollbrook or Morris. If Green gets the job, then you have to trust that the committee have strong belief on him considering he has no heading coaching experience. That’s a massive call and I doubt that will happen.
 
Be good to know who they are actually interviewing. That’s something the media can chase up. And put a punt on!?
 
Green, Holbrook, Young & McDermott confirmed being interviewed. Peters was asked to apply but hasn't as of now. McGregor apparently has applied.

Toohey said he'll be surprised if Young gets it, and has said the same about McDermott all along (sounds like he'll be going to the Titans as an assistant). Realistically sounds like it's a 2 horse race between Green & Holbrook for now.
 
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